by chycho

The best solution to our environmental problems is to end prohibition. There is no other viable option short of the immediate end to military conflict that will have the same positive impact on the ecosystem. Our first step towards a sustainable existence should begin with cannabis. Its assimilation into our civilization is the safest, simplest, most efficient immediate solution that we can implement in time to prevent an ecological catastrophe.

Cannabis is a plant, and its use is as old as civilization itself. It has thousands of immediate and potential applications. Its cultivation rejuvenates the soil, it can replace wood products, it’s medicinal, and it can be used as building material, textiles, paint, plastic, fuel, paper, food and body care. It is one of the most important bounties of nature. It’s a plant that we were meant to use.

So what’s the hold up? The short answer is America’s “War on Drugs”. The United States started a legislative war on this plant genus almost a century ago and they do not want to give up the fight.

The war on drugs is not a war between nations; it’s a corporate war on people, irrelevant of their nationality or ethnicity. It is a war against citizens of the United States and those of other nations. It’s a war without borders. It has gone through multiple mutations and over the last few decades grown into the monstrosity that it is today. It is a one sided war declared by nations on their citizens. A conflict not reciprocated by the citizens. It is a war that is sustained entirely do to ignorance, fear, and greed.

If there is such a thing as a just war, then the war on drugs is on the other end of the spectrum. It is the most unjust war that has ever been. It is a war exclusively waged for money. Every other war throughout history has had at least one other fathomable pretence. The war on drugs doesn’t.

The irony is that this war and the destruction that it unleashes can be brought to an end within an instant, if it was so desired. All that is required is to end prohibition, to repeal one law.

We know that the end to prohibition will have positive effects for our society because precedent for this has already been set. When prohibition of alcohol ended, so did most of the violence associated with gang warfare, as did much of the corruption in government. When prohibition ended, precious resources were made available again and a major source of revenue and employment was established through the sale of alcohol and its associated paraphernalia.

These same results have also been observed in Portugal’s experiment with drug decriminalization. The United Nations has also confirmed these findings in its annual report on the state of global drug policy, and many countries have been paying-heed and following Portugal’s example. Decriminalization is sweeping through major parts of Latin America as well as numerous municipalities and States within the United States of America.

The only reason that America’s Federal “War on Drugs” still continues to this day is because its so-called adversaries, criminal organizations and certain sectors of government, don’t want it to end since its continuation guarantees them flow of funds.

All of the above is common knowledge to anyone who has remotely researched this topic, or for that matter, even thought about it. After all, who in their right mind would ever approve of a war on nature, a war on a plant, a war on a plant that’s not even poisonous, a war on a plant that is actually beneficial for us, our society, and the ecosystem? You would have to be deranged to do such a thing. But this is exactly what we have done. We have been waging a war on a plant for almost a century. We have been waging a war on cannabis that spans the globe, costs trillions of dollars, destroys millions of lives, and consumes precious resources.

On the behest of certain corporations and a small minority that profit from prohibition, we have been waging a war on a plant that has the potential to help us reduce our ecological footprint. This must be the ultimate definition of stupidity, and if it isn’t, then it most definitely is the ultimate definition of psychotic.

So, the question is; how do we end this madness? How do we end the war on drugs? The answer is that we must destroy the beast that spawned this plague. The instigator, the aggressor in this war was, is, and continues to be the United States of America. They started this war and they are the main obstacle to peace. To end the global war on drugs, prohibition laws in the United States must be repealed.

To accomplish this task the mantra for many over the last few years has been to overgrow the government. A very valiant and valid strategy, but, unfortunately, there are casualties associated with using such tactics, as most Canadians and one Marc Emery, a champion of this mantra, recently discovered.

There is, however, another way to end prohibition that does not include sacrificing ones life. One of the best ways to end America’s “War on Drugs” is to support grassroots organizations that are actively working towards repealing prohibition laws. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) actually admitted this fact in 2005 when they began proceedings to extradite Marc Emery from Canada to the United States for drug trafficking related to his activities as an online cannabis seed retailer. Following Emery’s arrest, the head of the DEA at the time, Karen Tandy, released the following statement:

“Today's DEA arrest of Marc Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine, and the founder of a marijuana legalization group - is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement… Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.”

If the DEA is willing to spend millions of dollars and years in proceedings to extradite a Canadian to the United States in the hopes of preventing a few hundred thousand dollars from flowing to “marijuana legalization groups”, then it is to our interest to make sure that funds continue to flow to these organizations. Many of their employees and volunteers have made it their life’s work to end our global war on a plant, and they need our help. Our monetary support of organizations helping to repeal prohibition laws in the United States and Canada is what the DEA and those who oppose legalization fear. We should do our best to give them cause to fear us.

Keep in mind that many of these organizations are very efficient at what they do, as most grassroots organizations are, hence the US government must spend a few orders of magnitude more than they do to counter the effects that our donations will have. By funding these organizations we become the government’s nemesis, since they will have to spend a lot of money to neutralize our contributions. This, of course, may prove to be a daunting task for a cash and credit strapped United States, they are, after all, facing an out of control Federal deficit and a national debt that is estimated to double in the next ten years - a gross underestimation some would argue. It should only be a matter of time before citizens of the United States realize how foolish it is to allow their tax dollars to be spent on waging war on a plant, or so every sane person on this planet hopes.

Below you will find the names and websites of some of the more prominent groups spearheading the battle to end prohibition in the United States and Canada. They are trying to bring sanity to our lives and I’m sure they would appreciate our help as much as we appreciate their efforts. A few hundred thousand dollars in donations to these organizations brought the full weight of the United States government onto Marc Emery. Considering the economic crisis in the United States of America, there has never been a more opportune time to end the war on drugs by forcing the US government to commit resources to this war that they do not have. Let’s help plant the seeds of their destruction by funding organizations working towards repealing prohibition. It’s one of our best options in our attempts to build a sustainable civilization.

• Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
  www.maps.org
• Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)
  www.mpp.org
• Educators For Sensible Drug Policy (EFSDP)
  www.efsdp.org/
• Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)
  www.leap.cc
• National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)
  www.norml.org and www.norml.ca
• The November Coalition
  www.november.org
• Students for Sensible Drug Policy
  www.ssdp.org
• Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER)
  www.saferchoice.org
• Drug Policy Alliance (DPA Network)
  www.drugpolicy.org

Source: http://www.chycho.com/?q=End_Prohibition