Introduction
Its crazy to think that the laws surrounding cannabis are causing more harm than the actual drug itself. Over the past decades public opinion about cannabis has shifted and there is now more people than ever who are supporting the legalization cause. However in the vast majority of places cannabis remains illegal, you have to think to yourself who could benefit from this? The two groups of people who stand to benefit from the illegality of cannabis are politicians and drug dealers, one of these groups are morally bankrupt scumbags while the other sells drugs.
US Impact On Global Drug Policy
“The United States has largely dictated international drug laws for decades, and now that it’s becoming clear that Americans will no longer stand with these failed drug policies, we see other countries moving ahead as well,” Tvert tells Quartz. “Fedotov’s statements may make it awkward for the federal government, but they won’t stop the momentum toward ending marijuana prohibition.” Worldwide drug policy has been dictated by the US government who still to this day try to promote a ‘tough stance’ on drugs abroad. Now that we know to thank USA for the flawed international drug law then we should look at why they pushed for the laws in the first place.
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act into law… “The law has resulted in 25 years of disproportionately harsh prison sentences for defendants who are disproportionately black. It called for felony charges and mandatory minimum prison sentences for anyone caught with even a small amount of cocaine; inexplicably, it triggered the mandatory sentences for crack cocaine possession at 1/100 the amount of powder cocaine. Rather than rooting out the traffickers, it filled the country’s jails with blacks and Hispanics, who in some cases serve more time for possession than convicted murderers.”
Racist Undertones of US War On Drugs
Ethan Nadelmann, who is the founder and executive director of Drug Policy Alliance, which is a not-for-profit organization working towards ending the failed war on drugs. He had this to say about the current war on drugs which politicians are still hopelessly supporting.
“Look at the murder and mayhem in Mexico, Central America, so many other parts of the planet, the global black market estimated at 300 billion dollars a year, prisons packed in the United States and elsewhere, police and military drawn into an unwinnable war that violates basic rights, and ordinary citizens just hope they don’t get caught in the crossfire, and meanwhile, more people using more drugs than ever. It’s my country’s history with alcohol prohibition and Al Capone, times 50.”
He went on to say that “When hundreds of thousands of Chinese started showing up in my country, working hard on the railroads and the mines and then kicking back in the evening just like they had in the old country with a few puffs on that opium pipe, that’s when you saw the first drug prohibition laws in California and Nevada, driven by racist fears of Chinese transforming white women into opium-addicted sex slaves.
The first cocaine prohibition laws, similarly prompted by racist fears of black men sniffing that white powder and forgetting their proper place in Southern society. And the first marijuana prohibition laws, all about fears of Mexican migrants in the West and the Southwest.”
Its sad to see that the USA’s drug legislation, which they forced upon the whole world, was racially motivated from the start.
Politicians Are Reluctant To Change
Is it not embarrassing for politicians when they realize that the biggest supporters of their outdated drug laws are the drug dealers themselves. When I talk about drug dealers I don’t just mean people selling a bit of weed or coke, big pharmaceutical companies also fall under this term. Parents are always worried about stories of drug dealers pushing drugs on kids outside schools however they are fine with dosing their young children up with powerful opiates because the government told them they are safe.
Big Pharma are scared of cannabis becoming legal as the idea of a plant that can be grown in your back garden and can be used to treat a host of medical issues scares them. Anything which effects the profits of big companies is always going to be treated as a threat which is why we so much lobbying from the big pharma groups when it comes to anti weed legislation.
Also when will politicians realize that you cant use the ‘save the kids’ argument any more. Why do they pretend to care about our kids so much when they don’t even care about us. The argument that legalizing cannabis would make it easily accessible to children is bullshit, when I was under legal age it was so easy to get drugs because guess what?… dealers don’t ask for ID. For example I would be able to get weed within 10 mins of making one phone call, however after that I would have to walk from shop to shop trying to get served for tobacco but because of the age regulation it was always a lot harder than actually getting the drugs.
Please politicians wake up and see what the people actually want, your outdated drug policies are causing huge amount of pain and suffering around the whole globe, please think about someone other than yourself for once.
Signed – A pothead who doesn’t wanna go to jail for a plant.
