Prohibition is, simply, fundamentally wrong

 

Heroin trials succeed in UK

Before the legal Injecting Centre in Kings Cross,
sights like this were fairly common in the street.

After the conservative government de-funded heroin trials in the UK, some local authorities have continued them, with dramatic reductions in crime and homelessness. 

One habitual user told how he used to have to shoplift £80 worth of goods each day to yield £40 for heroin. I'm sure the local shopkeepers prefer this new option. 

Prohibitionists of course are horrified at such a measure, preferring the endless round of expensive and destructive police, court and jail action that had clearly failed before these programs were launched – a system which also boosted a criminal supply chain with its endemic violence and corruption.

Legalise, regulate, tax and treat!

Yes, Aborigines do suffer discrimination in the justice system

Well the numbers are in – there is little doubt NSW police discriminate against Aborigines. And drug prohibition is a major enabler.

"Drug driving laws, whereby drivers can lose their licence on the spot if they have a detectable level of drugs in their system, also disproportionately impact Aboriginal people. Without a licence, many clients inevitably lose their jobs too," reports a special investigation by the Sydney Morning Herald.

As documented elsewhere on this blog, these laws are unjust because they do not test for impairment, only the presence of certain drugs in saliva or blood and cause instant loss of licence. Alcohol driver tests, on the other hand, measure the concentration of alcohol and licence loss occurs only with high blood levels or repeat offences.

Alcohol impairs driving far more than cannabis does, with some now claiming that experienced smokers have no impairment.

This of course discriminates against all drivers who use cannabis, but the investigation shows a systemic bias against Aborigines across many offences.

"In Sydney city, more Indigenous people went to jail than others for offensive language and other public order offences despite fewer being charged with this offence," says the SMH report.

If anyone thinks Black Lives Matter protesters don't have a genuine grievance, please read the linked article. And there is good reason for the BLM movement to campaign against prohibition because abolishing that failed policy will immediately benefit their cause!

NZ to vote on cannabis legalisation and control

Even as Australia bumbles along, clinging to 1930s-style prohibition, New Zealand will vote on legalising Cannabis in September.

And as NSW massively increases police detection quotas for drugs, former NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark  has labelled prohibition as "the worst waste of taxpayers' money".

“For me, it’s just a no-brainer to stop wasting our taxpayers’ money with police helicopters hovering over the Kiwi bush, hounding ordinary citizens who are having a joint of cannabis rather than a glass of wine, hunting down the Kiwis who are desperate for some kind of relief for a medical condition. Let’s stop all that... lets put it into something better,” she said.

The proposed legalisation will ban items designed to appeal to young people, set a four-year prison term for selling to under 20-year-olds and allow cannabis “coffee shops” to open.

Despite this, local prohibitionists claim the new law would make the drug more available to children, because they apparently trust criminal dealers to protect children better than police and the legal system.

Let's hope common sense prevails. In neanderthal Australia, police continue to burn taxpayers' money taking helicopter joy flights around Nimbin looking for the pot plots of hippies.

NSW cops form drug syndicate to entrap drug syndicates

Seriously, prohibition is just a recipe for corruption. No link provided here because it's behind a paywall but here's the text.

NSW Drug Squad detectives have homes raided by fellow police

An internal investigation is underway into the activities of the high-powered NSW Drug Squad, into allegations their police tactics crossed the line into criminality.

Sharri Markson, The Daily Telegraph
July 2, 2020 8:02am

State Crime Command Drug Squad detectives have had their homes raided as part of a misconduct investigation into allegations they created a drug syndicate and manufactured drugs to entrap criminals.

The Daily Telegraph understands attempted prosecutions brought on by the NSW Drug Squad unraveled when police methodology was questioned.

NSW Police last night confirmed the launch of Strike Force Dominion to investigate the conduct of senior Drug Squad police.

“State Crime Command have referred a matter to the Professional Standards Command for further investigation,” a NSW Police spokesman said in a statement.

“SF (StrikeForce) Dominion has been established by Professional Standards Command and remains an ongoing investigation.

“No further comment can be provided at this time.”

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has been involved in the investigation and the homes of two senior detectives in the Drug Squad were raided on Tuesday.

