Category Archives: War On Drugs

illegal drugs

Sharon Hofisi Legal Letters In asking whether or not drug trafficking can be curbed the world over, we must also come to grips with the questions as to what kind of drugs are being trafficked? Where are they trafficked to? Why is there a proliferation of drugs in both the less developed and more developed countries?

Unless we decide on the above questions, we cannot execute a good analysis. If it is a war without strategy, that is one thing. If it is a global war, steeped in behaviour change and transformative models that is quite a milestone.

The normative framework at a global level was established by Resolution 42/112 of December 7 1987, when the General Assembly decided to observe June 26 as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse.

Further, it has to be stated at the very outset that the study on the need to combat drug trafficking or abuse holds great fascination for users and activists. For Zimbabwe, most people are aware of the existence of a basic domestic structure of laws on dangerous drugs, but use drugs for reasons that are medically, traditionally, religiously and personally explained.

It is little wonder, then, that the normative framework laid out by the United Nations, must attract an intense interest and concern of a great variety of people in Zimbabwe. Although the legal framework, as informed by the Dangerous Drugs Act, has not been aligned with the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013, Zimbabwe can take a big leaf from the UNs normative framework.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime describes drug trafficking as (i) a global illicit trade involving the (ii) cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to (iii) drug prohibition laws.

It also indicates that the organisation is continuously monitoring and researching global illicit drug markets in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their dynamics. What is clear from the above is this: Dealing with drug problems involves two general approaches.

First of all, there is the definitional approach. This approach makes the problem trade related. The countries of the world are guilty of being involved in illicit drug trade. There are those who cultivate or have drug traffickers who cultivate prohibited drugs.

Embedded in this is the need to deal with the myth and realities attached to certain drugs. In an abstract on his work, Hemp and Marijuana David West observed the following myth and realities relating to cannabis. He describes cannabis as the only plant genus that contains the unique class of molecular compounds called cannabinoids. Many cannabinoids have been identified, but two preponderate:

While THC is the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, CBD is an anti-psychoactive ingredient. One type of cannabis is high in the psychoactive cannabinoid, THC, and low in the anti-psychoactive cannabinoid, CBD. This type is popularly known as marijuana. Another type is high in CBD and low in THC. Variants of this type are called industrial hemp.

Two myths and realities that he brought to the fore are also interesting. The first myth relates to whether the United States law has always treated hemp and marijuana the same. The reality, historically answered, is that federal drug laws clearly show that at one time the US government understood and accepted the distinction between hemp and marijuana.

The other myth is that smoking industrial hemp gets a person high. The reality is that the THC levels in industrial hemp are so low that no one could get high from smoking it. Moreover, hemp contains a relatively high percentage of another cannabinoid, CBD, that actually blocks the marijuana high. Hemp, it turns out, is not only marijuana; it could be called anti-marijuana.

When we talk about the prohibition of mbanje in Zimbabwe, we may locate it under human rights theories that seek to deliberate on rights or to locate religion as part of the givens from the deities. In some circles, mbanje is also known as Nigerian grass or dhobho in street lingo.

Belief abounds as to its use: religious beliefs such as working as a medium of communication with the Deity and traditional practices such as scaring away spooks, and healing mental ailments. Added to this are constitutional freedoms such as religious freedom.

Those who are adherents of religions that have hemp or marijuana as part of their religious arsenal, and believe the prohibition of such drugs is unconstitutional, may have to institute test cases in light of the national laws which prohibit drugs.

Apart from the Constitution, Zimbabwe has a Dangerous Drugs Act, as is also the case with countries such as Jamaica and Mauritius. The Act prohibits the use or misuse of certain drugs, places restrictions on imports and exports of drugs such as prepared opium and Indian hemp.

The Zimbabwean framework deals with the importation, exportation, production, possession, sale, distribution and use of dangerous drug and fits well into the UN framework alluded to above.

The Global Drug Policy Observatory provides us with some vital information to supplement the UN normative framework. It describes Zimbabwe as still witnessing an increase in problematic drug use among its domestic population along with the related public health issues that accompany certain types drug use.

The substances that are most commonly used in Zimbabwe include alcohol, cannabis, heroin, glue and cough mixtures such as Histalix and Bron Clear (Bronco). The later unotomwa, with the mouth agape, because believably, all the teeth will disappear immediately. Imagine the health effects!

