The Altered States of America
What a long, strange trip it's been: a drug war timeline.
1619 Jamestown farmers ordered to grow hemp. Three colonies later allow subjects to pay taxes with the plant.
1776 Declaration of Independence drafted on hemp paper.
1869 Prohibition Party founded. Central goals include women's suffrage and freeing the working class from the evils of drink.
1874 WCTU (Woman's Christian Temperance Union) founded.
1875 San Francisco bans opium dens.
1886 Coca-Cola created by Atlanta druggist and ex-Confederate officer. Contains cocaine. Southerners call it "a shot in the arm" and trucks selling Coke "dope wagons."
June 19, 1986 College basketball star Len Bias dies of a drug overdose, triggering severe increases in penalties for crack, though Bias OD'd on powdered cocaine.
Oct 27, 1986 Ronald Reagan budgets $1.7 billion for drug war, federalizes Rockefeller law-style mandatory minimums.
1987 As Carlos Salinas runs for president of Mexico, his brother Raul begins working for the cartels.
1987 Partnership for a Drug-Free America launches "This is your brain on drugs" ad.
1988 Reagan creates Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), making the drug czar a Cabinet-level position. Czar William Bennett campaigns to make drug abuse socially unacceptable, a strategy he calls "denormalization."
1903 NY Daily Tribune links cocaine with black crime and calls for legal action against Coca-Cola, which quietly switches to "spent" coca leaves.
1912 Twelve countries sign First International Opium Convention, agreeing to "use their best endeavors" to clamp down on "morphine, cocaine, and their respective salts."
1914 Opiates, cocaine effectively outlawed.
1914 William Randolph Hearst starts campaign against cannabis, in part for fear that hemp paper could undercut his wood-pulp market share. His papers usher the word "marihuana" into the English language in articles about reefer-crazed blacks raping white women and playing "voodoo-satanic" jazz music. When Pancho Villa's army seizes Hearst estates during Mexican Revolution, he denounces Mexicans as lazy drug addicts.
Jan 16, 1919 Alliance between WCTU, Prohibition Party, Progressives, Ku Klux Klan, and Kansas reformers helps ratify 18th Amendment, outlawing "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors." Drinking still legal.
1919-1933 Bootlegging fuels organized crime. By Prohibition's end, arrests for drunkenness and disorderly conduct up 41%; federal prison population up 366%.
1929 Montana outlaws pot because, as one doctor explains, "When some beet field peon takes a few traces of this stuff...he thinks he has just been elected president of Mexico, so he starts out to execute all his political enemies."
1930 Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) created. Chief Harry J. Anslinger pushes for harsh punishments for drug possession.
1932 Progressives now against Prohibition. FDR campaigns for president promising its repeal.
Dec 5, 1933 21st Amendment repeals Prohibition. Organized crime plummets overnight.
1936 Church group finances Tell Your Children, a film about the manslaughter, suicide, rape, and insanity that ensue when kids try pot. Bought by exploitation film producer, who renames it Reefer Madness.
Aug 2, 1937 FDR signs bill effectively outlawing marijuana.
1942 USDA films Hemp for Victory to promote production for war effort.
1950s FBN chief Anslinger provides Sen. Joe McCarthy morphine for fear that exposing his addiction would put country at risk. "On the day he died," Anslinger later writes, "I thanked God for relieving me of my burden."
1950s-1960s CIA program MKULTRA uses LSD to conduct mind-control and chemical interrogation experiments on unwitting subjects.
1967 The BBC refuses to play the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," because of the apparent reference to LSD. John Lennon maintains the song was inspired by a picture drawn by his son Julian.
Jan 14, 1967 Former Harvard prof Timothy Leary goes to San Francisco's Human Be-In and utters the immortal "Turn on, tune in, drop out."
1968 Tom Wolfe publishes The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
Sept 1969 To combat marijuana imports, US launches Operation Intercept, searching all traffic along the Mexican border for 3 weeks and costing both countries millions.