NSW ramps up drug detection targets as it flogs the dead horse of prohibition

Good policing or self-fulfilling prophesy?

NSW Police are being given detection targets that demand an increase in drug detections by a massive 86%

Certain suburbs like Kings Cross, Broken Hill, Mt Druitt and South Sydney have far higher targets than the average while North Shore suburbs have among the lowest. Cynics may conclude that the well-off areas where cocaine is the drug of choice are getting a 'Get out of Jail Free' card.

And, despite clear international evidence that decriminalisation and case management is a cheaper and more effective way to address illicit drugs, those targets are the highest of all categories.

Critics say this quota approach will result in bias errors like racial profiling and do nothing to increase community safety – at a time where the incarceration rate of non-white people is stoking widespread protest.

From the SMH article linked above –

Professor Murray Lee, director of the Sydney Institute of Criminology at the University of Sydney, said focusing on... drug supply, could push the offence rates higher over time and risk it becoming a "self-fulfilling prophecy".

"You may well see police going for the low-hanging fruit, whether that's over-policing in particular areas to meet those targets, going after the usual suspects," Professor Lee said.

The target for robbery in Ku-ring-gai has fallen 40 per cent since 2016 to 20 this year, while actual incidents have been increasing in that area, tripling from 10 in 2016 to 30 last year.

How prohibition turned a hippie into a 'terrorist'

George Dickson (pic by Hugh Rimington),

Another example of the toxic chain-reaction sparked by prohibition is reported in the Monthly article 'The Aquarian 'terrorist' (paywall).

Self-described hippie and cannabis legalisation activist George Dickson was arrested in May 2019 for possession in Nimbin, during Mardi Grass, the annual Marihuana Festival.

He ended up being jailed, classified as a terrorist and placed under a full control order, forbidden even from going interstate to his father's funeral and forced to wear an ankle tracker bracelet along with other conditions such as being forbidden to use a computer or phone.

After his initial arrest he was taken 31 kms away from Nimbin to Lismore police station, to be released late on that cold night with no shoes, no money and scant clothes (and, presumably, no pot!). Angered, he smashed the windscreens of two police cars with a rock. Bad and unwise, but it does not make him a terrorist.

This farce happened because of two bad laws, first the law that prohibits cannabis for no rational reason, and second, Australia's then newly minted Terrorism Act. The loose wording of that Act allowed police to draw a link between smashing the windscreens (violence) and Mr Dickson's history of activism in support of cannabis legalisation (a political activity). His activism included things like putting stickers on telegraph poles – hardly the sort of activity the terrorism laws were designed to address.

This apparently resulted in up to 20 police etc at one time being on the case, most reportedly unable to take it seriously.

I'm guessing Mr Dickson takes it pretty seriously.

Black lives matter, especially under prohibition

Police in Kings Cross guide a sniffer dog towards
an indigenous man in one of their daily street trawls.
No drug indication was made.

Following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, mass protests in the western world have all but pushed Covid 19 off the front pages (not that there are too many of those left!). "Black lives matter" is again an anthem.

But the endless discussion around the problem of over-policing people of colour, while exploring the complexities of history and culture, almost always ignores one central driver – the entirely pointless and ineffective War on Drugs. And if you don't agree that 'war' is pointless, you need to explain the success of Portugal's blanket decriminalisation of illicit drugs.

Meanwhile most American states, and Australia where drug sniffer dogs roam the streets, continue to criminalise the use of drugs other than alcohol. In Australia, drug and alcohol "abuse"* is one of the four key risk-factors for involvement in the criminal justice system according to a Parliamentary report.

Available data shows that Indigenous Australians fair (sic) significantly worse than non-Indigenous Australians in regard to these four critical factors which influence involvement in crime.[7] These factors have interrelated detrimental impacts and can be seen as forming a vicious cycle

The Guardian found there had been at least 434 deaths in custody since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody ended in 1991 – that's more than one per month.

