"Who would believe that a democratic government would pursue for eight decades a failed policy that produced tens of millions of victims and trillions.

Presentation on theme: ""Who would believe that a democratic government would pursue for eight decades a failed policy that produced tens of millions of victims and trillions."— Presentation transcript:

1 "Who would believe that a democratic government would pursue for eight decades a failed policy that produced tens of millions of victims and trillions of dollars of illicit profits for drug dealers, cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, increased crime and destroyed inner cities, fostered widespread corruption and violations of human rights - and all with no success in achieving the stated and unattainable objective of a drug free America?“ - Milton Friedman, winner of 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize for economic science "Who would believe that a democratic government would pursue for eight decades a failed policy that produced tens of millions of victims and trillions of dollars of illicit profits for drug dealers, cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, increased crime and destroyed inner cities, fostered widespread corruption and violations of human rights - and all with no success in achieving the stated and unattainable objective of a drug free America?“ - Milton Friedman, winner of 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize for economic science

2 How We Got Into This Mess and the Special Interests That Keep Us Here Suzanne Wills Drug Policy Forum of Texas Email - suzy@dpft.org Slides created by Nathan Kohler

3 Serving the public by providing information and expert opinion about legal and illegal drugs and the issues surrounding them. http://www.dpft.org/

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7 1906 Pure Food & Drugs Act U. S. Postal Service commemorative stamp issued January 15, 1998.

8 George Washington reportedly used laudanum to ease the pain caused by his ill fitting dentures. It was easily available until 1914. 45% alcohol with 2.964 grams of opium per fluid ounce 45% alcohol with 2.964 grams of opium per fluid ounce http://wings.buffalo.edu/aru/preprohibition.htm

9 Dr. Hamilton Wright – Set out to eradicate opium use – Harrison Narcotics Act – The creation of addict as a criminal – Was a severe alcoholic - Supported by temperance movement - - Financially supported by wife, Elizabeth Washburn Wright

10 Source: Norton Mezvinsky, "The White Ribbon Reform, 1874-1920” In 1910 there were 12,000 temperance leagues with 248,343 members. By 1920 membership had risen to 345,949.

11 “The really serious results of this legislation… “The really serious results of this legislation… will appear only gradually and will not always will appear only gradually and will not always be recognized as recognized as such. These be recognized as recognized as such. These will be the failure of promising careers, the will be the failure of promising careers, the disrupting of happy families, the commission of disrupting of happy families, the commission of crimes which will never be traced to their real crimes which will never be traced to their real cause, and the influx into hospitals for the cause, and the influx into hospitals for the mentally disordered of many who would mentally disordered of many who would otherwise live socially competent lives.” otherwise live socially competent lives.” New York Medical Journal, 1915

12 Harry J. Anslinger, Commissioner of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 1930-1962 "... the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races." 1937 degenerate races." 1937

13 http://www.conquestdesign.com/uncler/index.html

14 http://www.hempology.org Selected Weeds of the United States. Agriculture Handbook No. 366. Distribution of Cannabis sativa L.

15 Reefer Madness, was produced in 1936 with the close collaboration of the Bureau of Narcotics.

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17 - Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 ‘…to levy a token tax of approx. $1 on all buyers, sellers, importers, growers, physicians, veterinarians, and any others who deal in marijuana commercially, prescribe it professionally, or possess it.’ - 5 years prison and/or $2000 fine - Doctors had to report to Bureau of Narcotics on patients or both would be fined/ jailed unprofitable as a pharmaceutical - Made marijuana unprofitable as a pharmaceutical product product

18 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Drug Enforcement Administration _______________________________________ ) In The Matter Of ) ) Docket No. 86-22 MARIJUANA RESCHEDULING PETITION ) ______________________________________) OPINION AND RECOMMENDED RULING, FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND DECISION OF Administrative LAW JUDGE. FRANCIS L. YOUNG, Administrative Law Judge DATED: SEP 6 1988 …There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality. …Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.

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20 The World Health Organization estimates that 4 million people die each year worldwide from tobacco-related illness.

21 Fumigated food crops in Colombia. Photo by Sanho Tree, Institute for Policy Studies. Tobacco kills over 400,000 people in the U.S. every year and millions more worldwide.

