War On Drugs

[cyberus]

This is an old one I found, I just touched it up a bit.


The government controls everyone with drugs.  Fuck mass media, fuck subliminal messages, fuck most of that tin-foil hat shit, it's all about drugs, both legal and not.  First off, way back in the day, the government was concerned with the blacks.  Damn near every white person still wasn't quite sure about them after the civil war, both north and south.  Mind you, cocaine was a legal drug back then, it was in all kinds of elixers and "energy drinks" of the time.  Then all of a sudden people started realizing that's not very good for you.  Health report after health report came out outlining the dangers of cocaine use.  Sigmund Freud, once a great supporter of cocaine, went through an addiction, and a nasty withdrawl period.  But it took some hick who claimed that cocaine made black people go crazy and rape white women, to finally get it taken away in the Harrison Act circa 1914.  1914 was the same year that opium too, found it's way to the no-no corner.  While many opium derivatives are still in use today(Morphine being the most widely known, but the prescription drug Oxycontin is also an opium derivative,) the plant itself will definately get you a nice time-out from uncle sam.  Want to know why?  The Chinese people were the biggest sourse of opium in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th century.  In 1875 opium smoking was outlawed in San Francisco. Why?  Among other things, it was suggested that chinese men who were high on opium were seducing white women in their opium dens.

Next we come to Marijuana, essentially outlawed in the Marihuana Tax Act circa 1937.  Now why would they outlaw this mellow little plant?  Surely it doesn't make some minority go crazy and try to rape white women.  No, it makes Everybody go crazy and murder and rape and steal.  Everything that's unsavory to do, you do when you're high on marijuana.  We can  thank Harry J. Anslinger for the propaganda tirade that hit Amerika in the 20's and 30's.  Although, he did make one critical blunder that goes to show just how societally driven this 'war' on drugs actually was.  In the course of the House hearings, Representative John Dingell of Michigan remarked, "I am just wondering whether the marijuana addict graduates into a heroin, an opium, or a cocaine user."  Commissioner Anslinger replied, "No, sir; I have not heard of a case of that kind. The marijuana addict does not go in that direction."  By 1955, however, Commissioner Anslinger was testifying before a Senate committee that "eventually if used over a long period, [marijuana] does lead to heroin addiction."  Also, No medical testimony in favor of the proposed federal anti-marijuana law was presented at the 1937 Congressional hearings. Indeed, the only physician to testify was a representative of the American Medical Association,Äì,Äì and he opposed the bill.  Marijuana, he pointed out, was a recognized medicine in good standing, distributed by leading pharmaceutical firms, and on sale at many pharmacies. At least twenty-eight medicinal products containing marijuana were on the market in 1937.  The AMA actually opposed the entire legislation, even though the proposed law would still give physicians the right to prescribe marijuana, and pharmacists the right to distribute it.  The May 1, 1937 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association has this to say:

"After more than twenty years of federal effort and the expenditure of millions of dollars, the opium and cocaine habits are still widespread. The best efforts of an efficient bureau of narcotics, supplemented by the efforts of an equally efficient bureau of customs, have failed to stop the unlawful flow of opium and coca leaves and their compounds and derivatives, on which the continuance and spread of narcotic addiction depends. The best efforts of the Public Health Service to find means for the prevention and cure of narcotic addiction have not yet accomplished that end. Two federal narcotic farms, operating under the supervision and control of the U.S. Public Health Service, cannot yet guarantee the cure of narcotic addiction. What reason is there, then, for believing that any better results can be obtained by direct federal efforts to suppress a habit arising out of the misuse of such a drug as cannabis? Certainly it is almost as easy to smuggle into the country and to distribute as are opium and coca leaves. Moreover it can be cultivated in many parts of the United States and grows wild in field and forest and along the highways in many places."

BOOYAH USA, the AMA just owned you.  But, nevertheless, the drug was still outlawed.

Next, I think we'll talk about alcohol.  First banned in 1918, as the distrust of the immigrant population within the country peaked, especially the anti-German sentiment that had swept the nation in anticipation of WWI.  The Great War gave the teetotalers fresh ammo.  Brewers and retailers were depicted as treacherously shooting Amerikan soldiers in the back because labor and materials were allegedy being diverted from the war effort to fuel an industry that greatly reduced the country's ability to properly defend itself.  It was said that a wartime prohibition would allow the use of grain and molasses to go towards helping the wartime effort, rather than hurting it.