Cannabis (mbanje) remains the most popular illicit drug mainly because it is grown locally or smuggled in from neighbouring countries like Malawi and Mozambique. In some societies along the Zambezi Valley, mbanje is grown and consumed in large quantities as a way of life.

Zimbabwe is also a conduit for the trafficking of drugs on their way to other countries in the region such as South Africa. Local Zimbabweans are often used to transport these drugs and rather than being paid in cash, they are usually paid in drugs which then enter the local market. When you become a transit country, you are immediately also a consumption country.

The debilitating effects of glue cannot be ignored, unokurungwa fungwa. In a research by Rudatsikiri et al (2009), cited in the Observatory, the use of cannabis and glue amongst school pupils (largely aged between 13 and 15) in Harare, it was found that overall 9,1 percent of pupils had used the drugs (13,4 percent of males and 4,9 percent of females). Add this to other effects such as unsafe sexual behavior, increased risks of STIs including HIV/AIDS.

To end this problem, Zimbabwe has to have an effective engagement strategy with countries that manufacture the drugs that are consumed in Zimbabwe or sold to South Africa. Zimbabwe is also supposed to craft drug polices that deal with drugs like musombodhiya or nipa (also known as kachasu).

Musombodhiya is descriptive of street language that is used to refer to an illicit alcohol brew composed of diluted ethanol or methanol. The drug (because it contains high alcohol content) is alleged to contain 95 percent alcohol, is consumed in very small quantities and gives the consumer hours of drunkenness.

This still leaves the unanswered question as to whether or not the consumers are aware of the impacts of alcohol. Apart from having no blood in their alcohol, the consumers often a time stick, describing a situation where they will not be able to move their body parts.

This brings us to the second aspect in dealing with the drug problem, effective institutional responses. Musombodhiya comes from ethanol which is reportedly smuggled from ethanol plants and is then diluted with water, sold for about US$1 for the 100ml or US$7 for the 750ml bottle.

Add musobhodhiya to Bronco, kachasu, chikwakubidiri (one-day brewed beer) and the need for effective institutional responses becomes apparent. The family head, village or community leader, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and civil society organisations (CSOs) such as Civil Liberties and Drug Network come into play.

These institutions have different strategies in that the ZRP, for instance, has to control crimes related to drugs; the community has to help cultivate a sense of responsible citizenry and CSOs assist in reforming drug survivors. They are alike, however, in having a strong emphasis upon the need to curb the use of drugs.

Sentencing policies in our criminal courts must also take cognisance of international trends. It must not end with retributive punishment. The offender must be the focal point. Sentencing guidelines are needed in this regard. Those guidelines must give due regard to the Constitution, particularly religious freedom.

The Dangerous Drugs Act and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act must also be urgently aligned with the Constitution. While the laws contain certainly good sentencing guidelines, there is no indication of the approaches to constitutional freedoms.

It is the Constitution which must form the basis of sentencing, but the Constitution nonetheless used in the sense that it is the supreme law whose content is provided by subsidiary laws such as the Dangerous Drugs Act.

Against these indications of the problematic nature of drugs, there is need to have an integrated approach to the regulation of the distribution and sale of drugs. This approach must involve the ordinary citizen, health regulatory bodies, pharmacies and ministries such as Home Affairs, Health and Justice, and Information.

More to the point is the endeavour of those citizens who are willing to share their lived realities on social platforms on how they benefited from the CSOs, health institutions, or lenient sentences that were imposed on them by the courts as well as the correctional approaches that they received when they were incarcerated.

The argumentation in this endeavour is that these approaches lead us to deal with the issues to drug trafficking in a holistic manner. Those who misuse or use dangerous drugs are also empowered to speak out without fear of being prosecuted.

This in no way indicates the need to condone the use or misuse of such drugs. It is much the same fallacy as to say the youths are the ones who consume the lions share of drugs because they engage in high risk behaviour. The same obtains where one religious movement is identified as the leading consumer of drugs such as marijuana. There is no logical or legal basis for assertions of this kind when the only basis are court cases where those who are accused of possessing dangerous drugs yell their story.