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23 Inscribed: To Governor Ray Shafer...from his devoted friend Richard M. Nixon http://shafer.allegheny.edu/figures.html

24 The Shafer Commission issued its report on marijuana policy on March 22, 1972- Washington, DC - A Presidential commission's report recommends that marijuana be legalized. The Commission concluded that marijuana users "are essentially indistinguishable from their nonmarijuana using peers by any fundamental criterion other than their marijuana use." They found that, "Neither the marijuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety." The Commission recommended "Decriminalization of possession of marijuana for personal use on both the state and federal levels." Washington, DC - A Presidential commission's report recommends that marijuana be legalized. The Commission concluded that marijuana users "are essentially indistinguishable from their nonmarijuana using peers by any fundamental criterion other than their marijuana use." They found that, "Neither the marijuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety." The Commission recommended "Decriminalization of possession of marijuana for personal use on both the state and federal levels."

25 The Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding Commissioned by President Richard M. Nixon, March, 1972 "...the creation of ever-larger bureaucracies, ever-increasing expenditure of monies and an outpouring of publicity so that the public will know that 'something' is being done. Perhaps the major consequence of this... has been the creation of a vested interest in the perpetuation of the problem among those dispensing and receiving funds... In the course of well- meaning efforts to do something about drug use, this society may have inadvertently institutionalized it as a never-ending project."

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27 Proportion of 10 th graders who report ever having used marijuana/cannabis by region Proportion of 10 th graders who have used any illicit drug other than cannabis by region European Survey Project on Alcohol and Drugs (ESPAD)

28 (2002)(1985) http://www.unodc.org/pdf/trends2003_www_E.pdf

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30 http://www.gale.com/pdf/samples/sp65756X.pdf

31 http://archive.aclu.org/graphics/forfeiture_ad_sm.jpg

32 Barry McCaffrey Director of Office of National Drug Control Policy, 1996 - 2001 U.S. Prisons -  More than $55,000,000,000 a year $55,000,000,000 a year  More than 2,000,000 prisoners 2,000,000 prisoners

33 Source: 2003 ONDCP National Drug Control Strategy 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

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35 Elvy Musikka Glaucoma patient George McMahon Nail Patella Syndrome Irvin Rosenfeld-Bone disorder Corrine Millet-glaucoma patient Barb Douglass-multiple sclerosis patient patient

36 Dr. Marcus Conant Lead plaintiff Conant vs. McCaffrey (later vs. Walters) established physicians’ right to discuss Cannabis with their patients.

37 Mike and Valerie Corral at their medical marijuana hospice near Santa Cruz, California. On September 23, 2002, the hospice was raided by federal agents. The residents were held at gunpoint while their co-op garden was destroyed.

38 Angel and Robert Raich Angel Raich suffers from scoliosis, a brain tumor, chronic nausea, fatigue and pain. The Supreme Court will hear Ashcroft vs. Raich this winter to rule on her right to use cannabis as a medicine.

39 After 19 major surgeries and hundreds of pharmaceutical drugs, George McMahon now uses only Cannabis to control his Nail Patella Syndrome.

40 “The undertreatment of pain in hospitals is absolutely medieval.” Dr. Russell Portnoy Pain Center at Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital

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42 Heroin injection has often been the ignition point for AIDS outbreaks in third world cities.

43 5% of the world’s people 25% of the world’s prisoners

44 Correctional Populations in the United States, 1997 and Prisoners in 2002, U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics

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49 The clinic in Bern, Switzerland is in this building

50 "I know of no other crime prevention program with such a big reduction in theft and other serious crimes." Martin Killias, Institute of Police Science and Criminology Institute of Police Science and Criminology

51 www.nagoya-customs.go.jp/.../images/heroin. In year 2000 dollars 55 pounds of heroin was worth $128,000 on the legal market. It was worth $3.7 million on the illegal market. Source: St. Petersburg Times July 31, 2001 July 31, 2001

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53 Eddie Ellison, the former operational head of Scotland Yard's Drug Squad “I find that a policy of prohibition fails to deliver reductions in drug use or supply, provides incentives for increased crime, profits for criminal endeavour and an environment of mistrust and ignorance that is socially and educationally counter- productive. “ http://eddie.gn.apc.org/index.php?pID=1

54 Special Interests  All federal agencies  The defense industry  The pharmaceutical industry  The advertising industry and the media  The prison industry  The tobacco and liquor industries  The drug testing industry  The drug treatment industry  The home security industry  The timber industry  The international illegal drug cartels

