Guatemalan president Pérez Molina to propose drugs legalization in Central America at next meeting of regional leaders

Guatemalan president Pérez Molina announced today Saturday February 11, 2012 that he will propose drugs legalization in Central America, including legalization of transport of drugs in the upcoming meeting of regional leaders.

Pérez Molina said the war on drugs and all the money and technology received from the US has not diminished drug trafficking in the area. “Con toda la tecnología y los recursos y millones de dólares que dio Estados Unidos el problema no ha disminuido. Se habló del éxito del Plan Colombia pero lo único que hicieron los grandes carteles fue neutralizarlo”.

Drug policy reform may be on its way. Public support could make a huge difference. Now is the time to support the Calderon-Santos initiative.

http://www.cmi.com.co/?n=76562

http://www.njherald.com/story/16913887/guatemala-prez-to-propose-legalizing-drugs

A thinly-veiled call for drug policy reform at the XIII Tuxtla System for Dialogue

Last December 6th, 2011, the countries from the Tuxtla System for Dialogue met in Merida, Mexico, to discuss, among others, the security situation in the region, focusing on organized crime and narco-trafficking.

The Summit was attended by the presidents of Guatemala, Álvaro Colom; Honduras, Porfirio Lobo; Mexico, Felipe Calderón; Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega; Panama, Ricardo Martinelli; Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández; and First Vice-President of Costa Rica, Alfio Piva and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Belize, Wilfred Elrington; Colombia, María Ángela Holguín; and El Salvador, Hugo Martínez. On this occasion, President of Chile Sebastián Piñera also attended in his capacity as Special Guest.

They published a one-page joint declaration that expresses the growing frustration with the global war on drugs within the Central American region, and his the clearest regional call for drug policy reform to date. (Declaracion conjunta sobre crimen-organizado y narcotrafico) – http://www.presidencia.gob.mx/2011/12/declaracion-conjunta-sobre-crimen-organizado-y-narcotrafico/

Here, is the key paragraph of the declaration:

“Senalaron que Lo deseable sería una sensible reducción de la demanda de drogas ilegales. Sin embargo, si ello no es posible, como lo demuestra la experiencia reciente, las autoridades de los países consumidores deben entonces explorar todas las alternativas posibles para eliminar las ganancias exorbitantes de los criminales incluyendo opciones regulatorias o de mercado orientadas a ese propósito. Así se evitaría que el trasiego de sustancias siga provocando altos niveles de crimen y violencia en naciones latinoamericanas y caribeñas”.

or in plain English:

“They indicated that What would be desirable, would be a significant reduction in the demand for illegal drugs. Nevertheless, if that is not possible, as recent experience demonstrates, the authorities of the consuming countries ought then to explore the possible alternatives to eliminate the exorbitant profits of the criminals, including regulatory or market oriented options to this end. Thus, the transit of substances that continue provoking high levels of crime and violence in Latin American and Caribbean nations will be avoided.”

The declaration uses almost verbatim previous declarations made by President Calderon and clearly bear his mark. It was largely ignored by the US medias, even though it represents a dramatic shift in attitude within the Central American and Caribbean region. Let’s hope that this new attitude will translate into a deliberate shift toward drug policy reform!

Will global drug policy reform start in Latin America?

Drug policy reform cannot take place unilaterally; any country trying this route would be clobbered by the prohibitionist camp led by the US, and nobody will dare to venture on the reform path on his own. But what if a coalition was to emerge? My own geopolitical analysis leads me to believe that Latin America is the only place where such a coalition can initiate, and in fact, we might be witnessing the early signs of its formation.

Let’s go over recent developments:

President Santos of Colombia has repeatedly said that he is in favor of legalization, with a strong caveat, though: if the rest of the world agrees. Which is not going to happen anytime soon.

