Dennis McKenna has put up a project over at kickstarter to raise some money toward writing a book. There’s also a related series of interviews with a number of pretty big names in both the popular and academic worlds of psychoactive discourse. I’m not going to be near internet access to watch the interviews, but it looks fascinating!
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Avaaz.org and Ending the War on Drugs
Avaaz.org has a new campaign running. Though internet petition signing is notoriously questionable insofar as effecting policy change is concerned, I agree with what they’re doing. I’m copying in their “letter to forward to friends” below. I don’t want to blow up anyone’s inbox, but posting it here seems like a worthwhile middleground between bothersome and silent.
Their letter:
In days we could finally see the beginning of the end of the ‘war on drugs’. This decades long and hugely expensive policy has completely failed to curb the plague of drug addiction, while costing countless lives, devastating communities, and funneling trillions of dollars into violent organized crime networks.
Drug policy experts agree that the most sensible policy is to regulate, but politicians are afraid to touch the issue. In days, a UN panel of global leaders including billionaire Richard Branson, and five current and former heads of State, will break the taboo and publicly call for a move towards decriminalization and regulation of drugs, delivering a major new report to the UN Secretary General.
This could be a once-in-a-generation tipping-point moment — if enough of us call for an end to this madness. Politicians say they understand that the war on drugs has failed, but claim the public isn’t ready for an alternative. Let’s show them a sane and humane policy is not taboo. Click below to sign the petition — it will be delivered by the Commission to the UN Secretary General and global leaders in New York:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/end_the_war_on_drugs/97.php?cl_tta_sign=79b73d12432d5643ba54bf71991288b7
Current drug policies are failing everyone, everywhere but public debate is stuck in the mud of fear and misinformation. As thousands of journalists, policy experts, and social scientists have documented, the current approach — deploy militaries and police to burn drug farms, hunt down traffickers, and imprison dealers and addicts – has been an expensive mistake. And with massive human cost — from Afghanistan, to Mexico, to the USA the illegal drug trade is destroying countries around the world, while addiction, overdose deaths, and HIV/AIDS infections continue to rise.
Meanwhile, countries with less-harsh enforcement — like Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Australia — have not seen the explosion in drug use that proponents of the drug war have darkly predicted. Instead, they have seen significant reductions in drug-related crime, addiction and deaths, and are able to focus squarely on dismantling criminal empires.
Powerful lobbies still stand in the way of change, including military, law enforcement, and prison departments whose budgets are at stake. And politicians fear that voters will throw them out of office if they even mention alternative approaches, as they will appear ‘soft on drugs’, weak on law and order, or pro drug use. But polls show that citizens across the world know the current approach is a catastrophe. And momentum is gathering towards new improved policies, particularly in regions that are ravaged by the drug trade.
If we can create a worldwide outcry now to support the bold calls of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, we can overpower the stale excuses for the status quo. Our voices hold the key to change — Sign the petition and spread the word:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/end_the_war_on_drugs/97.php?cl_tta_sign=79b73d12432d5643ba54bf71991288b7
We have a chance to enter the closing chapter of this brutal ‘war’ that has brought destroyed millions of lives. It is time to join forces and end this disgraceful policy that affects us all. Global public opinion will determine if there is change. Let’s rally urgently to push our hesitating leaders from doubt and fear, over the edge, and into reason.
With hope and determination,
Alice, Laura, Ricken, Maria Paz, Shibayan and the whole Avaaz team
SOURCES:
Reports that show the war on drugs has failed:
http://idpc.net/publications/failure-regime-selected-publications
Reports that show alternative approaches of decriminalisation and regulation are working:
http://idpc.net/publications/alternative-strategies-selected-publications
War on drugs ‘cannot be won’, officers claim
5 Years After: Portugal’s Drug Decriminalization Policy Shows Positive Results
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=portugal-drug-decriminalization
The Global Comission on Drug Policy that will call on the UN to end the war on drugs
http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/Documents.aspx
Drug War by the Numbers
http://www.drugpolicy.org/facts/drug-war-numbers
Final Report of the Latin American Comission on Drugs and Democracy
http://www.drogasedemocracia.org/English/Destaques.asp?IdRegistro=8
Animistic Revival and Psychoactive Plants
In doing research for the new working group on psychoactive plants and religion, I came across an article by Ralph Metzner published in the Eleusis journal in 1997. In it, he puts forward the premise that a revival of animistic worldviews is necessary to combat the exploitation and destruction of the ecosystems of which we are ourselves part, and that psychoactive plants and the shamanic systems of knowledge within which their use has been situated are very likely to play a distinct role in any such radical change. Though the article was published in ’97, it’s no less relevant or timely now than it was then, and I found it distinctly inspiring. Having written recently on animistic worldviews and their relationships to an embedded and immediate sense of ecology, it makes me downright enthusiastic to read other work like this!
Medical Marijuana Policy
Though this blog is not in general dedicated to monitoring or reporting on the constant back and forth over marijuana from a policy standpoint, I stumbled across this link earlier today, and thought it merited a note. Decriminalization is something I am personally in full support of, for most, if not all, psychoactive substances. Criminal prosecution for the possession and use of psychoactive substances is, to my mind, never the answer. In cases of abuse (say of opiates or powerful amphetamines), education, treatment, and rehabilitation are far better answers than a jail cell. And as far as marijuana is concerned, the demonstrable harms are so few compared to other intoxicants (re: alcohol), that its continued status as a restricted substance is ludicrous. I was very happy when Obama and Holder both said that they would respect state laws passed for medical marijuana, and I would like to see the administration stick to those promises. The link, again, is here.
Psychedelics and Mental Health
Alternet.org has put up a new article on Psychedelics and Mental Health, and it’s a worthwhile read. It cites Grob’s recent work on the use of psychedelics with end of life and terminal case patients, and the consistent effectiveness demonstrated by these substances in aiding patients coming to terms with their situations. It also touches on the MDMA research that MAPS is helping to fund, where the substance is being used to work with patients suffering from PTSD. Though my interests are more in line with plant-based psychoactives, where MDMA can be of help to people, I’m behind it. The final quote of the article is interesting, from the ‘Mike’ of the interview. He says that he doesn’t partake of mushrooms very often, and not for ‘fun’. He says “it’s a myth that all ‘shrooms do is produce hallucinations. It’s more than that.” I agree.
Oil Drilling on Achuar Land
Talisman Energy, with their headquarters in Canada, are attempting to open up drilling in Achuar territory without the consent of the people impacted. Amazon Watch has put together a short video describing the problem, and an online petition. Takes no more than a few seconds to fill out, and only about 3 minutes to watch the video. Please give it a look.
Andes and Amazon Field School in Ecuador
This summer, I’ve been given the opportunity to study Kichwa (Quechua) in Ecuador! I’m extremely excited about the opportunity, as Kichwa is spoken in both Peru and Ecuador, which is where I hope to do fieldwork. With many words of the language showing up in the discourses surrounding plants and spirits in vegetalismo, as well as in the icaros sung by ayahuasqueros, Kichwa is particularly apt for the research I want to do, and I couldn’t be more excited or grateful for the chance to go. For anyone who’s interested in more information, the field school’s website is here, and a little bit more about some of the programs can be found here.