Aug 23, 1970 A New York Times Magazine article concludes, "It is now the very rare college student who has never tried [marijuana]."
Oct 27, 1970 The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act reduces penalties for marijuana possession. Also allows police to conduct "no-knock" searches and establishes five "schedules" of drugs based on their medicinal value and potential for addiction.
Sept 5, 1989 President George H.W. Bush unveils anti-drug program by holding up 3 ounces of crack purchased by DEA agents "in a park across the street from the White House." It is later revealed that agents entrapped the dealer—a high school student.
Dec 1989 Citing drug trafficking, Bush invades Panama and deposes former ally Noriega. GAO later reports drug trafficking "may have doubled" and money laundering "flourished" following the invasion.
Nov 1991 While trying to stop a coke shipment, Mexican federales are killed by Mexican soldiers in the pay of Colombian cartels. One general imprisoned, then quietly released.
1991 New Jack City is a major box-office hit. The movie provides fodder for hip-hop artists including Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Biggie Smalls.
1992 Salinas severely restricts DEA agents operating in Mexico.
Dec 1993 Colombian police kill Medellín chief Pablo Escobar using US cell phone-trace technology.
1994 NAFTA increases border traffic, making it easier to smuggle.
1994 War on Drugs now imprisons 1 million people a year.
May 1995 Sentencing Commission urges Congress to remedy race-based disparities for cocaine and crack sentencing. Congress ignores it.
Nov 1995 Federales spotted unloading a drug plane belonging to Colombia's Cali cartel.
1996 Cali cartel dismantled. Mexican cartels now ascendant, especially the Gulf cartel, which recruits elite soldiers to form the cartel's feared armed wing, Los Zetas.
1996 Gary Webb publishes "Dark Alliance" series in the San Jose Mercury News accusing CIA of helping contras smuggle cocaine into the US during the 1980s. Webb is discredited by media, is demoted, resigns, and commits suicide in 2004. Internal CIA probe ultimately corroborates many of Webb's claims.
1997 Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) blocks the nomination of Massachusetts governor William Weld as ambassador to Mexico, saying that the Republican's support for medical marijuana and needle exchange programs makes him unfit to serve.
1997 C.R.A.C.K. (Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity), a California nonprofit, offers $200 to any drug-addicted woman who agrees to be sterilized or get birth-control implants. Founder Barbara Harris explains, "We don't allow dogs to breed...We try to keep them from having unwanted puppies, and yet these women are literally having litters of children."
1998 Congress requires drug czar to oppose legalization of drugs and any research on legalization.
Jan 10, 1998 Onion article declares, "Drugs Win Drug War."
1998-2000 Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey pays TV networks to include anti-drug content in shows like Beverly Hills, 90210.
1999 California cracks down on meth labs, driving production to Mexico, fueling cartel revenue, addiction, and violent crime.
2000 Clinton's $1.3 billion Plan Colombia provides country with helicopters, crop dusters, and surveillance planes. Eight years and $6 billion later, coca crop has expanded 15%.
Jan 8, 2001 Ronald Reagan's 22-year-old grandson, Cameron, is ordered to spend 90 days in a drug rehab program after pleading guilty to marijuana possession.
Jan 19, 2001 Sinaloa cartel head Joaquín Guzmán "escapes" from supermax Mexican prison.
June 17, 1971 Borrowing language from LBJ's War on Poverty, Richard Nixon declares War on Drugs, calling narcotics "public enemy No. 1." For the only time during the War on Drugs, the majority of funding goes toward treatment.
1972 US and French law enforcement bust the "French Connection," a smuggling operation controlled by Corsican gangsters and the Mafia, resulting in a heroin shortage on the East Coast.
March 1972 Nixon-ordered Shafer Commission recommends decriminalization, finding that "neither the marihuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety." Nixon ignores the report.
May 8, 1973 NY gov. Nelson Rockefeller signs law establishing mandatory minimums.
