The Drug War and the Totalitarian Nightmare

[Dr.Doom]

The war on drugs continues unabated. As the New York Times recently reported:

Frustrated by government policy and inaction, a group of advocates for medical marijuana sued two federal health agencies on Wednesday over the assertion that smoking it has no medical benefit.

The group, Americans for Safe Access, a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, filed the lawsuit in Federal District Court, challenging the government’s position thatmarijuana, “has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.”

Although the lawsuit is well-intentioned, it’s clearly misdirected. Whether or not marijuana has a medical benefit is not the issue; whether or not the war on drugs should exist at all is the issue.

The Drug War knows no bounds. The Tenth Amendment clearly limits the federal government to powers that are specifically listed in the Constitution:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

But yet, national laws, including those that are definitively prohibited by the Tenth Amendment, are continually held to be superior to state and local laws; all to the detriment of your personalliberty.

The fact is that you have a right to do what you want with your own body. Self-medication, for example, is a right protected by the Ninth Amendment. More importantly, though, there is nothing listed in the constitution giving the federal government the power to prohibit people from using drugs or medicine.

Therefore, the federal government has no right to violate local drug laws or force you to change your personal choice. Doing so is in direct violation of both the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. But, the Constitution be damned - that’s what the politicians are telling us!

In Murray Rothbard’s book, For a New Liberty, you can see the inherent problem with the drug war – it simply gives the federal government power over you in ways that no free person should want:

Propagandize against cigarettes [or marijuana] as much as you want, but leave the individual free to run his own life. Otherwise, we may as well outlaw all sorts of possible carcinogenic agents – including tight shoes, improperly fitting false teeth, excessive exposure to the sun, as well as excessive intake of ice cream, eggs, and butter which might lead to heart disease. And, if such prohibitions prove unenforceable, again the logic is to place people in cages so that they will receive the proper amount of sun, the correctdiet, properly fitting shoes, and so on.

Once the government is given the power to limit the liberty of one group of people, it then has the power to limit the liberty of others – including you. If you approve of the government interfering with people’s rights to use whatever drugs they want, then you approve of politicians being able to decide what’s good for you as well. There is no stopping point once the government has the power to determine what is good or bad for you to put in your own body.

Thus, the drug war is based on a repugnant assertion: that you do not have ownership over your own body; that you don’t have the right to decide what you’ll do with your body, with your property and with your life. The position of the drug warriors is that you should be in jail if you decide to do something with your body that they don’t approve of.

This is an abomination of everything that America is supposed to stand for. As long as this country continues the drug war, you are not free. At their root, then, those that force the drug war on you are enemies to your freedom.

In this ongoing drug war, you are always treated as a suspect and your neighborhood is much less safe. You are searched at airports and your bank accounts are spied on. While drug users who are no physical threat to anyone but themselves are put in jail, the prisons become more and more overcrowded, resulting in the early release of violent criminals on a regular basis. If you love your freedom and you want your city to be safer, this psychotic war on drugs must be ended – now.

Understandably, many Americans are afraid that ending the drug war will result in countless drug addicts, including children. In reality, though, that’s just what we have now! On top of it, we generally don’t even consider the people who are addicted to federally-approved drugs to be drug addicts. What’s going to be different – can our nation’s addiction to drugs get any worse?

According to a 2004 CDC report, almost one-half of Americans use at least one prescription drug. It should be obvious, then, that the drug war has done nothing to reduce Americans’ addiction to drugs – it’s simply controlled which drugs people use, and who can make a profit from them. It’s doubtful that legalizing all drugs could make things any worse, but even if it does, then so be it.

People will always do plenty of things that are bad for them, and there’s no reason to put them in prison for it. Think about the things you do that are bad for your own health – should the government outlaw those too?

