Good read on Jamaica -Jamaica bleeds for our 'war on drugs'

[malaise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/may/26/jamaica-kingston-drugs-trade
<snip>
The challenge for the Jamaican people, after that, is to understand the roots of political corruption and armed violence and seek ways to disentangle organised crime from politics, business, the state and civil society more generally. Removing guns and corruption from the body politic is not going to be easy and cannot be achieved by military firepower: war on the streets of Kingston is the problem, not the solution. It will require a peace process akin to the Northern Ireland experience, perhaps with truth and reconciliation, and certainly with some means to decommission weapons and demobilise the young men in corner crews who define themselves as "soldiers" fighting on the front line of garrison communities.

There is a wider challenge facing the region and the international community. The "war on drugs" has not only failed, but positively promotes corruption and armed violence – not only in the Caribbean, but also across Central and South America, West Africa and in the inner cities of Europe and North America.

Could the tragic loss of life in Jamaica bring the world to its senses? People are sick of warfare. We should instead direct resources to building a lasting peace.

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Free the weed!

:beer:

[Webster Green]

2. It's very sad.

It's way past the time to reduce the harm, and legalize drugs.

While they're at it, they need to bring back the Quaaludes too. They were great! :smoke:

[Warpy]

3. Ugh, Quaaludes and alcohol were a violent and vomitous combination

I would hope people would be able to choose among better psychoactive alternatives.

Heroin users are the most peaceful, just sit in a corner and snore.

[Webster Green]

5. Yeah, I've an affinity for that as well.

Ludes and booze is kind of overkill. Better to just eat a couple and then fuck.

[malaise]

7. What are Quaaludes

That's the first time I've heard about them.

[Fumesucker]

8. Methaqualone, a powerful downer..

Not "meth", the name is just similar but they are quite different drugs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methaqualone

[malaise]

12. Thanks all

:D

[Webster Green]

10. Downer/aphrodisiac

From wiki:

Methaqualone is a sedative-hypnotic drug that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general CNS depressant. Its use peaked in the 1960s and 1970s as a hypnotic, for the treatment of insomnia, and as a sedative and muscle relaxant. It has also been used illegally as a recreational drug, commonly known as Quaaludes (pronounced /ˈkweɪluːdz/ KWAY-loodz) (particularly in the 1970s in North America)

Methaqualone was manufactured in the United States under the name Quaalude by the pharmaceutical giants "Rorer" and "Lemmon" with the numbers 714 stamped on the tablet, so people often referred to Quaaludes as 714's, and also as "Lemmons". After the legal manufacture of the drug ended in the United States in 1982, underground laboratories in Mexico continued illegal manufacture of methaqualone all through the 1980's, continuing the use of the "714" stamp, until their popularity waned in the early 1990's.

They were so popular for recreational use, that the government put a ban on their manufacture.

Ah yes, the '70s.

Didn't mean to hijack your thread with stupid shit. I'm very saddened by the events in Jamaica. Did they kill Dudas? I heard somewhere that they did.

[Blue_Tires]

4. ttt

[Kringle]

6. how much is the US paying Jamaica, to attack Kingston? nt

[Fumesucker]

9. The drug war is doing exactly what it has been designed to do..

Which is why it is one of the most "bipartisan" policies in Washington, enthusiastically supported by virtually all politicians of both major parties.

Notably, Vice President Joe Biden is a very strong drug warrior and indeed was the driving force behind instigating the office of the "drug czar"..

[Webster Green]

13. That's for sure.

It gives a lot of power to the police state, and keeps the prison machine generating money for guards and contractors while bleeding the states dry.

Petro-chemical big-shots don't have to worry about hemp replacing all their poisonous products.

The media is to blame as much as chickenshit politicians (like Obama and Clinton for example). The so called "liberal media" cannot resist a good pot bust story. They simply cannot. (tee-hee...pot...tee-hee). And, I would bet most of the news roadies covering the busts are stoned as shit.

[Swamp Rat]

11. k&r