Meanwhile, President Calderon of Mexico, who launched a bloody battle against the drug cartels in 2006, seems to come to come to the realization that Mexico is getting the rotten end of the War on Drugs. He was especially incensed by the “fast and furious” debacle. Calderon started talking about seeking out “all possible options, including market alternatives” in his declaration following the August 25^th, 2011 Monterey massacre: “If … they are resigned to consuming drugs, then they need to find alternatives … and establish clear points of access different from the border with Mexico, but this situation can’t keep going on like this.” He repeated similar assertions in various interviews and speeches throughout the fall of 2011, most notably during a speech to the Americas Society and Council of the Americas in New York. Such position was then adopted by the Tuxtla Dialogue and Agreement Mechanism in Mérida in its December 5^th meeting. The Summit was attended by the presidents of Guatemala, Álvaro Colom; Honduras, Porfirio Lobo; Mexico, Felipe Calderón; Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega; Panama, Ricardo Martinelli; Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández; and First Vice-President of Costa Rica, Alfio Piva and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Belize, Wilfred Elrington; Colombia, María Ángela Holguín; and El Salvador, Hugo Martínez. President of Chile Sebastián Piñera also attended in his capacity as Special Guest. The Joint Statement on Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking, issued at the end of the meeting clearly bears Calderon’s mark, declaring:

In one of his first speeches after taking office, Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina called for a regional strategy for decriminalization.

So, where does this leave us?

Painfully aware of the failure of current prohibitionist policies and the high price they are paying for it, Latin American leaders seem to be testing the water, but nobody has dared crossing the line yet. For a movement to coalesce, leaders need to emerge. Presidents Calderon and Santos clearly stand out. No other heads of state can lead and unite a coalition of the willing with the credibility and the stature of these two heads of state. For Calderon, who pretty much bet his presidency on the Mexican drug war, the reversal must be particularly painful.

What will it take for Calderon and Santos to step up and lead, in defiance of their over-bearish Northern neighbors? 2011 clearly demonstrated the power of popular expression to move things forward and force the hand of history. I am convinced that popular support can tip the balance, but it won’t happen without massive mobilization. To that effect, I wrote the Calderon-Santos Initiative, calling on Presidents Calderon of Mexico and President Santos of Colombia to take the lead of a global coalition for legalization and control of currently illicit drugs. (see http://calderon-santos.org/). I invite you to help promote this initiative and move forward global drug policy reform.

Sources and further readings:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44282514/ns/world_news-americas/t/mexico-president-blasts-us-after-casino-massacre/

http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE78J0KL20110920

http://www.presidencia.gob.mx/2011/12/declaracion-conjunta-sobre-crimen-organizado-y-narcotrafico/

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/01/18/guatemalas-otto-perez-molina-calls-for-drug-decriminalization/

http://www.colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/21878-us-respects-but-does-not-support-colombian-call-for-drug-legalization-debate.html

10 goals for controlled re-legalization

As the drug policy reform movement gains traction around the world, it is critical that it reaches beyond its activist core and constructively address the legitimate concerns of the general public, as without its support, we are doomed to failure. The burden of proof is clearly on the drug-reformists side, as they need to overcome 100 years of official propaganda, moral panicking, fear mongering and brain washing. It is critical to be well informed, realistic and pragmatic, with clear objectives. This is one of the purposes of “World War-D”.

Therefore, I propose the following hierarchy of goals for controlled re-legalization:

To greatly reduce, dismantle and if possible eliminate the illegal drug market. To reduce the presence and influence of organized crime. To reduce drug-related crime. The dismantling and elimination of the illegal drug market requires the dismantling of the prohibition system that created it in the first place.
To reduce harm to existing users through safe and controlled legal access. To reduce the number of abusers/addicts; to reduce drug related deaths; to improve the health of remaining users/addicts; to improve their social integration.
To reduce or eliminate the financial burden placed on taxpayers by the consequences of drug use and drug prohibition. To achieve taxpayer neutrality.
To reduce initiation, especially among minors. Long-term improvements are predicated on substantially curbing initiation.
To control and greatly minimize access to minors; eliminating access to minors altogether might be a laudable goal, but it is about as realistic as absolute sexual abstinence to reduce teen pregnancy.
To reduce harm caused by problematic users to their proximate environment and to society at large.
To prevent as much as possible moderate, responsible users from becoming problem users.
To place reasonable access restrictions to the most damaging substances for new users and casual users.
To acknowledge the legitimacy of the non-medical use of psychoactive substances and the potential danger of their abuse.
To respect the civil liberties and lifestyle choices of informed, consenting adults as long as these choices do not intentionally endanger others. To end discrimination against users of psychoactive substances.