People eat too much fast food and they forget to floss every day. They watch too much TV and they don’t count their calories. And, guess what? People swallow, snort, shoot and smoke drugs that are both legal and illegal – and it’s not going to stop. A free society just wouldn’t force you, under the threat of punishment, to be “good” to yourself all the time. That was the job of your parents - unless, of course, you want the feds to be your new “daddy.”

In all seriousness, though, if we are ever going to have a nation that respects the Bill of Rights, of which the Ninth and Tenth Amendments may be the most important, the DEA and the entire drug war must be eliminated.

If not, what’s going to be next? Orwellian telescreens in our homes and a state-mandated morning exercise routine? That would most assuredly keep the cost down on the coming nationalhealthcare system.

Won’t that be nice?

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16 comments:

1.
Rasta Boys » Blog Archive » The Drug War and the Totalitarian Nightmare (Pingback), 13. March 2007, 17:30


[…] Original post by Tenth Amendment and software by Elliott Back […]

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Drug Articles » The Drug War and the Totalitarian Nightmare (Pingback), 13. March 2007, 18:31


[…] Original post by Tenth Amendment and plugin by Elliott Back […]

3.
Politics: 2008 HQ » Blog Archive » The Drug War and the Totalitarian Nightmare (Pingback), 13. March 2007, 19:15


[…] Original post by Tenth Amendment […]

4.
buzzflash.net (Trackback), 15. March 2007, 17:26


The Drug War and the Totalitarian Nightmare…

The drug war is based on a repugnant assertion: that you do not have ownership over your own body; that you don’t have the right to decide what you’ll do with your body, with your property and with your life. The position of the drug warriors is that…

5.
Darryl O. Franklin, 16. March 2007, 0:39

The War on Amewrican Civil Liberties is just that A WAR!

Everyone should understand that the FRONT LINE of ANY WAR is fought in the courts. It is only losses or unwanted conditions on the judicial front that result in man to man combat on the fields of war….

The PEOPLE must wake up to this INSIDIOUS AGENDA that has culminated in these so called wars - WAR ON DRUGS and WAR ON TERROR - which BOTH undermine constitutional law, the power of the people, and self governance.

It is no coincidence that the government has violated Federal, National and Local Statute, code, and even local policy and procedure with regard to the wars on drugs and terror! Their key is to engage in DOUBLE SPEAK - where a popular individual SAYS what the people want to hear, but acts and does just the opposite of what is uttered - and the RESULT speaks to the intent and the means!

These “wars” are merely attempt to maintain the status quo, to flip the rules of democracy in order that a very small minority rules and governs the majority…. What’s more insidious is that this “model of democracy” is being pedaled around the world - and America is supposed to be a light of democracy and we are promoting totalitarianism and neo-colonialism globally - all in the name of the people…. WAKE UP AMERICA!! WAKE UP!!!

While THE PEOPLE Sleep (primarily as a result of pharmaceutical companies addicting many to AMBIEN, other “sleep” medications like it, and opiates of various sorts), unscrupulous individuals and their groups are wreaking havoc with civil linbeties, real property law, and invoking IMMINENT DOMAIN - all at the expense of THE PEOPLE.

[Dr.Doom]

The assault on education is happening contemporaneously…. We need a national movement to make people aware that it is a violation of law to act in a fashion that denies the rights of individuals and groups, and/or prevents the revelation of true liablity as a result of the denied right(s) and it is a CRIME to do so contemporaneously (in a mutually timely fashion(conspiracy) and with intent to deny their own liability and/or the rights of individuals or groups).

With that said, I think we have to take a second, third and even fourth look at this adminstration’s actions, their interest and actions with regard to corporate cronyism, and the historic actions of their party with regard to stymying the rights of certain individuals and groups over the past 60-70 years. What’s even MORE Startling is that the individuals themselves, Cheney, Negroponte, etc. recur and appear and re-appear on several scenes, over several decades - all in conspiracy and contemporaneous action.