An examination of some criminal cases will also show that there was no evidentiary sufficiency but many factors led to the conviction of the accused person. He was unrepresented, failed to proffer some exceptional circumstances relating to the possession or the plausibility of his defence was not properly weighed together with the evidence. There is also absence in distinguishing Indian hemp from other types of mbanje.

Those who brew illicit beer in their backyards are usually spared the wrath of the law. Again the fact that their brews are unspoken does not mean that there was no illicit beer that was brewed but the perpetrators were neither arrested nor prosecuted.

It takes, from the foregoing, something more than the definition of dangerous drugs to enable a nation to effectively deal with drug trafficking. The UN approaches have to be legitimately applied. In other words, while there is a general legal framework on drugs, it is not a normative which might lead to an integrated approach to solving drug-related issues.

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War on drugs: Normative viewpoints - The Herald

Attorney General Jeff Sessions wasted no time reversing his predecessors efforts to bring some sense and proportion to the nations war on drugs. Fortunately, not everyone in the GOP takes such a backward view on the question; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, for instance, has drawn praise for his thoughtful approach to the question.

President Trump named Christie to head a panel on the opioid crisis. Let us hope he takes careful note of a letter on the subject from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Over 13 heavily footnoted pages, it makes a strong case against the lock-em-up school of thought.

There is no statistically significant relationship between state drug offender imprisonment rates and three measures of state drug problems: rates of illicit drug use, drug overdose deaths, and drug arrests, Pew writes. Thats a more formal way to say this: Putting drug users in prison doesnt reduce drug use.

Yet the United States has been operating on the opposite assumption for many years and at great cost. Over the past 35 years the number of federal drug prisoners has risen nearly 20-fold; almost half of all federal prisoners are serving time for drug offenses. Federal prison spending has grown six-fold during the same period. Much the same holds true in the states. Yet rates of drug use, and the availability of illicit drugs, are higher now. Pew notes that more than 33,000 Americans died from an (opioid) overdose in 2015, and heroin deaths that year jumped 20 percent.

To back up its central claim, Pew offers some stark contrasts. For instance: Tennessee imprisons drug offenders at a rate more than three times greater than New Jersey, but the illicit drug use rate in the two states is virtually the same even after adjusting for demographic variables such as education and race.

And: Michigan, New York, and Rhode Island ... significantly decreased drug sentences. ... Each of these states reduced both their prison populations and their crime rates. Other states have experienced similar phenomena.

This should not come as a great surprise. Individuals struggling with addiction are, at least metaphorically, already in chains. They need to be set free from it which threatening them with another form of incarceration does not do.

What does? Pew finds just as Virginia has that drug courts can help many addicts: A systematic review of drug courts in 30 states concluded that a combination of comprehensive services and individualized care is an effective way to treat offenders with serious addictions. Meanwhile, supervision strategies that provide swift, certain, and graduated sanctions have demonstrated a reduction in both recidivism and costs. Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina have saved hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars by taking this approach.

Virginia is no stranger to drug courts; the first one took root in Roanoke two decades ago, and 38 of them now dot the commonwealth. A 2008 Virginia legislative study found that those graduating from the states drug courts were three times as likely to be earning a paycheck as non-participants; non-participants also have a felony recidivism rate five times higher than participants do.

Figures like those and the data from Pew draw a bright neon arrow in the direction of smarter drug policy. It points toward treatment, not a prison cell.

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Editorial: More evidence against the War on Drugs - Richmond.com

NINE drug personalities in Cagayan de Oro City were killed during the first year of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, the data of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo) showed on Tuesday, July 4.

In the period July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017, Cocpo has recorded nine deaths involving drug suspects, who allegedly fought back during the polices anti-drug operations.

The government's anti-illegal drugs campaign dubbed as double barrel also yielded 5,793 drug dependents, who voluntarily submit themselves to Oplan Tokhang (Knock and plead).

About 1,669 drug suspects have been arrested in more than a thousand drug raids conducted by various anti-drug operatives around the city.

Police also seized over P11-million worth of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu.

The data also showed over 181,000 households were visited by law enforcers through Cocpo's continuing efforts to remind residents on the danger of illegal drugs.

Cocpo spokesperson Chief Inspector Mardy Hortillosa II said the city police will continue to conduct operations against illegal drug personalities amid martial law.

We will arrest the last drug personality and neutralize the drug trade as what our president directs us, Hortillosa said.