I believe these are realistic and attainable goals provided that the right policies are put in place. Unlike the fairly rigid prohibitionist model, there should be a lot of flexibility in the application of drug reform to allow for experimentation and adaptation to local realities. It should be obvious by now that those who wish to use psychoactive substances will go to great lengths to satisfy their desire, and it is far more advantageous for society to satisfy their need than to let the black market take care of it. The guiding concern shouldn’t be whether it is moral or immoral to provide psychoactive substances to those consenting adults who which to use them, but what is the least harmful way to do it.

Call for a global convention on psychoactive drugs

Call for a global convention on psychoactive drugs – a coalition of the willing to re-legalize and control

The entire war on drugs and drug prohibition are a US fabrication. Drug prohibition was imposed to the rest of the world when it was forcibly attached to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles at the end of WWI.

Decriminalization wouldn’t do much to solve the biggest issues created by prohibitionism in the big world: the violence, corruption and destabilization brought about by narco-trafficking, which is itself the unavoidable consequence of prohibition. While the US is not likely to re-legalize any time soon, Latin American countries are becoming increasingly restive as the time of blind obedience to US diktats is fading into memory. I, for one, am pushing for a coalition of the willing, led by Presidents Calderon and Santos, and regrouping Latin-American, European and Asian countries, to initiate controlled legalization of production and trade of all psychoactive substances. The principal objective of such a convention should be to remove the production and commerce of currently illicit drugs from the control of organized crime, and to bring it back under the control of legitimate international and national organizations. The secondary objective should be to reduce harm throughout the entire supply chain, from the producers to the users.

I do not think that such a coalition is as far-fetched as most American would like to believe. The American century is over; it ended under G.W. Bush. The world is now a vastly different place.

A growing number of retired heads of state and high-level officials are denouncing the failure of the War on Drugs and calling for a paradigm shift in drug policy. But we need heads of states and high-level officials to take a stand while in office and actually initiate profound and real drug policy reform while they are still in office.

No other heads of state on the world scene can lead and unite a coalition of the willing with the credibility and the stature of a potential Calderon-Santos alliance. Both presidents have repeatedly expressed their support for alternatives to the current highly disruptive policies.

But neither President Calderon nor President Santos are likely to make a move without strong popular support behind them.

Thus, I invite all of you to support and diffuse the Calderon-Santos Initiative, calling for Presidents Calderon of Mexico and President Santos of Colombia to take the lead of a global coalition for legalization and control of currently illicit drugs. Check http://calderon-santos.org/, as well as the attached files. Sign the open letter to Presidents Calderon and Santos, spread the word.

Rant of the day

I personally don’t care one way or another about pot. That’s not my point anyway with “World War-D”. My point is that people will use drugs, whether we like it or not, so leaving organized crime to manage drugs is pretty stupid. Of course, organized governments often behave like organized crime, but that’s another story.

I also think that the medical MJ crap is mostly a scheme. Yes, it benefit a handful of people, but let’s face it, most people using medical MJ do so to get high. I actually don’t see what is wrong with that anyway. Alcohol has some medicinal value, but the vast majority of people drink alcohol for the buzz, whether it is to relax and feel good, or to get totally zonked out.

Not to mention that it seems totally silly to ban an entire industry, from ropes to clothes to shampoo and body lotion, not to mention food and construction materials, just to prevent (without any success whatsoever) pot heads from getting high.

Bottom line on medical MJ

Bottom line on medical marijuana: prohibition is the worst possible form of control and create immense collateral damage. Medical marijuana has been a welcome relief — and a diversion, whose limits are sticking out more and more everyday. It also created a grey marketplace were some flourished.

All psychoactive substances, whether legal (alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, etc), prescription or illegal work the same way. Our neurons don’t read labels and couldn’t care less about legal status. Patterns of use are similar for all psychoactive substances: a small percentage will abuse while the vast majority use responsibly, and regular moderate use is often good for health (true for caffeine, alcohol, coca leaf, some prescription drugs, and probably MJ or opium). Moderate use of opium was the general rule for thousands of years as opium was one of the basis of medicine (and still is, ironically – opiates still are the best pain-management tools around).

