Excellent Video: The Human Cost of Marijuana Prohibition
The Marijuana Policy Project has put together an absolute must-see video telling the stories of real people who were unfairly targeted by the war on drugs.
Part 1:
Part 2:
There is simply no counterpoint to this. No one will come forward to defend these atrocities. They cannot. Instead, the drug czar and his soldiers will continue to celebrate their war, while pretending these people don't exist.
The duty falls on us, therefore, to give a voice to the drug war's countless victims. These stories puncture the false narrative that the war on drugs protects life and liberty. These are the inevitable, intolerable consequences of the terrible war we've declared on our own neighbors and friends, on the sick and dying, on children and grandparents. To know these stories is to know the truth: the drug war has brought us the opposite of every good outcome we were told to expect.
So today I call upon the silent drug warriors lurking around the site (I know you're out there) to come forward and tell us why the nice people in these videos were worth sacrificing. Speak now, lest we assume you have no answer for this.
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redditreply to "wasted
Comment posted by Anonymous on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 1:33pmreply to "wasted time"
Losing her financial aid is still discrimination, and it is losing her liberty. Whether or not you think financial aid is a good idea in the first place, she lost it because of a pipe while others retained theirs.
Also, this is happening with public high schools as well. In Massachusetts, if you get caught with drugs at school you lose your right to an education. You will get suspended or expelled from your own high school, the offense will be put on your record and no other school in the state has to admit you.
Why are we kicking kids out of school for drug offenses? To teach them a lesson and get them on the right track? How can they do that without school!
Whether or not her example was as devastating as the others, I think it's a perfect example of how nonsensicle US drug policies are. Especially since this is a war waged in the name of protecting youth when they are doing us more harm than good.
Ms. Garcia is just one of 200,000+
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 4:01pmRE: "Wasted Time" by Anonymous
The issue of whether the government should be providing federal financial aid in the first place is a different issue and separate from what is presented in the video -- heck, this is why Libertarians also support repeal of the drug provision (or aid elimination penalty)...they don't want drug laws to interfere with a person's liberty and future. Ms. Garcia was lucky she had a mom that could and would go to such lengths to help her...countless others among the 200,000+ who've been denied aid aren't so fortunate. Reasonable people can certainly argue that the federal financial aid system should be eliminated, but until things change it is certainly not right to deny such benefits to those with drug convictions, especially while murderers, rapists, arsonists, etc. are all eligible. Here are some interesting facts/talking points: http://www.raiseyourvoice.com/Talking%20Points.pdf.
- David
"no solution"?
Comment posted by Anonymous on Sun, 08/31/2008 - 10:20amSolutions come in two categories...pen...sword. Keep your ink up.
Wasted Time
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 11:41amI found it very hard to feel any compassion at all for the first supposed victim who had a service denied to her that the government has no business providing for in the first place. Give me a break! Compared to the other people in the documentary who lost their lives, liberty, property, and dreams her problem looks like a hangnail. She even admits in her section that she was easily able to overcome her "Tragedy" by having her mother invest in her future. I think the time used for her section would have been better used highlighting another more tragic travesty.