from;
http://freespace.virgin.net/nick.sandberg/war-on-drugs.htm
Click Here: <A
HREF="http://freespace.virgin.net/nick.sandberg/war-on-drugs.htm">War on
Drugs ?</A>
-----
War on Drugs ?
(A brief piece dealing with some of the hidden issues behind the so-called
Drug War)
The massive and ever-increasing presence of illicit drugs within our society
is prompting much concern. The US Government's "War on Drugs" is demonstrably
not working and further considered by many to be counterproductive.
Here in the UK, the number of people using heroin is now reckoned to be
approaching 2% of the general population of some cities. Yet little effective
strategy to combat the problem appears to be forthcoming from government. And
the impression we're invariably given by the media is that there is little
that can be done except punish the user. My opinion is that there are in
truth a great number of things that could be being done, but that for various
reasons governments are highly unwilling to undertake them. Preferring
instead to bombard us with laughably ineffective media campaigns to 'just say
no' and similar.
I believe there are four principal reasons why government is allowing the
drug situation to get so out of control.
Firstly, heroin, and also cocaine, are now such major commodities, any
effective attack on their presence would inevitably have a considerable
knock-on effect on the world markets. Some analysts suggest effective action
to lower heroin and cocaine supplies could end the current bull run and cause
the market to enter a phase of depression. Something those who run the worlds
finances seem determined to prevent.
Secondly, it helps facilitate transnational corporate expansionism. In a
world where very big companies are seeking to get bigger still; to expand
their holdings, both fiscal and human; it is very useful to be able to both
socially and politically disenfranchise those persons who, for one reason or
another, do not quite fit into the corporate gameplan. Heroin achieves this
aim admirably. It is a high-strength painkiller, the action of which is to
reduce the emotional impact of incoming stimuli on the user and so lower our
response to our environment. People using heroin simply 'care' less. Junkies
typically neither vote nor riot. They are rendered socially and politically
inactive by their drug of choice and so do little to threaten the advance of
corporate culture. Some writers have noted that anarhist or anti-capitalism
groups frequently appear to be actually 'targetted' by drug gangs selling
heroin.
Thirdly, the international crime syndicates and local criminal gangs that are
the inevitable result of the illicit drug trade permit the expansion of
anti-crime legislation and the erosion of civil liberty. Greater regulation
of financial transactions, increased public surveillance by camera, and
increased "stop and search" powers for police being a few examples.
And finally, the obvious presence of a drug-using underclass within our
society provides both a useful excuse for the prevalence of many social ills
that in truth relate to government-induced social inequality and policy
failure, and serves as a "warning" to those who are attracted to a life of
non-conformity of what can happen to people who don't do as society wants.
So, what could really be being done about the drug problem?
One solution to the problem of illicit drugs was explored at a recent
international conference in New York. In June 1998, at a Special Session of
the United Nations Drug Control Programme, newly elected UNDCP head, Pino
Arlacchi, delivered an address to some 168 world leaders and their
representatives. In it he outlined his "grand plan" to eliminate heroin and
cocaine worldwide by the use of crop replacement programmes, (schemes to
encourage or compel poppy and coca farmers to switch crops to something less
damaging). Arlacchi, a former mafia-buster in his native Italy, had pioneered
such schemes in places like Burma and Afghanistan with considerable success.
Arlacchi's plan was costed at US$5 billion, divided between participating
nations and spread over ten years. This is not a lot of money, especially
when one considers that the US State Department openly admits illicit drugs
cost the US economy alone over $75 billion per annum. There are problems but
Arlacchi insists they could be overcome.
(What is also interesting about Arlacchi's plan is that, despite the presence
of Clinton and countless other world leaders at its unveiling, barely a word
of it has escaped to the media. In the UK, to the best of my knowledge, it
has not attracted a single column centimetre of coverage in any major
newspaper. In a country where tales of playground drug dealers regale our
front pages on a weekly basis, it seems it's decided no-one would be
interested in hearing about a UN head who says he can eliminate drugs at
source! Needless to say, the plan to eliminate heroin and cocaine has
received virtually no funding to date).
In addition, much recent research reveals that drug addiction is not some
random social ill induced by hedonistic lifestyles or poverty, but rather a
"coping stategy" used by people who've suffered childhood trauma. If further
resources were diverted to both informing the public of this and treating the
cause of the problem not the symptom, great progress in the battle against
addiction would very likely result.
And finally, many people are also not aware of the existence of substances
that can eliminate the symptoms of withdrawal associated with drug addiction.
The most noteworthy of which being ibogaine, an indole alkaloid derived from
an African plant source. Ibogaine, in addition to removing withdrawal
symptomology, is beneficially oneirogenic. Meaning it induces a dreamlike
state in which the user can begin to examine his or her drug-using behaviour
from a new perspective, frequently helping to facilitate long-term drug
abstinence.
To sum up, I believe that if people want to see an end to the problems drugs
are presenting within their communities they need to stop listening to the
opinions relayed to them by the media and go out explore the issues for
themselves.
-----
Aloha, He'Ping,
Om, Shalom, Salaam.
Em Hotep, Peace Be,
All My Relations.
Omnia Bona Bonis,
Adieu, Adios, Aloha.
Amen.
Roads End
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