The war on drugs is also a cultural war, touting alcohol, the dominant psychoactive substance of Western civilization, against the dominant psychoactive substances of Andean or Eastern civilization: coca leaf, cannabis and opium; meanwhile, the western-dominated pharmaceutical industry is flooding the planet with a new generation of psychoactive substances in its (so far very successful) attempt at medicalization of normalcy. This, by the way, is one of the dominant theme of my just released ” World War-D: the case against prohibitionism. A roadmap to controlled re-legalization.”

The only viable long-term solution to the drug issue: global re-legalization under a multi-tiers “legalize, tax, control, prevent, treat and educate” regime with practical and efficient mechanisms to manage and minimize societal costs.

Far from giving up and far from an endorsement, controlled legalization would be finally growing up; being realistic instead of being in denial; being in control instead of leaving control to the underworld. It would abolish the current regime of socialization of costs and privatization of profits to criminal enterprises, depriving them of their main source of income and making our world a safer place.

D.E.A. Launders Mexican Profits of Drug Cartels

Fast and Furious revisited – during the laundry, the killing continues…

In the New York times today, an article about undercover money-laundering by the DEA in Mexico. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the DEA is involved in money-laundering. This, after all, has been going on for decades in other parts of the world.

And what for? Here is the conclusion of the NYT article:

“It is not clear whether such operations are worth the risks. So far there are few signs that following the money has disrupted the cartels’ operations, and little evidence that Mexican drug traffickers are feeling any serious financial pain. Last year, the D.E.A. seized about $1 billion in cash and drug assets, while Mexico seized an estimated $26 million in money laundering investigations, a tiny fraction of the estimated $18 billion to $39 billion in drug money that flows between the countries each year.”

Considering that it is very unlikely that the next MX president, to be elected in July 2012, will follow Calderon’s harsh anti-drugs policies, 50,000 people (don’t believe the official count – most observers put the count over 50k), many innocent by-standers, will have died for nothing.

There is an alternative: check the Calderon-Santos initiative for a Global Protocol for legalization and regulation of the production, trade, and consumption of currently illicit drugs.

Meth Labs in America Heartland

‘Nightline’ Investigates Rampant Meth Abuse in Kentucky

So it looks like meth labs are popping up like mushrooms in Kentucky. Yet another illustration of the futility of the hopeless War on Drugs.

I refer you to the sub-chapter of World War-D:

Technological innovations and the next wave of diseases of excess

We have seen that various technological innovations have profoundly altered the psychoactive landscape throughout the ages, often leading to epidemics of “diseases of excess.” The invention of beer and wine played a critical role in the launch and expansion of Western civilization around 6,000 years ago.[1] Industrial-scale distillation produced a wave of alcoholism in the 18^th and 19^th century in Europe and the US. Advances in chemistry leading to the production of morphine, heroin and cocaine generated a first wave of addiction by the end of the 19^th and early 20^th century.

Three technological innovations are in the process of dramatically altering the global psychoactive landscape and have the potential to overwhelm the War on Drugs.

The Internet is revolutionizing the way we access and process information, allowing instant and widespread access and dissemination of information on virtually any topic. The Internet also transforms the way people interact. Virtual networks can be easily created, connecting people throughout the world. At the same time, subculture can spread at viral speed throughout the web.

Hydroponics is the second technological innovation drastically affecting the psychoactive landscape, allowing virtually anybody with spare space and an Internet connection to start hydroponic production of marijuana in his or her house, apartment or backyard. He or she can get all the necessary information and supplies from the Internet, including detailed instructions, seeds and clones. Indoor cultivation allows year-round production with three or four crops per year, and a controlled environment yielding consistent results and often higher-quality products commanding a higher price. As marijuana grows wild or semi-wild in most emerging countries, cannabis and its derivatives are now widely available in most parts of the world thanks to indoors or outdoors cultivation.