July 1973 Nixon forms Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
1975 President's commission headed by Rockefeller reveals MKULTRA program. CIA admits it had little scientific purpose.
Nov 1975 Colombian police seize 600 kilos of cocaine. Traffickers respond with "Medellín Massacre."
1976 Jimmy Carter runs for president; pledges to decriminalize pot.
1977 Eric Clapton releases "Cocaine."
April 26, 1977 Studio 54 opens. Dance floor is decorated with "man in the moon" image complete with cocaine spoon.
May 30, 1977 Newsweek reports, "Among hostesses in the smart sets of Los Angeles and New York, a little cocaine, like Dom Pérignon and Beluga caviar, is now de rigueur at dinners." The article cautions that cocaine can be dangerous but "a number of researchers have concluded that it can be safer than liquor and cigarettes when used discriminately."
Aug 16, 1977 Elvis dies; at least 10 legal drugs in system.
July 21, 1978 After aides admit to smoking pot, Carter drops push to decriminalize.
1978 Medellín cartel cofounder Carlos Lehder buys a 165-acre island in the Bahamas, which is used as refueling spot for planes flying drugs from Colombia to the United States until 1983.
1982 Panamanian leader General Manuel Noriega cuts a deal with Pablo Escobar to allow the Medellín cartel to ship cocaine through Panama.
1982 To cut off main point of entry of drugs into US, Vice President George H.W. Bush heads the South Florida Drug Task Force. Trade moves to Mexican border.
Oct 9, 1982 Sen. Joe Biden coins the term "drug czar."
1983 Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), a program in which police officers talk to kids about drug use, is founded in Los Angeles.
Nov 6, 1984 The DEA and Mexican agents raid five marijuana farms in the Chihuahua desert and seize 9,000 tons of marijuana worth an estimated $4 billion. US officials declare the event the "Bust of the Century." The previous bust record was 570 tons.
Jan 29, 2002 Noelle Bush, daughter of Florida governor Jeb Bush and niece of President Bush, is arrested for forging a Xanax prescription. During her court-ordered rehab, she is found with two grams of cocaine and is sentenced to 10 days in jail.
Feb 3, 2002 ONDCP spends $3.4 million on Super Bowl ads warning, "Where do terrorists get their money? If you buy drugs, some of it might come from you."
Nov 5, 2002 Nelson Rockefeller's granddaughter, Meile, is arrested for protesting the harshness of the Rockefeller Drug Laws in front of the New York governor's office.
2003 80% of US school districts now have much-touted DARE programs. GAO finds "no significant differences in illicit drug use between students who received DARE...and students who did not."
2004 War on Terror and War on Drugs officially merge in the Kabul Counternarcotics Implementation Plan. Three years later, Afghanistan has record opium crop.
Feb 25, 2004 Thirty leading doctors and scientists issue a letter asking the press to stop using the term "crack baby." "None of us," the researchers explain, "has identified a recognizable condition, syndrome or disorder that should be termed 'crack baby.'" One of the signatories is Dr. Ira Chasnoff.
2005 US v. Booker allows judges to deviate from federal mandatory minimums. Median possession sentences fall 56% overnight.
June 2005 Harvard economist estimates $10-$14 billion in savings and tax revenue if pot is legalized. 500 economists, including 3 Nobel laureates, sign letter in support.
Jan 2006 Authorities announce the discovery of a half-mile-long tunnel linking a warehouse in Tijuana to a warehouse in the United States where 200 pounds of marijuana were found.
Dec 2006 Mexican president Felipe Calderón declares war on the cartels, deploys 45,000 troops. Thousands of gang members killed; smuggling routes disrupted. Instability leads to rise in violence among cartels and between cartels and the Army.
March 2007 The Lancet reports that as far as drug prohibition goes, "the exclusion of alcohol and tobacco...is, from a scientific perspective, arbitrary."
2008 US Mérida Initiative allocates $1.4 billion to combat Mexican drug trade. Mexican politicians protest conditions requiring human rights monitoring.