"Liquor is a menace to patriotism because it puts beer before country," touted Prohibitionist Wayne Wheeler. The fact that the names Pabst, Schlitz, and Blatz broadcast their national origin only did further injury to their interests.  As such, the Wartime Prohibition Act hit the country in 1918.

So, fast forward to 1933, everything is illegal, marijuana is on it's way out the door, with many states having already outlawed it, and Henry J Anslinger cranking the great propaganda wheel for nearly a year.  I wonder what's happening in our country?  People are flipping out.  Everything is illegal and they don't like it.  They can't have a drink after work, can't snort some coke off a strippers backside, shit, these people are probably damn scared to light a cigarette the wrong way, and they are letting the government know.  At the 1932 National Democratic Convention, Franklin D Roosevelt, accepting his nomination, had this to say;

"I congratulate this convention for having had the courage, fearlessly to write into its declaration of principles what an overwhelming majority here assembled really thinks about the 18th Amendment. This convention wants repeal. Your candidate wants repeal. And I am confident that the United States of America wants repeal."

And goddamn, if he didn't get elected in a landslide, with 54.7% of the popular vote, and 472 of the 531 electoral votes.  And since then, I'm sure alcohol has been the favorite drug of control over the Amerikan people.  It dulls the pain of having a shit government, it dulls the pain of making shit money while the richest 5% of the population control the world, it dulls the pain of not having a college education, it dulls the pain of anyfuckingthing they want it to.

Now, let's get a little tripped out, maaaan.  Back in 1943, Dr Albert Hoffman, a research chemist, probably had the best day of his life.  He had been working with some ergot derivatives, one of which being LSD25(d-lysergic acid diethylamide,) and accidentally managed to dose himself.  Naturally, he took the day off work, and went home "ill."  A few days later, he had a chance to document these strange feelings;

"Last Friday ... I had to interrupt my laboratory work in the middle of the afternoon and go home, because I was seized with a feeling of great restlessness and mild dizziness. At home, I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant delirium, which was characterized by extremely excited fantasies. In a semiconscious state, with my eyes closed (I felt the daylight to be unpleasantly dazzling), fantastic visions of extraordinary realness and with an intense kaleidoscopic play of colors assaulted me. After about two hours this condition disappeared."

Not bad, eh?  Now LSD is currently measured in micrograms, that's one millionth of a gram, that's how potent it is.  An average hit of acid contains anywhere from 30-100 micrograms, and that should do you just fine.  Now, a few days later Dr. Hoffman decided to further test the effects of the previously untested ergot derivative, and dosed himself with -what he thought- was a measly dose of 0.75 milligrams(750 micrograms=7.5-25 HITS.)  He was in for a rough day.  He outlines the effects here;

"At this point, the laboratory notes are discontinued; the last words were written only with great difficulty. I asked my laboratory assistant to accompany me home, as I believed that I should have a repetition of the disturbance of the previous Friday. While we were cycling home, however, it became clear that the symptoms were much stronger than the first time. I had great difficulty in speaking coherently, my field of vision swayed before me, and objects appeared distorted like images in curved mirrors. I had the impression of being unable to move from the spot, although my assistant told me afterwards that we had cycled at a good pace. Once I was at home, the physician was called.

By the time the doctor arrived, the peak of the crisis had already passed. As far as I remember, the following were the most outstanding symptoms: vertigo; visual disturbances; the faces of those around me appeared as grotesque, colored masks; marked motoric unrest, alternating with paralysis; an intermittent heavy feeling in the head, limbs, and the entire body, as if they were filled with lead; dry, constricted sensation in the throat; feeling of choking; clear recognition of my condition, in which state I sometimes observed, in the manner of an independent, neutral observer; that I shouted half-insanely or babbled incoherent words. Occasionally, I felt as if I were out of my body.

The doctor found a rather weak pulse, but an otherwise normal circulation.... Six hours after ingestion of the LSD, my condition had already improved considerably. Only the visual disturbances were still pronounced. Everything seemed to sway and the proportions were distorted like reflections in the surface of moving water. Moreover, all the objects appeared in unpleasant, constantly changing colors, the predominant shades being sickly green and blue. When I closed my eyes, an unending series of colorful, very realistic and fantastic images surged in upon me. A remarkable feature was the manner in which all acoustic perceptions, (e.g. the noise of a passing car), were transformed into optical effects, every sound evoking a corresponding colored hallucination constantly changing in shape and color like pictures in a kaleidoscope. At about one o'clock, I fell asleep and awoke the next morning feeling perfectly well."