The proliferation of indoors cultivation is giving rise to cottage industry with lots of independent producers supplying small networks of acquaintances, some of which they may have met through the Internet. Criminal organizations are also getting in the business, setting up large-scale indoors or outdoors production. In the US, outdoors production is often done on remote public land. According to a state report, marijuana is now a $14 billion industry in California, and its number one cash crop. It represents over 50% of the economic activity in Mendocino County.[2]

Thanks again to the Internet, “kitchen counter chemistry” allows anybody with some chemistry background to produce synthetic drugs, ATS (amphetamine-type stimulants), ecstasy/MDMA, and LSD, LSD being admittedly the most difficult to manufacture. Formulas and know-how can be easily downloaded and most supplies can easily be purchased over the Internet. While independent labs are not by any means as widespread as marijuana plantations, their production capacities are much larger and the profit potential is astronomical as costs can be as low as a few pennies per dose, with retail prices ranging from $10-$50 or more. Asian gangs often control the production of synthetic drugs in Asia itself and in Canada, the US and EU through their diaspora. They also control its distribution, mostly through the club scene, especially for MDMA/ecstasy. In the US, biker gangs seem to be involved in ATS production and, to a large extent, control their distribution. Mexican gangs dominate the distribution of Mexican amphetamines. Missouri and Tennessee at the center of America’s heartland lead the pack in meth production in the US, with a whopping 2,082 meth lab busts in 2010 for Tennessee,[3] overtaking Missouri at 1,960. There were over 13,000 meth labs busts in Missouri over the past seven years. Sherriff Tommy Adams from tiny Carter County, MO, in the Ozark Mountain foothills with just 6,000 residents, was busted for meth trafficking in April 2011; his chief deputy was charged with burglary for stealing a gun from the evidence room.[4]

To further compound the problem, new psychoactive substances are continuously popping up like mushrooms. 2010 was a bumper year with over 40 new synthetic drugs appearing in the EU market, pulverizing the 2009 record of 24.[5] Such drugs are marketed over the Internet as legal substitutes for cocaine, heroin, amphetamine or ecstasy until they are banned and promptly replaced by yet newer and largely untested substitutes, spreading at viral speed through social networks and forums.

The synthetic drug market is hard to trace as production takes place near the main markets. Distribution networks are volatile and informal, raves, clubs and the dance scene being the most common marketing venues. Dealers and users are mostly mainstream, average young adults in search of hedonistic satisfaction and glamour with the thrill of forbidden fruit. Organized crime might get more involved in this fast growing market in view of the huge profit potential and greatly diminished risks. In the EU and US, the use of synthetic drugs now surpasses the use of heroin and cocaine combined. It is growing by leaps and bounds in all parts of the world, especially in Asia and the Middle East.

These technical innovations – the Internet, hydroponics, and kitchen counter chemistry – are game changing and have the potential to overwhelm the War on Drugs in developed countries. Many countries have already pretty much given up on trying to control cannabis consumption, but most experts agree that cannabis is a fairly innocuous drug, probably less harmful than alcohol. More worrisome is the spread of production and consumption of synthetic drugs. Amphetamines in particular can be extremely addictive; abuse leads to violent, dangerous, unpredictable, and perturbed behavior. As the entry barrier to production lowers to the point of being virtually nonexistent, and as distribution networks become increasingly informal and diffuse, it is hard to figure out how these trends can be addressed within the current prohibitionist policies, short of adopting even more intrusive law enforcement policies that are increasingly incompatible with democratic societies.

[1] See Chapter 8 – Alcohol.

[2] Matt Baume, “Pot Crushes Wine Vineyards as Cash Crop,” Oct 21 2010.

[3] “Tennessee Overtakes Missouri in Meth Lab Busts,” Associated Press, March 01 2011.

[4] “Sheriff faces meth charge in state ravaged by drug,” Associated Press, April 18 2011.

[5] UNODC 2011 World Drug Report, http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/WDR2011/World_Drug_Report_2011_ebook.pdf.

The War on Drugs moves to reality (TV that’s it)

Two new reality TV shows feature the war on drugs:

The Discovery Channel launches “Weed Wars”, featuring Harborside Health Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in California (and probably in the world). Premiere today, Thursday 10 p.m. on Discovery.

DUI (two 30-minute episodes) focuses on “the disastrous financial and personal losses that come for everyday working folks arrested for DUI.” Premieres Thursday at 9 p.m. on TLC. DUI starts with a grandmother busted because the passengers of her car were smoking weed while she was driving.

For more details, check the Washington Post article

or the Mercury News article