The Cocpo spokesman added policemen will never be successful in the fight against illegal drugs without the support of the local government, media and the entire community.

We need the LGU (local government units), media and community to help us in our fight and accomplish our mission, Hortillosa added.

Hortillosa vowed that policemen in the city will try to minimize bloody drug operations in the succeeding years.

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9 suspects killed in Oro in 1st year of 'war on drugs' | SunStar - Sun.Star

The War on Drugs was formed by musicians Kurt Vile and Adam Granduciel after they had both moved from Oakland and back to Philadelphia. Both had similar interests and had especially connected through their appreciation of Bob Dylan. This led to the two, recording, writing and even performing together. Through this instant connection and chemistry, The War on Drugs was born.

Early in the career of the band they had many accompanying musicians but none were official members, Vile and Granduciel then decided to settle official members of the band. These members included: Charlie Hall as the Drummer/Organist, Kyle Lloyd as drummer and Dave Hartley would be the bass player of the band.

In 2008 The War On Drugs gave away their EP 'Barrel of Batteries' for free.

After the release of their debut album 'Wagonwheel Blues' and the European tour which followed,founding member of the band Kurt Vile, had decided to leave so that he could focus on his solo projects. Following Vile leaving other members followed suit, those being: Charlie Hall and Kyle Lloyd by 2008.

Following the departure of key members, the band in 2008 now consisted of members: Adam Granducial, David Hall and Mike Zhangi (who would leave in 2010). By 2012 the bands lineup consisted of: Adam Granducial, Patrick Berkery, Robbie Bennett and David Hall.

2011 saw the release of The War On Drugs second album 'Slave Ambient' this generated widespread critical acclaim as it managed to receive 7 out of 10 from 'Spin', 'BBC Music' gave it a favourable rating and it received an A- grade from 'The A.V. Club'.

As of 2014 the current members of the band are: Adam Granducial on vocals, Dave Hartley on bass guitar, Robbie Bennett on keyboards and Charlie Hall on drum.

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The War on Drugs - Songkick Concerts, tour dates, & tickets

Taking part in President Dutertes war on drugs will be the new role for members of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), like this rebel in an MILF camp in Maguindanao. JEOFFREY MAITEM

DAVAO CITY Members of a Moro rebel group covered by a truce with the government had approved a set of procedures that formalized their role in the Duterte administrations war on drugs, signing an agreement to arrest drug suspects in rebel camps and turn them over to government law enforcers.

Isidro Lapea, chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), said representatives of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Friday signed a protocol of cooperation on antidrug operations that Lapea said was a fulfillment of the MILFs offer to help in the war on drugs.

There was an offer by the MILF to help so we have to involve them, Lapea said.

The signing by MILF and government representatives of the protocol came a year after President Duterte launched his bloody war on drugs.

The protocol, Lapea said, would allow shortcuts to be taken in procedures governing law enforcement cooperation stipulated by the Ad hoc Joint Action Group (Ahjag).

Ahjag is a body that monitors law enforcement operations in rebel areas or involving rebels with the main objective of preventing unnecessary clashes between rebels and soldiers.

The protocol would allow antidrug operations in areas controlled by MILF to proceed more expeditiously, Lapea said.

Whats important here is the cooperation, Lapea said.

Rules stipulated by Ahjag would be used in antidrug operations with MILF help to avoid lapses that could lead to clashes between rebels and soldiers.

Acting Interior Secretary Catalino Cuy said the protocol was the result of a series of meetings between the MILF and the government, and considered necessary because MILF-held areas were also reeling from the drug menace.

In 2015, according to Cuy, the MILF already declared drugs haram or forbidden.

The partnership aims to produce optimum results in the war on drugs, said Cuy, a retired police general.

The protocol followed the signing in July 2016 of a pact on cooperation and coordination on antidrug operations by MILF and government representatives, Cuy said.

The protocol clearly defined the MILF role, he said.

The support of the MILF just shows that we could be one in our common goal, he said.

The protocol would allow the MILF to conduct citizens arrest of drug suspects in rebel territory, according to Lapea. These arrested suspects, he said, would have to be turned over to government authorities.

Lawyer Abdul Dataya, Ahjag representative for MILF, said the rebel role was limited to coordinating with government forces and furnishing lists of drug personalities in rebel areas.

