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March 26, 2009
Futility as Usual
Attempts by governments to ban popular drugs had been failing for centuries, but that didn’t deter the UN from promulgating a treaty supported by an aging Harry Anslinger who had just became a UN Narcotics Commissioner after his forced retirement from the FBN in 1962.That Anslinger’s 1937 ban on marijuana would become a central element of global policy years in advance of Nixon’s drug war is a tragedy that goes well beyond mere irony; Yet it’s also undeniable: being found in possession of even a tiny amount can be grounds for the arrest and detention of unlucky travelers in every international port of entry.
Yet prohibition is still an abysmal failure, as illustrated by reports from the US Mexican Border and by similar events in drug producing nations (think Burma, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Colombia) over the past fifteen years. Indeed, the carnage in Mexico may simply represent its increasing importance as a “source country” for methamphetamine.
Finally, continued passive global acceptance of the planet’s futile drug policy is also being signaled by the lack of criticism of President Obama’s promise of continuing American support for the folly our domestic "war on drugs" has inflicted on Mexico.
Doctor Tom
Posted by tjeffo at March 26, 2009 06:10 PM