2008 An ad by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America advises parents to talk to their kids about drug use, but notes that there is "no need to reveal you smoked marijuana 132 times."
Jan 2009 NY gov. David Paterson says, "I can't think of a criminal justice strategy that has been more unsuccessful than the Rockefeller drug laws."
March 2009 Forbes names Sinaloa cartel leader Guzmán the world's 701st richest person. Lists industry as "shipping."
Mid-1980s Crack epidemic hits poor US neighborhoods.
Feb 1985 DEA agent Enrique Camarena is kidnapped and murdered in Mexico. The Mexicans' lack of cooperation leads US to launch a crackdown on the Mexican border. Camarena's body is found within a month, as is evidence of Mexican cover-up.
Sept 12, 1985 Dr. Ira Chasnoff writes article for the New England Journal of Medicine warning that cocaine use by pregnant women could lead to developmental problems. Media begin making wildly exaggerated claims about "crack babies."
1986 Reagan signs National Security Directive No. 221, expressing concern over narcostates, "where a combination of international criminal trafficking organizations, rural insurgents, and urban terrorists can undermine the stability of the local government."
March 2009 Almost 11,000 dead since Calderón declared war on the cartels.
March 11, 2009 Obama demotes drug czar from Cabinet.
May 13, 2009 Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske says he wants to banish term "War on Drugs" and favor treatment over incarceration to reduce illicit drug use.
2009 40% of the 288,000 Americans admitted to rehab for marijuana use have not used the drug in the month prior to their admission. Roughly 2/3 are there as part of a deal to avoid jail time.
possible future point in timeline
The definition of marijuana is changed from this:
"The term 'marihuana' means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not..."
to this:
"The term ‘marihuana’ means all parts - of the smoke produced by the combustion - of the plant Cannabis sativa L."
Period.
re: possible future point in timeline
That would make no sense, as it disregards cannabis vapor.
the term "Marijuana" should mean nothing more than:
"The term ‘marijuana’ means a female person of latin descent, translated to english as 'Mary Jane'"
Cannabis is the only correct term. The Cannabinoid-containing flowers should be labeled as Cannabis Herbs. It makes no sense to, for one, continue using a racist and misinterpreted term such as "Marihuana;" for another, it makes no sense to differentiate between the smoke and the vapor, in terms of ability to adjust ones perception and nervous system. The differentiation is important, however, in terms of health-risk.
re: re: possible future point in timeline
Cannabis the plant is good because it can be used in so many ways:
newspaper, clothing, food, bio-fuel, and drugs.
Cannabis when used as a drug is not necessarily bad.
A massive overdose is not lethal. Many medical benefits are being rediscovered.
Burning cannabis to get high is what upsets so many bystanders who consider it bad.
The federal law should be changed to distinguish the good from the bad.
Someone chose to use the racist term 'marihuana' as a semantics trick in the definition. The current definition is abstruse, but should be simple, per Occam's Razor. It merely defines a substance whose misplacement within the Schedules is a separate issue.
The word 'cannabis' appears only once in the CSA, in the definition of 'marihuana'.
Otherwise, the relevant mentions are of marihuana, marijuana, or substance(s) in schedule 1.
If Congress made this simple legislative change to the definition, then cannabis the plant, including its unsmoked parts and vapors, would be unscheduled and legal, and marijuana (the smoke) could be eventually decriminalized by rescheduling.
This would permit the States to tax and regulate the uses of cannabis, and also restores our 9th and 10th Amendment rights.
With so many people suffering economically, medically, and legally because of marijuana prohibition, clearly the time is right for a reasonably simple definition of marijuana.
Have hope.
"Cannibis" may be "the only
"Cannibis" may be "the only correct term" taxonomically--but common use language doesn't work that way--especially English, which takes much of its strength from freely adopting anything and everything useful or colorful or handy from any other language in which it comes into contact.