Whether rebels would play a direct role in antidrug operations in MILF areas would be up to the government, Dataya said.

The protocol is key to preventing misencounters, he said.

Retired Brig. Gen. Pierre Bucsit, Ahjag representative for the government, said the protocol would lay out standard operating procedures in antidrug operations in MILF areas.

The MILF maintains camps in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Central Mindanao, Western Mindanao and parts of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley provinces.

In Maguindanao, Lapea said drugs are rampant in 366 of 509 villages, or about 72 percent. In Lanao del Sur, including Marawi City, at least 313 of 1,059 villages are drug-influenced, he said. The two provinces are part of ARMM. Frinston Lim

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MILF formally joins war on drugs | Inquirer News - Inquirer.net

A Chronicle report published June 25 on the continuing problem of methamphetamine use in Montana revealed some troubling numbers. Statistics indicate this longstanding problem is getting worse much worse. State Highway Patrol meth arrests increased from 15 in 2012 to 141 last year. And quantities of the drug seized so far this year have already exceeded the total seized in all of last year. Here locally, of the 235 felony cases filed in district court, 53 percent, or 124, of them have involved drugs.

While meth is the biggest problem of the moment here in Montana, here and nationwide law enforcement is also battling the growing problem opioid addiction in the form of both prescription drugs and heroin.

It seems like baby boomers have lived their entire lives against the backdrop of the so-called War on Drugs an effort punctuated with more failures than successes. Law enforcement is certainly an important front. But its becoming increasingly apparent that new ways to tackle the problem need to be found.

To their credit, state Justice Department officials are working on a program, Aid Montana, that will bring treatment providers, counselors and other healthcare professionals together with criminal justice officials law officers, prosecutors and defense attorneys to seek innovative ways to tackle the issue of drug addiction. The group is commissioned to come up with specific recommendations to present to lawmakers in 2019.

An increased emphasis on the medical side of the issue certainly needs to be part of the solution on the national level as well. As lawmakers in Washington consider changes to our health care system, they must make certain to adequately fund treatment for drug users who want to quit. Money specifically for opioid addiction treatment programs must be part of any final health care legislation. And Medicaid coverage must be extended for treatment for those who cant afford to buy their own health insurance.

Now well into the 21st century, the illegal drug woes of the last century just seem to be getting worse. And this much is certain: Doing things the same way we always have isnt working.

New, better and more compassionate solutions must be found. And those will be most likely found on the health care side of the equation.

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'War on drugs' needs new, better solutions - The Bozeman Daily Chronicle

The "Walk for Life" march in Kalookan Diocese, 2 July, 2017. - RV

A Philippine bishop raised his voice on Sunday against the governments war on drugs, asking why the only the poor or small-time drug suspects are targeted while big drug lords and cartels go scot free. But has our government identified even just one of the cartels here in our country? asked Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan which covers the cities of Kaloocan, Malabon and Navotas. If this is a war, who is the enemy? Why is it that only the poor or ordinary people end up being the victims? he asked at Mass after leading a Walk for Life march to denounce the growing number of extrajudicial killings in the diocese.

Around 1,000 people including students, parishioners, lay people and religious leaders walked together for more than a kilometer from San Ildefonso Parish Church to San Jose Parish Church, culminating in Holy Mass.

In his homily, Bishop David lashed out against those who sow violence the same way some supporters of Judas did against Jesus. He described those behind the violence are Judases who are in league with the killers. He said if some people consider the suspected drug users and pushers as termites of society, so are those behind the extrajudicial killings.

Bishop David who has been heading the diocese since January, 2016, questioned why crimes like theft and bag snatching are caught on closed circuit television cameras, while murders, people who abduct and kill the helpless dont appear on surveillance cameras. They kill daily. In Navotas alone, they killed about 30 people in a span of three weeks, the bishop said. Sometimes they kill in groups. They move from one place to another and yet the police fail to arrest them.

Saying that the country cannot suppress crime by committing another crime, the 56-year-old prelate said that summary executions will just worsen the drug problem. At a time of increasing drug-related violence, he lamented that majority of these murder cases remain unsolved and the killers are still on the loose. Bishop David called on the government to solve all incidents of extrajudicial killings, dubbed recently by policemen as death under investigation cases.