6.
ProudFelon, 16. March 2007, 1:23

I agree with most of the points raised here. I have personally gone further, even, and gone to war with the DEA, destroying a surveillance camera the DEA had infiltrated into my neighborhood, which was destroying peace, turning neighbor against neighbor, and my family into accomplices in the phony Drug War. For my troubles I was awarded the honor of a Felony, and I have been dogged ever since by a criminal record that will never go away. I was just a kid then, but I believe I saw then clearly what was wrong with the surveillance state, and the phony Drug War. I saw what had to be done, and I did it.
Subsequently, It has not been easy finding work, and post-Patriot Act, I suppose some folks don’t consider me much of a patriot. They couldn’t be more wrong.
Since then, I have discovered some facts that our government has tried to cover up, but cannot successfully hide:
All of the following statement can be easily verified by anyone with access to a computer, or a good library.

A: the US government has been directly involved in the Cocaine trade, namely, in aiding drug smugglers to generate revenue for the war against the Sandanistas in Nicaragua. The DEA at one time intercepted a CIA helicopter stuffed with bales of Cocaine entering the USA. The role of Col. Oliver North in all this business is also of interest. All these stories have been murdered, but they refuse to die;
B: the US government has set up Concentration Camps under the auspices of FEMA, for the purposes of interring US citizens; See: Operation Garden Plot; FEMA and Garden Plot are part of a conspiracy to eliminate Democracy altogether and revoke the constitution. See: Continuity of Government
C: the US government has a plan for fomenting disorder - in order to provoke the conditions that would call for implementation of Operation Garden Plot. See: Operation Trojan Horse;
D: that both political parties are FAKE, that elections are FAKE, and that we have already lost our liberties. See: Armed Madhouse, author Greg Palast. I also would encourage all true patriots to research the connections between the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and cross-reference membership with names of elected leaders and various other blowhards, liars, and swindlers.
IT IS ALREADY TOO LATE.
With trash like these folks constituting a Ruling Class, I am proud to be a Felon.
KEEP FIGHTING FOR YOUR RIGHTS.

7.
Richard Neva, 16. March 2007, 1:54

The US government IS in the drug business big time and any legalization cuts into profits for the cronies that support their fascist regime. The so called war in Afganistan is about heroin and the Russians got their asses whipped there and so will America in their attempt to corner the Heroin market. The stock market here is afloat on drug cartel laundered billions. We produce nothing of value anymore but military equipment and the drug business so any attempt to legalize it is a waste of time and you would do better picking your nose. This country is such a contridiction to all it says it is. It is really just one big lie and it is high time folks get the message. Time for something to happen I would say.

8.
Roger Sprunt, 16. March 2007, 2:08

I agree, people should be free to decide what they put in the body, but they must not be pressured by a dealer to buy or take drugs, because the infringes on freedom of choice too. It should also be a crime to distribute drugs to children freely, because they are not educated on how addiction can distroy a persons freedom to choose, and ruin their lifes. If an adult chooses to take drugs of their own free will and choice that is their right, but to every bad choice in life there are consequences. For example, if you over dose, or get very sick from taking drugs, or cancer from smoking cigarettes, or kill your liver from drinking to much alcohol, do not expect government to step in and pay your medical bills. Hospitals should not be required to pick up the tab, or even take you in as paticient because you blew your life saving on drugs. Do not expect the tax payer to pay your medical bills, because as a tax payer I refuse to help anyone who is stupid enough to take drugs; that is my freedom to choose how the govenment spends my hard earned money. If you freely choose to abuse the gift God has given you, then you freely choose to accept full responsibility for your actions, and for all I care you can rot in the streets until you die.

9.
The Drug War and the Totalitarian Nightmare « Tons of Fresh News (Pingback), 16. March 2007, 4:16


[…] The Drug War and the Totalitarian Nightmare The Drug War and the Totalitarian Nightmare The drug war is based on a repugnant assertion: that you do not have ownership over your own body; that you don ’t have the right to decide what you’ll do with your body, with your property and with your life. The position of the drug warriors is that you should be in jail if you decide to do something with your body that they don’t approve of.[war] [news] [world & business] [political opinion] […]

10.
JoeBuckstrap, 16. March 2007, 6:30

If narco-trafficking was eliminated it would seriously dent the CIA (which uses drug smuggling to raise cash off the books for its terrorist operations) and the money laundering operations of a few Wall Street darlings.

