Chicagoan lengths to fight drug use

Trying to reduce drug use throughout the city, the Chicago City council proposed a measure to ban small plastic baggies less than 2″ x 2″. The logic goes that these bags are used to distribute controlled substances, and so they should be illegalized to impede drug transactions. Furthermore these bags often contain drug residue, which poses a hazard to children who might find the bags.

First of all, when did it become ok to restrict access to a storage medium? As the article rightfully points out, this type of bag is often used to hold buttons, jewelry, or other small items. Who is to say that they are only for drugs? Tom Fruin, an artist has in fact collected so many of these bags as to assemble a quilt!

The argument that drug residue poses a risk to inquisitive children who lick the inside of bags holds some water, but then I’ve got to ask - What about all those cigarette butts on the ground? There’s nothing stopping a three year old from picking up and lighting up a half used cigarette, or joint for that matter.

Just thought I’d bring attention to this excellent example of Poo-litics.

Opium producers shift to Cannabis in Afghanistan

Since the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, international efforts have attempted to reduce the production and harvest of opium poppies, Papaver somniferum (sleepy poppy). It has been remarked numerous times, and throughout modern history, that Afghanistan produces the majority of the worlds opium. Recent figures state that 90% of heroin worldwide originates as Afghan opium. Remember the failed British Invasions of Afghanistan (the first, second, and third)? Of course not, but that was also a ploy, in part, to control the extremely lucrative Charas trade between Afghanistan and British controlled India (an important trade route still today). Despite repeated attempts, the report report commissioned by the UK and executed in 1949 found that:

• Abuse was not widespread
• Regulating traffic would be near impossible with such porous and mountainous borders
• Chara and opiate use were culturally accepted practices, and
• Taxing chara use or import would be difficult at best

While the British failed to suppress Chara use, 21st century Americans knew they could do better than their cross-Atlantic pre-democratic progenitors. Ironically, in attempts to disrupt opium production -often the sole method of subsistence for Afghan farmers- US policy has pushed farmers to instead cultivate cannabis.

Ain’t that unexpected. Who would’ve thunk that by destroying a national economic, agricultural and social tradition, farmers would turn to something else to support themselves? The best part, by US classifications, Cannabis, a schedule 1 drug, is “more illegal” than opium, classified as schedule 2. So, by our own measurement system, we’ve made anything but progress.

The next imperialist Latin American drug war?

The US and Mexico are in negotiations regarding a major expansion of the drug war in Mexico. This conflict already receives aid and support from the US, but now we’re talking big dollars - half a billion per year (or 1.2 billion here). That’s about the same we spend on Colombia, which is a great success story by any absurd government measurement standards.