55 Essential public policy objectives -   Enhanced public order and reduced crime.   Improved public health.   Protection of children.   Efficient use of scarce public resources. The War on Drugs has not only failed to fulfill any of these objectives, but also has exacerbated the very problems it was designed to address. King County Washington Bar Association, Drug Policy Project, 2001

56 Special Interests  All federal agencies  The defense industry  The pharmaceutical industry  The advertising industry and the media  The prison industry  The tobacco and liquor industries  The drug testing industry  The drug treatment industry  The home security industry  The timber industry  The international illegal drug cartels

57 The federal bureaucracy MDMA and INcredible research

58 Meth-ylenedioxymethamphetamine

59 Alexander T. Shulgin, Ph.D. Dr. Shulgin is a chemist, researcher, and author. With his wife, Ann, has authored the books PIHKAL and TIHKAL. Alexander T. Shulgin, Ph.D. Dr. Shulgin is a chemist, researcher, and author. With his wife, Ann, has authored the books PIHKAL and TIHKAL.

60 Oakland psychologist and psychotherapist Leo Zeff, "the Johnny Appleseed of MDMA."

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62 Maxfield Parrish : Ecstasy

63 The husband and wife “research” team Dr. George Ricaurte Dr. George Ricaurte The John S. Hopkins Medical institute The John S. Hopkins Medical institute Dr. Una McCann Dr. Una McCann National Institutes on Drug Abuse National Institutes on Drug Abuse

64 This is what the brain thinks of Ecstasy..... Any Questions? “Irretreviably flawed.” “Irretreviably flawed.” New Scientist, April 20, 2002 New Scientist, April 20, 2002

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66 The Perils The Perils of of “Ecstasy” “Ecstasy”

67 Senator Joseph Biden, (D) Delaware

68 Source: Science, Vol 301, Issue 5639, 1479 Date: 12 September 2003 Source: Science, Vol 301, Issue 5639, 1479 Date: 12 September 2003 Retraction Retraction We write to retract our report "Severe dopaminergic neurotoxicity in primates after a common recreational dose regimen of MDMA ("ecstasy")" (1), following our recent discovery that the drug used to treat all but one animal in that report came from a bottle that contained (+)- methamphetamine instead of the intended drug, (±)MDMA. Notably, (+)-methamphetamine would be expected to produce the same pattern of combined dopaminergic/serotonergic neurotoxicity (2) as that seen in the animals reported in our paper (1). We write to retract our report "Severe dopaminergic neurotoxicity in primates after a common recreational dose regimen of MDMA ("ecstasy")" (1), following our recent discovery that the drug used to treat all but one animal in that report came from a bottle that contained (+)- methamphetamine instead of the intended drug, (±)MDMA. Notably, (+)-methamphetamine would be expected to produce the same pattern of combined dopaminergic/serotonergic neurotoxicity (2) as that seen in the animals reported in our paper (1).report121report121

69 BE CAREFUL Ecstasy is illegal and a conviction for possession can carry long prison sentences. Frequent or high doses have been linked to neurotoxic damage in laboratory animals. It is still unknown whether such damage occurs in humans or, if it does, whether this has any long-term, negative consequences. Some people experience depression after taking MDMA. This is caused by MDMA's action on certain brain chemicals. There have been some deaths associated with MDMA. Usually these have been a result of heatstroke from dancing for long periods of time in hot clubs without replenishing lost body fluids. heatstroke Much of what is sold as "ecstasy" on the black market actually contains other drugs, some of which can be more dangerous than MDMA, like PMA, speed, DXM and PCP. other drugsPMAspeed DXMother drugsPMAspeed DXM Mixing ecstasy with alcohol or other drugs increases the risk of adverse reactions.

70 The defense industry Plan Colombia

71 A farmer dries his cocaine base in the sun in Monserrate. Photograph by Carlos Villalón http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0407/feature2/zoom4.html

72 2000 Plan Colombia bill-$1.3 billion $1.1 billion to buy helicopters helicopters $200 million to spray crops with glyphosate

73 Bell’s Huey II

74 Sikorsky’s Black Hawk

75 Each year the cocoa crop and the fumigation campaign move further into the Amazon jungle with disastrous results to its ecosystem.

76 Destroyed peanut crop in Colombia.

77 http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/colombia/presspack

78 500-mile oil pipeline, partly owned by 500-mile oil pipeline, partly owned by Occidental Petroleum Company of California

79 www.amazonwatch.org

80 Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland addressing the Security Council. Jan Egeland has described Colombia as “the biggest humanitarian problem, human rights problem, the biggest conflict in the Western Hemisphere.”