Maybe a little freaky, if you don't know what you're getting into, right?  Did he mention either homicidal or suicidal feelings?  How about the notion that he had gone insane?  Not really.  Actually, from then on until the early sixties, LSD was explored from many different avenues of psychology, studies of chemotherapeutic properties of LSD, exploration of euphoric and antidepressive effect of LSD, shock-inducing properties of LSD and its effect on personality structure, therapeutic use of the abreactive effect of LSD, use of the activating effect of LSD on chronic and fixated symptoms, and many more, I'm sure.  Shit, even the CIA used LSD in it's MKULTRA project, which was amassed to discover a "truth serum" among other things.  In a 1977 Senate hearing, CIA director Stansfield Turner testified;
"Senator INOUYE. ...Admiral Turner, MKULTRA subproject 3 was a project involving the surreptitious administration of LSD on unwitting persons, was it not?

Admiral TURNER. Yes, sir.

Senator INOUYE. In February 1954, and this was in the very early stages of MKULTRA, the Director of Central Intelligence wrote to the technical services staff officials criticizing their judgment because they had participated in an experiment involving the administration of LSD on an unwitting basis to Dr. Frank Olson, who later committed suicide. Now, the individuals criticized were the same individuals who were responsible for subproject 3, involving exactly the same practices. Even though these individuals were clearly aware of the dangers of surreptitious administration and had been criticized by the Director of Central Intelligence, subproject 3 was not terminated immediately after Dr. Olson's death.  In fact, according to documents, it continued for a number of years. Can you provide this committee with any explanation of how such testing could have continued under these circumstances?

Admiral TURNER. No, sir, I really can't."

Even the government thinks there's something to this drug, but as soon as those goddamned long-hair hippie faggots got ahold of it, the shit hit the fan.  Starting in the early 60's, the Amerikan public, awash in a new counter-culture movement, of which LSD was a headliner of, was inundated once again by bullshit propaganda.  The American Indians who used hallucinogenic drugs learned long ago that the expectations present in the mind of a user before he takes the drug are among the major factors determining the nature of his reaction to the drug; they took the drug within a framework that dictated favorable expectations. Scientists subsequently confirmed this phenomenon for LSD itself.  Dr. Sidney Cohen, for example, had noted in 1960 that "those with excessive initial apprehension" are particularly likely to experience bad trips.  So they let the mudslinging begin.  All of a sudden, LSD makes you insane, LSD makes you jump off of buildings and out of windows, LSD makes you homicidal, suicidal, LSD is cut with strychnine, if you take too much, you'll be poisoned.  And so it was; from 1962 to 1969, there was a dramatic increase in hospitalizations and LSD-related accidents, and yet, it wasn't because there were an increased number of people using the drug, the proportions of adverse effects per 1,000 users also increased, now what does that tell you?  Not to mention law enforcement didn't help one bit.  Imagine getting thrown in jail with a head full of acid, I know you'd rather not, but just think about it for a second.  Now imagine fucking around in a field, tripping your balls off, which do you think is more likely to cause adverse effects?  Prime example:  June 21, 1967, 5,000 tablets of the LSD-like drug STP were distributed without charge at a celebration in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Scores of young people suffered bad trips; 60 of the 5,000 users came to professional attention. Of the 60, 32 were treated at the Haight-Ashbury Medical Clinic. All but one of these 32 patients were returned to their homes or to the care of their friends within a few hours, following explanation and very mild sedation, seven other users, however, were arrested and imprisoned,Äì,Äì and then, as their symptoms grew worse, were taken to the San Francisco General Hospital. They suffered much more severe and prolonged illnesses.  These patients differed from those seen at the Clinic, not so much in the intensity of their reaction as in its management. In the supportive atmosphere of the room of a friend or the Clinic, the patient recognized the drug-induced nature of his experience. If he was incarcerated, his paranoid, hallucinatory behavior was intensified and prolonged.  Fucking Duh.  And So, with a not-so grand hurrah, LSD got the dunce cap in 1967, more as an attempt to disarm the counter-culture than anything else.  It's been a hush-hush topic for 30-some years, but now many psychologists, doctors, and scientists are calling for it's return, at least for clinical testing.