This could be done if drugs were legalized, packaged in “safe” doses and distributed by the gov’t with a heavy excise tax.

But it’s not going to happen because of the powerful interests aforementioned and because of the pharmaceutical industry, which no doubt understands that some drugs, like marijuana, would obviate the need for their petrochemical cocktails.

11.
P.W.W., 16. March 2007, 7:29

I agree. The true evil in this case is the government itself and its seemingly endless assault on personal freedom and choice. Especially when it comes to marijuana, which seems to be of benefit to many people for many reasons, be it helping pain, anxiety, depression, etc. That the government unleashes thugs and thieves upon people for doing with their own bodies as they see fit— goons who plunder (confiscate) whatever they can steal from citizens to fund their thuggish “war on drugs” is an evil, pure and simple; those acting upon these “laws” are no better than the Sheriff of Nottingham’s henchmen— stealing from the poor, often, and stealing more than property, but stealing rights and freedom also. As always, morality should superscede and trump legality, for, after all, the things that Hitler did in pursuing the “final solution” were legal. This is supposed to be a land of freedom, and yet these goons can ruin a person’s life and deprive people of their very liberty. This has been so wrong for so long, and our leaders are in bed with drug companies, just as they are in bed with oil companies and any huge corporation that feeds upon and victimizes individual citizens. It is simply wrong what goes on, and more than that, it is evil.

12.
Mo, 16. March 2007, 8:14

I completely agree. Totalitarianism is a few breaths away.

But also consider this. Let’s say the Drug war was successful and all the Drug criminals were completely eliminated. What would happen to the gargantuan law enforcement machine and industry which has been created to prosecute this war?
I’ll tell you what would happen…
That focus of that Goliath would be directed at something else, like you and me.
Use a little Imagination.
Do you think you could “get away” with 2mph over the limit? 3mph? Jail time for 10mph over?
DUI a first time capital offense? (It already is in some countries where they don’t have a drug “problem”).
Let’s make sure we use our heads before we redirect Mr. Policeman’s attention.

13.
Joel Lemieux, 16. March 2007, 8:31

Putting in your .02 two cents worth may be just what we need

Go To: http://www.idealchoices.info

14.
christine, 16. March 2007, 9:19

i want to keep my freedom. don’t you ?

15.
Paul Badu, 16. March 2007, 9:38

Ike warned of the military-industrial complex, but today the influence of that lobby pales in comparison to the penal-industrial complex (i.e., law enforcement, courts, correctional system, contractors, suppliers, etc.). It is estimated that as many as 80% of those in prison are there for drug-related crimes. And as long as the present laws exist, that population will continue to increase. Although drugs are a serious social problem, criminalization only serves to feed the criminal justice system with more BUSINESS. In the final analysis, it is all about money and when it comes to a stand-off between money and rights, guess what triumphs every time (hint: it’s not liberty).

16.
Mickie, 16. March 2007, 9:43

When was the last time you saw someone become violent after they smoked a joint? When people get high off pot, they melt into the sofa and eat junk food. Drunks, on the other hand, are violent, volatile and down-right unpleasant to be around. And…when they drive drunk, the results are often deadly. Now…which of these people would you rather spend time with? Let’s be perfectly clear…I have absolutely nothing against drinking and having a good time, however, to put a non-violent pot smoker in prison for personal possession when there are rapists and muderers out and about is completely ridiculous! And when violent criminals are released from prison to make room for a pot smoker, that is just outright CRIMINAL!