81 The pharmaceutical industry Medical marijuana

82 James E. Burke Chairman of Johnson & Johnson 1976-1989 Chairman of PDFA 1989-2002

83 Primary Core support The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Gifts up to $1,000,000 Betty Wold Johnson James E. and Didi Burke MetLife Foundation The Starr Foundation State of California Dept of Alcohol & Drugs Source: PDFA Annual Report 2001-2002 Gifts up to $100,000 Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation Comcast Cable Communications Consumer Healthcare Products Assoc Eastman Kodak Company HJ Heinz Company Foundation IBM Johnson & Johnson Eastman Kodak Company Pfizer Foundation, Inc. The Procter & Gamble Fund Schering-Plough Corporation ► Funding Sources 2000/2001

84 “’PhRMA’,” this lobby has a death grip on Congress”. Summer, 2002

85 Pharmaceutical corporations save millions of dollars every day that they avoid generic competition.

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87 After 19 major surgeries and hundreds of pharmaceutical drugs, George McMahon now uses only Cannabis to control his Nail Patella Syndrome.

88 The advertising industry and the media “On strategy” content and the National Youth Anti-Drug Campaign

89 November 14, 1996 meeting at the offices of then drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey: Drug Enforcement Administration Department of Justice White House Office of Drug Control Policy Department of Treasury Department of Education Department of Health and Human Services The White House Eight senior executives from private pro-drug war groups, including The Partnership for a Drug Free America

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91 Parade received more than any other publication for “on strategy” messages in its content.

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93 Media Campaign Appropriations, by Fiscal Year ($ in millions) War on Drugs: The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign by Mark Eddy YearAuthorized Adminis- tration request House passed Senate passed Final 1998$195.0$175.0$195.0$110.0$195.0 1999$195.0$195.0$185.0$110.0$185.0 2000$195.0$185.0$195.0 $ 96.5 $185.0 2001$195.0$185.0$185.0 $ 98.7 $185.0 2002$195.0$185.0$180.0$185.0$180.0 2003 $ 0.0 $180.0$170.0$100.0$150.0 2004 $170.0

94 Advertising Hall of Achievement 2003 Photo Gallery First on the left is Stephen Pasierb, President Partnership for a Drug-Free America

95 The prison industry

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97 5% of the world’s people 25% of the world’s prisoners

98 Cromwell Architects Engineers Val Verde County Jail Facility Del Rio, Texas Cromwell Architects Engineers Val Verde County Jail Facility Del Rio, Texas

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100 Unit Locations

101 Of the 55,183 Texas prisoners returned to their homes during 2001, 59% returned to just 5 counties.

102 Wackenhut Corrections Corporation “In Lockhart, Texas, we operate work program facilities for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Parole Division. As there is an inverse relationship between marketable job skills and the incidence of incarceration, we have recruited private industry to establish factories within the facilities, train offenders in appropriate skills, and pay them for their labor under the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP) program. “ “In Lockhart, Texas, we operate work program facilities for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Parole Division. As there is an inverse relationship between marketable job skills and the incidence of incarceration, we have recruited private industry to establish factories within the facilities, train offenders in appropriate skills, and pay them for their labor under the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP) program. “ Source: www.wcc-corrections.com

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104 http://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/privateprisons19872001.shtml

105 “Today, CCA is the sixth largest corrections system in the country, coming just after Texas, California, the federal government, New York, and Florida.”

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107 Congressman Pete Sessions outlines a plan to introduce a bill requiring a mandatory life sentence for anyone caught and involved in the manufacture of meth- amphetamine in the United States as Rep. Mark Souder listens. Sessions and Souder were at West Mesquite High School Monday to give a status report to residents on the Northeast Texas fight against drugs. Michael Marshall Staff photo The Mesquite News, July 24, 1997 The Mesquite News, July 24, 1997

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109 Average sentences for federal convictions (in months) Report of American Bar Association Justice Kennedy Commission, June 2004 72.7 34.3 37.7 65.2

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111 Loren Pogue 22 years for failing to stop the sale of a piece of real estate from a paid informant to under-cover DEA officers after they said they would build an airstrip and fly in drugs. Now held in the Federal Medical Center in Ft. Worth. http://www.hr95.org/hr95faces.html

112 World rank in public safety indicators (Higher rank indicates greater public safety) Source: Economic and social data ranking, European Institute of Japanese Studies Canada Switzerland