This is the juicy bit here;  nowadays, with everything all fine and illegal, the government can make a killing in fines, it can pull so-called undesirables off the streets at a moments notice, they can bust into your house, shit, they could probably kill your cat if they wanted to, and it would all be A-okay as long as it's part of the war on drugs.  Hmm, how do we let gangs kill each other off so we don't have to deal with them?  Crack/cocaine.  How do we keep people from realizing their ghetto life is shit?  Crack/cocaine.  How can we arrest teenagers for meaningless offenses just to teach them that we have total control?  Marijuana/Alcohol/LSD/etc/etc.  But wait!  What if this backfires, and the gangs get too powerful?  What if crackheads start commiting crimes to feed their habit?  What do we do then?  Simple, just arrest them for using the drugs we want them to use.

The only reason drugs are the scourge of today's society is because we let the government control them.

[P3nT4gR4m]

I like this one

Reminded of the Burroughs line in teh movie Drugstore Cowboy - cant remember it verbatim but went along the lines of "The government has systematically demonised the narcotics"

[Shit]

DARE TO BE FREE-DRUG!

[Cain]

That reminds me a lot of this passage:

So we got us a war on drugs? War, all right ,Äî but not on drugs. Think the government would cut their own throats? The war,Äôs been going on for a long, long time, and,Äôll go on for a long time to come. War,Äôs still going on, but the good guys have already lost. Started a long time ago, like I said, in World War II. OSS cut a deal with Lucky Luciano for the mafia to control Italian waterfronts after we invaded Italy. Maybe you heard of the heroin network they set up ,Äî the French Connection? Luciano got the stuff from Turkey, processed it in Marseilles and Sicily. OSS (the CIA) and French Secret Service got the stuff to America. I mean ,Äî look, all you,Äôve got to do is look. The United States goes into Europe and the Middle East, the country gets flooded with heroin.

We go into Southeast Asia, they declare a war on drugs. Cut off the Marseilles supply. The heroin and the hashish and the opium start coming in from the Golden Triangle, shipped through ,ÄòAir America,,Äô the CIA,Äôs bogus airlines. We shift attention to South America and Central America. Suddenly heroin,Äôs not the problem. Suddenly everyone,Äôs doing cocaine. Now we got us a war on the Mendellin Cartel? Ri-i-ight. I hear heroin,Äôs making a comeback. Grown in Afghanistan. Now doesn,Äôt the Company happen to be in Afghanistan, helping all those hill rebels overthrow the Soviet puppet government? Funny how the traditional cash crop of those hill rebels is opium poppies.

Funny how the Mendellin Cartel was buying weapons for the Company to supply the Contras with.

Funny how the Golden Triangle opium lords are all Chinese refugees. Ex-Kumintang.

Funny how the Company was using ,Äòem against the reds, back in the old days. And on and on, all the way back to Luciano.

Don,Äôt make the mistake of thinking the Company thinks for itself. They might have carte blanche, sure. I think it was their idea to flood the country with LSD back in the 60's just to test the stuff ,Äî but they don,Äôt give the orders. They don,Äôt call the shots. They,Äôre told what to do.

America,Äôs not a fit place to live anymore. See, I know who,Äôs behind the drugs. And I know why.  You,Äôve got to look for the money. Let,Äôs say you,Äôve got people who need their operations funded.  They go to Congress for the money, and what happens? What happens is they,Äôve got to tell people what the money,Äôs for. If you,Äôre trying to keep things secret, that,Äôs not such a hot idea. So you,Äôve got to get lots of money from somewhere. Hidden money that nobody can find. Money that won,Äôt stop coming. Drug money. So they got money, and I think that,Äôs all they wanted when they started.
I don,Äôt think they figured out the side benefits at first ,Äî but they,Äôre smart. Didn,Äôt take them long.

See, they had to sell the drugs to somebody. Heroin, cocaine, marijuana, whatever. So who,Äôs most likely to buy ,Äòem? They ended up at the fringes of American society ,Äî the people who,Äôre most likely to be trouble somewhere down the line. I,Äôm talking your blacks, your hippies, whatever. They start using the stuff, makes ,Äòem feel like they,Äôre being defiant. Shaking a fist at ,Äòthe man.,Äô And pretty soon their energies are all focused on drugs. Usin,Äô ,Äòem, figuring where the money,Äôll come to buy ,Äòem. Sellin,Äô ,Äòem, ,Äòcause that,Äôs where the money is ,Äî and ,Äòthe man,Äô is where the money,Äôs going to! Hell, you got kids focused on drugs, they ain,Äôt about to get political. Too busy financing gutter capitalism. They make sure everyone associates minorities with drugs. Racism goes up, ,Äòdecent white folk,Äô get nervous. People start demanding more police, more laws, more jails. Keep ,Äòem down. You get armies used to acting as cops, society tightens up. It,Äôs easier for them to control things when everybody,Äôs afraid.