In contemporary usage here's nothing "racist" about the term "marijuana". At this point it's as firmly and non-prejudicially a part of American English as "pyjamas" (a Persian-derived word first encountered by English-speakers in India--or "Yankee"--originally a term of contempt and derision used by the Dutch to refer to pirates--meaning "little john" [referring to deminutive penis size]--which the British first applied to New Englanders in the 1780s.
This linguistic aside brought to you by Sam_Thoth....
Kallisti!
Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.
~~Hans Christian Anderson
Dear United States of Hypocrites
I'm sick of it!!!!!!!!! I like pot. You like beer. Who's correct on this? It's insane.
The millions should not need a buffer like medical marijuana to get smoke.
The intolerant squares (that enjoy a drink) say they just want medical marijuana to get high. And saying it's medical is an excuse. Well so what. I will never touch crack, coke, or meth. And it's never been gateway drug for me or any of my successful adult friends.
I get high once every 2 weeks. Why do I have to have excuses? This whole law is illogical.
Why not make donuts and soft drinks illegal? They make you fat and give you diabetes. And everyone knows one donut leads to another.
I like pot. So what. Am I a sinner? Have I hurt anyone? Have I stole anything?
You like a drink. I like a puff. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? Just legalize it, tax it, regulate it. AND END THE CRIME AND VIOLENCE CREATED BY KEEPING IT ILLEGAL!
What a bunch of *%*^$& hypocrites! Think about that the next time you're watching the big game with a beer in your hand watching a Budwiser commercial.
Legalize, Tax, Regulate
I don’t even smoke. But legalize it, tax it, and focus on REAL PROBLEMS like cocaine and meth.
Pot is not the issue. Prohibition and closed minds are the issue. The same people who say no, were probably drinking at last night at bars across the US… Hypocrites.
Also, talk about how strange it is that every other commercial during a sports game is for beer, and how people at work talk about how they went to a party and got drunk and yet my friends that casually smoke can’t say they stayed home, smoked a little, and watched a movie.
Like RTP said above, just treat it like alcohol.
I don’t get when people say they are worried about kids. If treated like alcohol, as the post says above, they won’t be able to get it. The “what about the children” argument makes no sense.
Finally, the US can make tons of money if they tax it.
The Altered States of America
Will the nonsense and the hypocrisy and sheer madness of the un-winnable war against drugs ever stop ?
How long have we been without personal sovereignty over our bodies and why should anyone decide what is good or not for others?
If people want to pursue happiness why not as long as it does no harm except perhaps to the users, let people do what they want ?
It is an insult to humanity that people who "indulge" in their personal persuit of happiness can be sent to prison for "their crime" !!!!!
Shamefully America has over 2 Million of its people in Gulags most possibly for "drug" related "crimes" each at a cost of $55K per year !!!
Meanwhile prescription Drugs Kill 300 Percent More Americans than Illegal Drugs do !!
The DEA etc etc is just one enormous racket and a criminal waste of Taxpayers money giving employment to thousands of evil "nosy- parker" type people who pry into the private habits of people who only wish to enjoy their rights in the pursuit of happiness.
Altered states
Not only is the War on Drugs and especially the criminalization of Cannabis immoral, but more frightening is the propaganda obscuring the fact that 'herb' ie pot is a psycho-active substance . Remember , 'it's illegal to be thinkin' ! If we all had heightened perceptions it would become harder to brainwash us and that is a problem for the establishment inc . Just be willing to kill for oil and obey the mandates of corporation banksters . There is no place for joy , art or creativity in America........ newspeak rules the clueless
2009 40% of the 288,000
2009 40% of the 288,000 Americans admitted to rehab for marijuana use have not used the drug in the month prior to their admission. Roughly 2/3 are there as part of a deal to avoid jail time......
This is the major trend i have seen. People busted with pot are given the option of declaring themselves addicts and taking classes, or going directly to jail. I'm certain law enforcement will use this "sudden rise in marijuana addiction rates" as another excuse to obtain tax dollars through our failed Prohibition policy.
WAR ?.? on Drugs ?.?