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114 Correctional Populations in the United States, 1997 and Prisoners in 2002, U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics

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116 http://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/illiteracy.shtml

117 Clarence Aaron Serving three consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole for introducing a friend to a drug dealer. http://www.hr95.org/hr95faces.html

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119 Danielle Metz Serving 3 LIFE sentences + 20 years + 20 years “…They didn't want me for anything… they wanted my husband… I couldn't tell them what I did not know." http://www.hr95.org/hr95faces.html

120 http://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/juveniles.shtml

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122 Percentage of males born in 2001 who can be expected to serve time in their lifetimes Report of American Bar Association Justice Kennedy Commission, June 2004 5.9% 16.7% 32.2%

123 164,222 inmates June, 2003 Texas spends $1.45 million a day keeping adult drug offenders locked up.

124 http://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/TX_incrates2001.shtml

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126 “Our resources are misspent, our punishments too severe, our sentences too long.” Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy to the American Bar Association, August, 2003

127 Essential public policy objectives -   Enhanced public order and reduced crime.   Improved public health.   Protection of children.   Efficient use of scarce public resources. The War on Drugs has not only failed to fulfill any of these objectives, but also has exacerbated the very problems it was designed to address. King County Washington Bar Association, Drug Policy Project, 2001

128 http://www.unodc.org/pdf/trends2003_www_E.pdf

129 http://www.unodc.org/pdf/trends2003_www_E.pdf

130 http://www.tcada.state.tx.us/research/trends/trends704.pdf

131 http://www.tcada.state.tx.us/research/trends/trends704.pdf

132 Texas adult drug use (2000) compared to high school use (2002) Texas adult drug use (2000) compared to high school use (2002) http://www.tcada.state.tx.us/research/trends/trends704.pdf 37% 32% 12% 7% 9% 3% 12% 13% 7% 1.6% 1.2%

133 Global Illicit Drug Trends (most current year available) http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/global_illicit_drug_trends.html “Data presented in this report must be interpreted with caution. All figures…are subject to updating.

134 Global Illicit Drug Trends (most current year available) http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/global_illicit_drug_trends.html “Data presented in this report must be interpreted with caution. All figures…are subject to updating.

135 http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/intel/03052/03052.pdf METHAMPHETAMINE: THE CURRENT THREAT IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC RIM September 2003 DEA-03052

136 Drug related arrests in China 1991-2003 DEA resources for law enforcement officers, intelligence reports, China: country brief http://www.usdoj/dea/pubs/intel/03081/03081.html

137 Seizures at El Paso Border Patrol sector In pounds 2000200120022003Heroin262115218 Cocaine3,1231,9913,3633,872 Marijuana305,793306,622323,083335,169 Metham- phetamine 119592706 Dallas Morning News, August 15, 2004

138 Gross National Income per capita 2003, Atlas method USASwitzerland The Netherlands AustraliaRussiaThailandChinaIranSingapore $37,610 39,880 26,310 21,650 2,610 2,190 1,100 2,000 21,230 http://www.worldbank.org/data/databytopic/GNIPC.pdf

139 Figure 2.1 Percentages Reporting Past Month Use of Any Illicit Drug among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by State: 2002 Aged 12 or Older, by State: 2002 http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k2State/html/ch2.htm#fig2.1

140 Texas per SAMSHA 2002 Total Age 12-17 Age 18-25 26 & older Past mo. use 0f illicit subs. 6.679.7317.224.14 Past mo. use of marijuana 4.875.9413.173.09 Annual 1 st use of mj 1.706.145.480.13 Past yr use of cocaine 2.381.465.821.10 Past mo. binge alcohol 23.489.9641.2622.16 Past mo. use of tobacco 29.0212.8841.4629.14 Past yr need not get trmt-ill drug 2.434.476.661.28 Past yr need not get trmt-alcohol 7.965.3617.536.52

141 General population per 2000 census Prison population per Texas Dept of Criminal Justice, Aug 2002

142 Texas prisoners by offense Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice, August, 2002 46% 19% 24% 11%

143 Religious groups which endorse a variety of drug policy reforms, including repealing mandatory minimum sentencing: National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations Progressive Jewish Alliance Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Religious Society of Friends Progressive National Baptist Convention Religious groups that support legal access to cannabis for patients who have obtained their doctors' approval: Episcopal Church United Church of Christ Unitarian Universalist Association Union for Reform Judaism United Methodist Church Progressive National Baptist Convention