In 2018–19 Australia recorded 77,074 illicit drug offences, 20% of the total (ABS). It's not simplistic to suggest that the decriminalisation or legalisation of drugs would significantly reduce the criminalisation of Indigenous people – with the stroke of a pen, as it were. Understandable fears by many people that such a move would create a "flood of stoners wandering around the streets", as is often claimed by prohibitionists, simply does not happen for reasons beyond the scope of this article.

So I urge those who campaign in the 'Black lives matter' space to join the dots between racially skewed policing and the War on Drugs. You may see them as separate issues but the dots do join very strongly.

* I place the word "abuse" in quotes here because crime statisticians tend to class any drug use as "abuse" even though the vast, vast majority of such drug use causes no significant problems for the user or others. I see the inaccurate terminology as part of the demonisation of drugs carried out by the forces of prohibition, not least to reinforce their own survival as a well funded industry.

US prison statistics illustrate the huge impact prohibition has on the criminal justice system.

UN slams Philippines' Duterte over mass drug killings

Rodrigo Duterte with his favourite toy.

The ongoing deadly horror of prohibition-gone-mad in the Philippines has been documented in a UN report. 

'The report stated "the drug campaign-related killings appear to have a widespread and systematic character. The most conservative figure, based on government data, suggests that since July 2016, 8663 people have been killed", but it noted the true total of deaths could be three times as high...' says The Sydney Morning Herald.

President Rodrigo Duterte, himself reportedly addicted to Fentanyl, appears unfazed, passing new laws that allow detention without a warrant.

The regime regularly tags political opponents as 'terrorists' or communists by 'red-tagging' them. Journalists are frequent targets. Such people often end up murdered or jailed.

No mention of the underlying absurdity of prohibition is apparent in reports, even though it is used to justify Duterte's mass murder. Any argument supporting this failed 1930s ideology is nullified by Portugal's success with blanket decriminalisation of drugs, most of which in any case are less harmful than legal alcohol. Prohibition is a form of denialism, in this case more deadly than in most countries.

FBI kills innocent woman in drug raid

The very worst of prohibition combined with gun culture has resulted in tragedy in Kentucky when the FBI raided the home of frontline health worker and African American Breonna Taylor.

The police allegedly did not identify themselves, and Ms Taylor's husband fired a gun, thinking it was a home invasion. The FBI then opened fire indiscriminately and killed Ms Taylor who was shot eight times.

No drugs were found in the house – the dealer they were looking for lived elsewhere and had in fact already been apprehended by local police.

PROHIBITION IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE DRUGS IT FAILS TO CONTROL.

A meme about Angus Taylor and forgery

Lest we forget. Someone forged the document about Clover Moore's travel expenses that Angus Taylor published and provided to the Murdoch media. But two police investigations – neither of which actually interviewed Mr Taylor – found there was no case to answer. Something's rotten and it's a lot closer than Denmark.

Oh, and remember how he claimed Naomi Wolfe tried to ban Christmas at Oxford University – when she wasn't even there at the time? And then demanded an apology from HER?

Seriously, this guy.

Climate and bushfires, 2020. No, it hasn't "happened before"!

Here's a short GIF movie I made after wading among the denialist nonsense flooding our mainstream media facebook sites. What does it take to wake these people up? Many of them quote poet Dorothea MacKellar's poem 'My country' as if this recent catastrophe was normal. Many say, "It's summer. It happens every summer", ignoring (among many other facts) that this fire season was out of control from very early September. It's hard to fathom. But I guess ignoring stuff is pretty much the definition of ignorance.

The GIF combines images of the 2020 bushfires with climate facts. Feel free to share!

Meanwhile MacKellar's poem remains a gem. Don't let denialists claim it!

https://www.dorotheamackellar.com.au/archive/mycountry.htm

A Scott Morrison bushfire meme

As Scott Morrison continues to sideline Australia's bushfire holocaust,
we can only send him our thoughts and prayers.

Feel free to share! As the worst bushfires in our history destroy people, homes, forests and animals, Scott Morrison is enjoying Christmas in Hawaii. He has left the nation in the charge of Deputy PM Michael McCormack, who says only "raving lunatics" accept the science of climate change. It's amazing that the very thing those lunatic 'alarmists' warned about is coming true, but denialists are not alarmed. That's why they call it denial.