.It wold be interesting to call for an accounting of the billions and billions spent - without any accounting.
..It would be surprising if they could account for as much as ten percent ;- a gaint SLUSH FUND COVERED BY THE SECRECY ACT...
..BUT today we have a WAR ?.? on TERROR?.?.? SLUSH FUND - FRAUD
.
..politely put they can't account for ten percent of that either and that's on going
sell-out of suckers N.A.F.T.A. -.- G L O B A L I Z A T I O N -.- bailouts paying executives while outsourcing jobs to CANADA - MEXICO - CHINA.....BONUSES
20,000 workers at G.M. laid-off..retirees required by CONGRESS to give back health care while their is the best in the world
S E L L - O U T
pot as a "gateway" drug
I believe that pot IS a gateway drug as it leads to the use of other drugs. Not because of what most people believe. The reason is because it is illegal and most dealers sell other types of drugs. At some point a pot user will go to his/her drug dealer and there will not be any weed available, but the dealer will have speed, lsd, or some other drug to sell. Thus, pot IS a gateway drug, but only because of it being illegal and making it profitable to sell on the underground. So you don't think I am some nutcase or an opinionated person who does not know anything, I would like to tell you how I came upon this conclusion. I grew up in Northwest Iowa during the late 70's and tried weed and liked it. However, the pot availability in Northwest Iowa was and still probably is somewhat limited. My "dealer" friend did have other options, as he was trying to make a living at his "trade". So Lsd and other drugs became available and interesting to me. I tried nearly every drug except Heroin, which was not for sale around small town Iowa. Later, I moved to a big metropolitan area, NYC, and found every drug imaginable in any quantity I wanted. So, I just smoked the pot that I wanted. Now, every job around tests for drug usage, and I quit all drug use except for the government's legal drug, alcohol. I suspect that alcohol is worse for me than pot, but at least I am avoiding jail time by playing by the establishment's rules. Truly Yours, Mike
One additional bit of info
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The ten year success of diminishing drug use in Portugal. After decriminalization, usage continued to drop, public health issues diminished, and so on.
Fearmongers will continue to spread disinformation and yet, one empirical success is ignored.
There was nothing "quiet"
There was nothing "quiet" about Coke's switch to spent leaves. Legal action was taken, and it was the "trial-of-the-century" at the time. Harvey Washington Wiley was a household name. If Coke had not settled the case, even caffeine may have also become outlawed. This story would have made a nice addition to your time-line.
See: US vs. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola
Mike from IA
Mike your belief about pot being a gateway drug IS incorrect, although I am happy you provided your experience and your beliefs. The true gateway drugs are sugar, caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. In today's prescription drug world it is arguable that is a gateway drug too. The true definition of a gateway drug is a substance leading to use of another substance. Kids first get a "high" feeling eating candy and drinking soda with the rush of either sugar or caffeine.
Just because you grew up in IA and your "dealer" is an idiot does not mean all people want to pursue other drugs such as you did. I will also being willing to bet that marijuana was not your first drug. I bet either nicotine or alcohol was. Who are you or anyone else for that matter, to tell others that can't pick and choose their poison.
The fact that marijuana is illegal gives others a feel good feeling that they can say people who smoke pot are wrong, but I thought we lived in America, the home of freedom and personal choice. This time line proves how insanely wrong it is that marijuana is illegal.
Some people get high off of sex, religion, and rock and roll, so who is anyone else to judge people who choose to use a plant provided by mother earth. This subject is so beat to death and it just goes to show how screwed up our political system is. Legalize it, tax it, and be done with it.
Marijuana is good for so many uses. Food, hemp seed and hemp oil are great nutrition and are currently imported from Canada. Paper, rope, clothing, the list goes on....Why would America's largest cash crop continue to be illegal? Legalization would end violence and street crime, it would lower taxes and increase the tax base letting so called "criminals" out of jail.
Sign petitions and do your part to encourage legalization!
my opinion
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tiffany jewelry
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