Jimmy Carter: Call Off the Global Drug War

In an Op-Ed piece for The Opinions Page of New York Times dated 16 June 2011, Jimmy Carter, 39th president, founder of the Carter Center and the winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, writes regarding the Global Commission on Drug Policy Report (www.abovetopsecret.com...):

The report describes the total failure of the present global antidrug effort, and in particular America’s “war on drugs,” which was declared 40 years ago today. It notes that the global consumption of opiates has increased 34.5 percent, coc aine 27 percent and cannabis 8.5 percent from 1998 to 2008. Its primary recommendations are to substitute treatment for imprisonment for people who use drugs but do no harm to others, and to concentrate more coordinated international effort on combating violent criminal organizations rather than nonviolent, low-level offenders.

These recommendations are compatible with United States drug policy from three decades ago. In a message to Congress in 1977, I said the country should decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, with a full program of treatment for addicts. I also cautioned against filling our prisons with young people who were no threat to society, and summarized by saying: “Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.”

These ideas were widely accepted at the time. But in the 1980s President Ronald Reagan and Congress began to shift from balanced drug policies, including the treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, toward futile efforts to control drug imports from foreign countries.

This approach entailed an enormous expenditure of resources and the dependence on police and military forces to reduce the foreign cultivation of marijuana, coca and opium poppy and the production of coc aine and heroin. One result has been a terrible escalation in drug-related violence, corruption and gross violations of human rights in a growing number of Latin American countries.

www.nytimes.com...

Without dragging politics into this it was apparent in the mid-70's that Nixon's Drug War was counter-productive and that the nation was ready for a more balanced policy. Then enter "The Reagan Revolution" onto the landscape and whatever strides we were making then suddenly vanished, and another 30 years of devastating policies has brought us to the state of violence we are in today.

Please folks, this can't be permitted to continue as it has these past decades. Big money has been made by the wrong people turning drug crime into muti-billion-dollar business along with erosion of American rights and privacies in a 30-year march toward a police state. Sadly this has brought a lack of respect for law and order and for the public servants that enforce those disastrous laws.

The 70's were a time when it felt great to be an American and be proud of our heritage and principles of justice. And now I personally feel fearful of police intrusions and the random violence that has become so part of American society. I have since left the United States and presently cannot foresee a time when it would feel safe to return. But in light of what has transpired over the past two weeks I see hope for a return to our core values and that someday I could feel comfortable returning to my native home.

Please read the whole article referenced above.

While I think Carter should crawl back into the moron shadows and his peanut farm, he is right.

There is way too much money thrown away at this stupid, un-ending effort.

Best farmer-president ever?

[second line]

Originally posted by smallpeeps
Best farmer-president ever?

[second line]

Yes, in modern days. Over-shadowed by our hemp-farming Founding Fathers though.

I really feel these are times of crises but that it is not too late to turn things back around. Is it possible that hemp could once again save America? I believe re-structuring our sense of justice and fairness regarding this matter is a giant leap back to doing what is good and right and fair. America need not be the world's foremost prison-nation. It needs to return to being the land of the free. Grant its citizens ownership over their own bodies, without that we are all slaves.

Originally posted by Erongaricuaro

Originally posted by smallpeeps
Best farmer-president ever?

[second line]

In modern days. Over-shadowed by our hemp-farming Founding Fathers.

I really feel these are times of crises but that it is not too late to turn things back around. Is it possible that hemp could once again save America? I believe re-structuring our sense of justice and fairness regarding this matter is a giant leap back to doing what is good and right and fair. America need not be the world's foremost prison-nation. It needs to return to being the land of the free. Grant its citizens ownership over their own bodies, without that we are all slaves.

It is interesting to consider, what crops our farmer-presidents have been familiar and proficient with. Hmm, did any of the founding fathers actually nurture hemp seeds into flowering plants? Well of course they threw out the flowering ones, haha. No but seriously, where I live we call that stuff "cordage". Yeah in fact there is a "cordage museum" in the area, which explains how important cords are. But cordage is different from fruit. Yet fruit is what cordage often serves. Hmm.

Well James Carter knew how to grow a peanut, that much can be established directly. I say history will look at him at the 20th-century's greatest farmer-president. Well if you include the plantation-owners then it's a different game, but typically a farmer is a guy who can till the soil, plant the seed, you know, do the job of farming and teach it to others.

Also on a connected note, Monsanto is the enemy of the seed itself, both cord and fruit. Did I mention that part? Because we need a good executive to fight the right battles of our time, and it is both cordage and fruit that are in the crosshairs.

Check out some of these Hemp facts.

www.hemp-sisters.com...

There used to be laws saying you had to grow it.

It turns out our founding fathers read by Hemp Oil lamps.

Hemp Oil is 17x more efficient than conventional oil.

Maybe that's why they were "Free Thinkers"...