Y,Äôknow, Vietnam sort of shut down their right to drop armies anywhere in the world. War on communism? Passe,Äô stuff. War on terrorism? Can,Äôt keep that going forever without looking wimpy. But a war on drugs? Ah! You,Äôve got to use all your resources. Got to give intelligence back the power to operate anywhere, without question. Got to make sure the President can put troops anywhere in the world, without question. Got to declare war on your own people, teach ,Äòem to be snitches. Test ,Äòem without giving them a choice. And every patriotic citizen lines up to go along with the crackdown. America,Äôs become a place where they wave a flag at you and expect your brains to go out the window. And anyone who stands up to say what,Äôs really going on gets accused of being ,Äòsoft on drugs.,Äô And you know what the best part is? The bigger the war on drugs, the higher the price goes, and the more money it,Äôs worth.

A war on drugs? That,Äôs a laugh. An excuse for repression, that,Äôs what it is. There,Äôs a war on drugs, all right, but the only thing they really fight for is like, who brings the stuff in . . . and who ends up with the money."

,Äî Steven Grant, as adapted from the work of John Judge and transcribed in Whisper # 36 (May 1990)

[Dr. Cow Ass]

^Wow!

A bit of a mind fuck on that one. Thx for posting, will definitely re-read and distribute.

[cyberus]

I really like that Cain.  I suppose I should have touched more on how the gov has control of the drug trade as well.  But yeah, they do sound similar.

[Ambassador KAOS]

 

[LMNO]

Hell, you got kids focused on drugs, they ain,Äôt about to get political.

[Cain]

Personally, I think that will be the downfall of Al-Qaeda.  They've recruited drug runners and professional criminals for the past couple of years, whereas before you had to be clean to get in.  As their economy becomes bound up in the drug trade, they'll take their eye off the terror ball.

[Dr. Cow Ass]

^I agree.

If someone convinces the new kids that they can make money in the drug trade, and help their family/ living situation that way, they aren't going to aspire to becoming a militant or suicide bomber.

Money is a far more powerful control tool than religion, though I'm guessing many of the young uninformed middle easterners that get involved in Alqaueda and extremist groups don't realize how profitable that poppy felid they live next too is.


It's always the guys on top that brainwash the young and profit from it, no matter where you live.

[Cain]

I have to disagree on the suicide bomber notion.  Suicide bombers self-select, they always have done.  Many come from stable backgrounds, in fact before 2001 Al-Qaeda was almost entirely comprised of middle class, University educated professionals.  They already had plenty of incentive to live, so its not on that basis they would change their minds.

Its simply that as they become more caught up in keeping control of their drug markets to finance terrorist attacks, they will invariably come into conflict with other traffickers.  The Iranians, Hezbollah, Turkish organized crime, Shi'ite groups...and thats just local to Iraq region.  They become black market suppliers, not terrorists.  They'll have to put resources into securing resources, taking the fight away from US troops or the new Iraqi government, or Pakistan or wherever.  And who they are fighting against are well entrenched, so it wont be easy.

[LMNO]

So, we can win the war on terror if we cease the war on (some) drugs?

[Dr. Cow Ass]

I have to disagree on the suicide bomber notion.  Suicide bombers self-select, they always have done.  Many come from stable backgrounds, in fact before 2001 Al-Qaeda was almost entirely comprised of middle class, University educated professionals.  They already had plenty of incentive to live, so its not on that basis they would change their minds.

Did not know that. I was thinking that most of the suicide bombers were taken from the uninformed poor. I should have been smarter though, college students are always kicking up the most shit, especially when it comes to politics.

[Cain]

I have to disagree on the suicide bomber notion.  Suicide bombers self-select, they always have done.  Many come from stable backgrounds, in fact before 2001 Al-Qaeda was almost entirely comprised of middle class, University educated professionals.  They already had plenty of incentive to live, so its not on that basis they would change their minds.

Did not know that. I was thinking that most of the suicide bombers were taken from the uninformed poor. I should have been smarter though, college students are always kicking up the most shit, especially when it comes to politics.

http://www.fpri.org/enotes/20041101.middleeast.sageman.understandingterrornetworks.html

Even the Palestinians have more walk on candidates than they do poor kids willing to blow themselves up because someone offered their family cash.

[AFK]

So, we can win the war on terror if we cease the war on (some) drugs?

The war on drugs should be ceased anyway.  It's based on the same failed logic that the war in Iraq is.

If we get them there they won't attack us here.