Let’s compare pot to the, ever-offensive, cigarette for a moment. Pot is non-addictive so you don’t have to smoke it every five minutes to get your “fix.”
Also, people don’t smoke pot in public places so the smoke is not in anyone’s face…unlike cigarettes. Tobacco is harder on your lungs and body than pot but you don’t see the government putting cigarette smokers in jail. What’s wrong with this picture?

[GROFF200]

Doom, you are forgetting that it's the huge corporations that own this country. Your personal liberty doesn't mean shit.

[Dr.Doom]

[Rebel Banana]

Pot is non-addictive? Expound on that please and show evidences. Considering, a number of famous personalities have had mental insufficiencies materialize because of their non-moderate use of "POT".

[Betrade]

Originally Posted by Rebel Banana

Pot is non-addictive? Expound on that please and show evidences. Considering, a number of famous personalities have had mental insufficiencies materialize because of their non-moderate use of "POT".

Pot can be psychologically addictive, but not physiologically. Lots of things can be, such as ice cream, movies, sex, television, sports, love/relationships etc.

But there are no significant physical withdrawal symptoms from stopping using it abrubtly. No weaning is required to stop using it.

[86Dude]

My friend had major withdrawl symptoms for the 2 months he stopped smoking the weed.

[Dr.Doom]

Originally Posted by 86Dude

My friend had major withdrawl symptoms for the 2 months he stopped smoking the weed.

Childs play compared to REAL Drug withdrawl. I don't think pot and heroin, meth are in the same boat....sorry

[Zordar]

I don't think pot and heroin, meth are in the same boat....sorry

yeppers.

I'd never argue that the regular usage of pot is good for you... I even view it as destructive when abused. But give me the choice between an unemployed roommate who leaves his dishes in the sink and gets high every afternoon before watching Maury and somebody who just "fools around" with meth or heroin, and it's a no brainer. Pothead every time.

Same boat? Pot's not even on the same planet as meth and heroin.

[Betrade]

Originally Posted by Dr.Doom

Childs play compared to REAL Drug withdrawl. I don't think pot and heroin, meth are in the same boat....sorry

Exactly. I'm a chronic pain patient, and have withdrawn from opiates several times. I also stopped smoking weed about 25 years ago. There's no comparison.

With real narcotics, the withdrawal is an actual physical sickness that takes at least 6 top 10 days to get through. With pot, it's all in the mind, and the worse physical symptoms are slight insomnioa or a few headaches.

Even tobacco withdwarwal is worse than pot. It takes 72-96 hours to break the physical addicition.

I've always been skeptical about medical marijuana anyway. I know it can help nausea from chemo, possibly migraines for some people (although there are really effective migraine medicines avaialable now that weren't around just 5 years ago).

I watched a documentary about these medical pot shops in california, and they have the weed sorted into different areas claiming that this one cures diabetes and that one cures asthma, and it's nothing but complete scam, and a way to sell weed and still get around the law. A few of the vendors admitted it. The true list of thikngs that pot has been proven to help medically is extremely short.

[GROFF200]

It really doesn't matter of pot is addictive in my opinion. As long as alcohol and tobacco are legal it's hard to be reasonable with the position that pot needs to stay illegal because it's bad.

[Stone]

Originally Posted by GROFF200

It really doesn't matter of pot is addictive in my opinion. As long as alcohol and tobacco are legal it's hard to be reasonable with the position that pot needs to stay illegal because it's bad.

[grimrebuke]

The reason they are arguing the medical utility is that it changes the classification of the drug. As soon as it has a medical use, its controlled substance status allows it to be at least acquired for testing and potentially administered by prescription. As it stands now, there is a class of drugs that marijuana falls under that supposedly is 1. addictive (physically) 2. has no medical use and 3. is physically harmful. Those drugs can not even be used in research (meaning, you can't even use them to establish IF they have medical benefit once they've been put on the list).

Personally, I think either marijuana should be legal or tobacco and alcohol should be illegal. The double-standard bothers me more than the absurdity of legislating arbitrary morality... and that is saying something.