President Rodrigo Duterte came to power promising a brutal, bloody war on drugs. His first year in office, which he marked Friday, has been marked by that promise. More than 7,000 alleged drug suspects have died in extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, in encounters with police or gunned down in so-called vigilante killings. Most of those deaths have been classified by police as "deaths under investigation." The killings have drawn widespread international condemnation, with Human Rights Watch describing Duterte's first year in power as a "human rights calamity."

In a pastoral letter in February, read out in the churches of Asias largest Catholic nation, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines agreed that the traffic in illegal drugs needs to be stopped, but "the solution does not lie in the killing of suspected drug users and pushers." The bishops expressed their concern for those killed, their families and the reign of terror in many places of the poor. Many are killed not because of drugs. Those who kill them are not brought to account, the bishops lamented.

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Philippine bishop lashes out at government's war on drugs - Vatican ... - Vatican Radio

John Hardin / Yesterday @ 6:57 a.m. / Op-Ed HARDIN: Whats the War on Drugs Got To Do With the Humboldt Brand

Right now I see a lot of people scrambling frantically to find their niche in the legal marijuana market. In our eagerness to compete in this rapidly evolving market, we should be very careful not to overlook the infected wounds still festering in this county from the War on Drugs, nor should we miss the opportunity to take pride in our heritage, for our role in the marijuana underground, because that is the story of the Humboldt brand.

I realize thats a lot to pack into one sentence, but we need to think about this. Even if a lot of Humboldt County cannabis farmers do well in the legal market, we still have a whole lot of people in Humboldt County who grew up in the black market, and have no other marketable skills or education. They have been traumatized by the War on Drugs, and a lot of them have developed problems with drugs and alcohol as a result. They are never going to become weed tycoons in the legal market, but they were born and raised here in Humboldt County. They grew up in the marijuana underground. They fought the War on Drugs, and they built the Humboldt brand. You cant sweep them under the rug without sweeping the Humboldt brand away with them.

The County didnt haul sacks of chicken shit up the side of a mountain in the rain they did. The County doesnt have a panic attack every time it hears a helicopter they do. The County didnt grow the best marijuana anyone anyone had ever tasted they did. Humboldt County never got arrested for marijuana. Humboldt County never had a gun stuck in its face over marijuana, and Humboldt County was never denied a job, kicked out of school, or had a Workmans Comp claim denied because it smoked marijuana but they did.

Their sweat, their tears and the wounds they suffered in the War on Drugs, as well as the addictions they developed as a result of that pain, built the Humboldt brand. Unless we acknowledge that suffering, the Humboldt brand is worthless. On the other hand, the more we acknowledge that suffering, and treat the wounds we have suffered in the War on Drugs, as a community, the more we can celebrate the accomplishments of the marijuana underground, and the ingenuity and courage it took to fight the War on Drugs, and the more the Humboldt brand is genuinely worth. It seems paradoxical, but we cant expect other people to respect us for what we do here, if we cant even respect ourselves, our community, our environment, and our heritage.

We cant hide the problems the War on Drugs has created in our community behind the money the War on Drugs brought to us. Instead of trying to hide the poverty and addiction we see around us, or beating it to death on the streets of Garberville and Redway, we need to recognize how much our community has suffered in the War on Drugs. We need to show the world what prohibition has done to us, because unless they see the damage that was done to us, they cannot appreciate the heroic effort it took to fight the War on Drugs. For the world to recognize the War on Drugs as a real war, the world has to see real casualties, and weve got them.

The more we focus on how the War on Drugs affects us, and take stock of what it cost, the easier it will be for people to understand who we are and identify with us. Most cannabis consumers dont know what it is like to enjoy a six-figure, tax-free, income from a black market commodity, but they do know what it is like to be terrorized by cops. Millions of people all over the country have been busted for marijuana and had their lives turned upside-down by it. From that perspective, they understand what weve been through. Theyre traumatized too. They know that Humboldt County was ground zero in the War on Drugs, and theyve seen how the War on Drugs has affected themselves, their family, and friends. If we can respect and acknowledge our own truth, they will recognize it as our strength, and draw strength from it.