Sniffer dogs not so effective as top cop claims

As young people at music festivals continue to die at alarming rates, harm reduction experts call for pill testing while police and the NSW government dig in and defend the use of sniffer dogs followed by strip-searches.

But Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has misrepresented their effectiveness, claiming that the dogs successfully found drugs in 40% of indications. Never mind that many of these are for cannabis, the world's safest drug with a death rate of zero – he's wrong anyway.

ABC Fact check looked into it with the help of data wrung from the police via multiple Freedom of Information requests from them and Greens MLC David Shoebridge. It looks like the true rate is significantly less, at 24.3%.

And everyone seems to have forgotten that the dogs were brought in under the pretence they would target dealers rather than users.

The fact-check says, "However, evidence from as early as the 2006 NSW Ombudsman's review of the use of drug detection dogs suggest that the dogs have been ineffective in targeting supply offences.

Of more than 10,000 drug dog indications during the review period, 141 identified a trafficable amount of drugs (1.4 per cent). Just 19 (0.19 per cent) led to a successful prosecution for supply."

So the credibility gap from NSW cops has shrunk from 40% to 24% to, arguably .19%.

What a great way to spend taxpayers' dollars.

How good is prohibition?

"A Florida man was jailed for 90 days after cops had suspected he had cocaine in his vehicle, which turned out to be white powdered drywall."

All the initial tests – and a sniffer dog – indicated the white powder all over this black handyman's car was cocaine. Because obviously if you were dealing cocaine you would have it dusted all over the inside of your car. The lab tests – after 90 days of jail – later showed it was plaster residue. 

Prohibition arguably causes more injustice in the world than any other law. How many people has Fentanyl-addict Rodrigo Duterte had gunned down in the Philippines by now?

Hello Australia? Portugal exists, you know

As conservative Australia rushes headlong down its prohibitionist path, with Attorney-General Christian Porter threatening tp overturn the ACT's recent legalisation of cannabis and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian ignoring all the Coronial recommendations about pill testing and burgeoning strip searches of children, – a story on Radio National reports that since Portugal decriminalised all drugs the country has saved 18% in associated costs, treated and rehabilitated many problem users and vastly improved health outcomes while usage has not changed significantly.

Too sensible for Australian conservatives and their 1930s ideology?

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rearvision/decriminalisation-of-drug-use-and-procession-in-portugal-and-au/11582930

Drug war persecution chases its own tail

What a waste of time and money. This amazing campaign of persecution makes no difference to the availability of drugs. Legalise, regulate and tax. That would finance treating the small minority who have drug problems. Police could get on with things like protecting medical staff from assaults. Too simple.

Scott Morrison drinks beer on the job while persecuting drug users

Beer is not a drug. Repeat after me. Beer is not a drug.
Because Jesus said there is only one acceptable drug, possibly the most damaging one.

Welcome to a nation of craven dobbers

I picked up this flyer in a Queensland police station. When I went to school, dobbers were about the lowest form of life. Police themselves are very hard on 'dobbers' in their own ranks but they seem to have a different standard when they want the public to do their work for them.

In other news, a reported 60,000 complaints have been received by the Tax Office, dobbing in people for tax-dodging. Now at least tax-dodging, unlike drug use, is an actual crime that hurts others. But I just wonder how many anonymous complaints are tricked up to satisfy a personal grudge or simply used as a bullying tactic?

I very much doubt that any of the authorities involved will publish figures on how many dobs prove baseless.

Dept of Home Affairs supports prohibition failures

Peter Dutton projecting an image of the
inside of his brain. "If they don't live
just like me, go get 'em, boys!"

Credible NSW bodies including the Bar Association are calling for the decriminalisation of drugs including ice, saying that criminalisation of personal users is often more harmful than the drugs themselves.

But Peter Dutton's Home Affairs Department is pushing back, arguing the move would create “uncertainty for law enforcement and at the Australian border”.

Yup. Gotta have "certainty" or the world will collapse. No shades of grey in Peter Dutton's world. Meanwhile the victims of this stupid and ineffective regime can keep clogging up the court system for no good reason and with few good outcomes. That's a certainty! Read more here.