The head of the UN drug watchdog agency is pressing US federal officials to challenge ballot measures in Colorado and Washington that decriminalized marijuana, in blatant disrespect for what the people voted for in those states.
Raymond Yans, who heads the International Narcotics Control Board, said legalization sends “a wrong message to the rest of the nation and it sends a wrong message abroad.”
Yans told The Associated Press on Tuesday he hopes US Attorney General Eric Holder “will take all the necessary measures” to ensure that marijuana possession and use remains illegal. Apparently a democratic vote to decide what substances people can put in their own bodies isn’t enough to overcome state violence against non-violence drug users.
Leaders in Latin America have repeatedly voiced support for legalization and decriminalization as a way to cut down on drug war violence, undermine the cartels, and preclude US meddling in the region. But the powers that be in Washington have vehemently battered this down.
Now, after democratic votes for legalization in Washington and Colorado, there may be an opening. Presidents from Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Costa Rica said on Monday that trends toward marijuana legalization in the US would make enforcement of prohibitionist policies in Latin America difficult to abide
“The four called for the Organization of American States to study the impact of the Colorado and Washington votes and said the United Nations’ General Assembly should hold a special session on the prohibition of drugs by 2015 at the latest,”according to the Associated Press.
The drug war justifies all kinds of aggressive US foreign policies in the region, supporting repressive governments and para-militaries, while allowing the prohibitionist policies to deepen the black market in drugs and embolden violent drug gangs.
Legalization, the ONLY way to go. Power To The People…
To summarize : this is what is called "Selective Democracy" 🙂
Is it still "legal" if the State says it is but the Feds say it isn't? I've not seen any indication that any state has stood up to the Feds – stopping them (the Feds) from prosecuting (arrest, indictment, and prosecution) citizens of a state despite a state law to the contrary. I want to see a State tell the Feds they do not have the authority to arrest & prosecute someone in the State. Until that happens (and the State wins in court – because the Feds will take it to the courts), then passing these types of laws are a waste of time and effort.
It is definitely NOT a waste of time. At the federal level, there is overwhelming support for keeping marijuana illegal. The timber industry does not want competition from the legal hemp producers that will spring up. The corporate prison industry does not want to lose the profits from housing all those convicted of possession. The large banks don't want to lose the profits they get from laundering drug money. All these groups and others spend money (in Washington, mainly) to keep the drug laws as they are. The only way to bring this issue to a head is to have a state vs federal fight, preferably involving multiple states. The citizens of Colorado and Washington will back their state govt in a fight with the feds since they are the ones who voted for legalization. I just hope more states will pass either legalization or decriminalization measures before the fight comes so that we have the feds and their courts against everyone else. By making this a state vs federal power issue, even those states that are less likely to legalize marijuana will see some value in beating back Washington's power. And, if drug related violence subsides in those states where marijuana is legal, the other states could eventually legalize it as well. There is no other avenue to legalization as Washington is controlled by interests that make money by keeping things the way they are.
Raymond wishes to keep his job
this dude is in the dictionary next to Pud … If he wants to govern coke and heroin and ciggs and liquor feel free but this is a plant in plant form go get another job UN d-uchebag a–wipe