Marijuana culture survived, endured and ultimately prevailed after more than 40 years of war because marijuana culture is strong, and Humboldt County is at the heart of marijuana culture. Marijuana is medicine, and that is why Humboldt County should be a place of healing for the wounds of the War on Drugs. We were at the center of it; we are at the heart of it; and we need it the most. The more we look after the people among us who are suffering, and the more we pull together as a community, the more we demonstrate the strength of marijuana culture to the world around us, and the more attractive it becomes. By acknowledging the violence and trauma of the War on Drugs, and working to heal our own wounds as a community, we rebuild the strength of marijuana culture, and reestablish Humboldt County as its heart, legitimately and honestly. Thats how we build the Humboldt brand.

We cant truthfully say that Humboldt-grown weed is of higher quality than weed grown in a warehouse in Oakland, or anywhere else for that matter. These days, everybodys weed is plenty strong, if you can just keep the pesticides out of it. As this industry professionalizes, quality becomes a baseline expectation. Brand loyalty will be built on other factors including price, taste, convenience, packaging, and a whole slew of psychological factors. Whether you smoke Marlboros or Winstons probably has more to do with how you feel about cowboys and racecars than it does with any difference in quality. Similarly, successful cannabis marketing depends more on understanding cannabis users and their culture than it does with producing higher quality marijuana.

John Hardinwrites atLike Youve Got Something Better to Do.

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HARDIN: What's the War on Drugs Got To Do With the Humboldt Brand - Lost Coast Outpost

A tarpaulin protesting alleged summary killings in the war on drugs is displayed at Guimbal Church in Guimbal town, Iloilo province, which President Duterte has described as a key drug area. NIO JESUS ORBETA

ILOILO CITY Their figures, or perceptions, dont match.

President Rodrigo Duterte continued to describe Iloilo as a key transit point for drugs even as police with jurisdiction over the city and province presented a different picture one of success in the antidrug campaign.

In his 27-minute speech at ceremonies for the 120th anniversary of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) on June 28, Mr. Duterte described Iloilo as a bedrock of the narcotics trade in the Visayas.

Last year, he tagged the Western Visayas capital as most shabulized. It wasnt clear, however, whether he was referring to Iloilo the city or the province.

It appears the Presidents perception of Iloilo as a key drug link hasnt changed even as officials of the regional police defended their record in the antidrug campaign.

The Presidents latest statement, however, serves as a challenge to the regional police force, said Chief Supt. Cesar Hawthorne Binag, Western Visayas police chief.

But Binag said if numbers were to be given a closer look, the regional police office hadnt done bad in the war on drugs.

He said the regional police was fifth among 18 regional police offices in terms of accomplishments in the antidrug campaign.

From June 27 to July 1, regional police arrested 1,742 drug suspects, according to Binag.

At least 30 suspects had been shot dead in police operations, he added.

A drug rehab program of the regional police, according to a police report, processed 944 users and pushers who had surrendered.

During his speech at the PSG anniversary, Mr. Duterte said Iloilo had become a key transit point for drugs and from there, drugs have spread to the Visayas.

It involves the mayors and the gangs there, the President said. Mr. Duterte gave no further details.

In August last year, the President tagged Iloilo province as most shabulized and named Mayors Jed Patrick Mabilog (Iloilo City) Mariano Malones Sr. (Maasin), Alex Centena (Calinog), Salagunting Betita (Carles) as involved in drugs.

He also named former city councilors, lawyers and policemen, including high-ranking officers in Western Visayas. No criminal complaints had been filed against the mayors.

In a report, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism said Western Visayas was seventh of 18 regions in the number of villages where drugs were rampant, quoting data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Dangerous Drugs Board.

In April 2017, Western Visayas was eighth in the number of villages influenced by drugs, the same report said.

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In Iloilo, 2 pictures of drug war are emerging - Inquirer.net

Around the world the War on Drugs has failed; in New Zealand our aging drug law punishes and imprisons drug users. This week the New Zealand Drug Foundation has brought drug reformers to speak at Parliament to guide our laws into the 21st century. Simon Day asks ifour politicianswill finally listen.

Tuari Potiki, chair of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, addressed the UN General Assembly in te reo Mori. He spoke as an indigenous person whose life was nearly destroyed by drugs. As a survivor he told the world their War on Drugs has been an assault against the wrong people.

Many nations have joined up to wage a war against drugs and have ended up attacking people who really need our help and support, he told the UNs Special Session on the World Drug Problem in 2016.

Potiki started drinking and smoking cannabis at 13. By 20 he was injecting heroin. But at 28, a judge gave him a chance when he offered him the choice of jail, or getting help for his problem. He could see I needed a health intervention not a criminal justice one. And he sent me to treatment for my drug problem. And because treatment works I stand here today as chair of the New Zealand Drug Foundation as director of Mori development at Otago University, and as having not used drugs for 27 years, he told the UN.

Potiki was lucky. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 is over 40 years old and a relic of the global fear of drugs and drug users. Its heavy-handed dedication to deterrence through criminalisation and punishment of drug users is not working to prevent the harmful effects of drugs on New Zealanders. The social cost of drug related harms and intervention in 2014/15 was estimated at NZ$1.8 billion.

In 2011 the Law Commission recommended repealing and replacing the Act with new drug laws administered by the Ministry of Health. The commission recommended a more flexible response, to small-scale dealing and personal possession and use, particularly where these activities are linked to addiction.

Afraid of the slow moving morals of the conservative New Zealand voting bloc, politicians have refused to reform our drug law. John Key was unequivocalin saying cannabis would not be decriminalised or legalised during his reign. Bill English quickly rejected legalisation of cannabis aftertaking over as prime minister. While medicinal cannabis is now easier to access, without Pharmac subsidies or a local supply, costs are still significant. Labour leader Andrew Little has endorsed medical cannabis use, but also said no to decriminalisation.

The government appears happy to shirk responsibility, passing the role on to the police who have progressively applied an informal decriminalisation of cannabis. But in doing so politicians are hiding from their duty to the New Zealand public, and the basic premise of their existence, to address legislation that isnt working. And theyve left the application of drug law to the problematic subjectivity of the police, which appears to disproportionately benefit middle class pkeh. While just 15% of the population, Mori are 51% of the prison population perhaps New Zealands most shameful statistic and 40% of those are for drug offences.

Kiwis continue to look into the mirror and squint to see progressive world leading social reformers. But New Zealands anachronistic drug laws are stagnant and failing while much of the world is moving on from the War on Drugs.

In 2001, with one of the highest and most problematic rates of drug use is Europe, Portugal decriminalised all personal use of illicit drugs, and became the beacon of what was possible through drug law reform. The government introduced new policies on prevention, treatment, and harm reduction to support and educate drug users, seeing drug addiction as a health condition not a crime. The Portuguese approach reduced drug use in young people, reduced imprisonment of drug users, reduced H.I.V. infections and overdoses, and increased new patients seeking drug treatment.

In 2016 at the same time Americans went about electing Donald Trump, eight states had voted to adopt new medical and recreational cannabis laws. Now more than half of the US has cannabis available for medical use, and around one fifth of the population live in states where adults can get high, just to get high.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to legalise cannabis during his 2015 campaign, and in April introduced legislation to begin the process. The bill is expected to easily pass Parliament, making cannabis legal by 2018.

The Drug Foundations 2017 Symposium has brought leaders of global drug reform to parliament to show the power and potential of replacing the War on Drugs with laws that treat drug use as a health issue, not a criminal one. The issue is becoming urgent for New Zealand, but theres consistently a reluctance to change, or even talk about change. The Foundation wants to show these conversations dont need to be scary, and show there are successful models and values to build on. But it needs to happen soon.

If you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem, Potiki told the UN General Assembly. And that a major part of the world drug problem are those countries that continue to block progress towards compassionate and proportionate and health-based responses to drug use and drug users.

Right now New Zealands politicians are part of the problem. Its fear and failure to move New Zealands drug legislation towards outcomes that are optimistic and equitable, means people who need help, or have done no harm to others are criminalised. Our laws leave thousands of our most at risk citizens with convictions that forever impact their future.

If there is a war to be fought it should be a war on poverty, a war on disparity, on dispossession, said Potiki, and on the multitude of historical and political factors that have left and continue to leave so many people vulnerable and in jeopardy.

A fresh way to deal with drugs is needed more than ever in New Zealand. To debate new approaches to drug law that are fit for the 21st century, the NZ Drug Foundation is running the Through the Maze: Healthy Drug Law parliamentary symposium (5-6 July, Wellington).

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The War on Drugs is ending all over the world. Global experts arrive ... - The Spinoff