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Title: Venezuala and Ecuador Descriminalize Cannabis. Post by: Ras Mandingo on January 16, 2004, 08:58:52 AM January 15, 2003
Please Distribute Widely Dear Colleague, The new participatory journalism model of Narco News is soon to emerge from the lab. Meanwhile, here's some breaking news from our beat, that I've posted as an entry on my weblog: Venezuela Decriminalizes Drug Possession http://www.bigleftoutside.com/archives/000313.php Today's neo-libertarians, if they truly believe what they claim to believe about freedom, really need to take a second look at Venezuela and it's president Hugo Chávez. The democratically-elected government of Venezuela has survived attempted coups - military, economic, and mediatic - and keeps moving forward with the most sweeping reforms and advances in democracy and human rights in the hemisphere today. The latest: a reform of the penal code that, while increasing penalties for drug traffickers like every other country, has just decriminalized possession. According to the oligarch's daily El Universal, which leads its report in a panic over the reform's simultaneous legalization of abortion and euthanasia, here's what the new law does for drug users: "As personal dose for consumption, the (allowable) quantity of the drug substance is extended to that which is necessary for average individual consumption for no more than five days; and as a provisional dose, the quantity of the substance that is employed for average individual consumption (according to forensics experts) for no more than ten days." In sum, the drug addict or user no longer faces prison or penalty in Venezuela if he possesses small amounts of his drug of choice (specifically mentioned by the law are marijuana, hashish, cocaine and its derivatives, opium and its derivatives, and synthetic drugs). This is truly revolutionary. How and why did it happen? This giant step for drug policy reform and human freedom in this hemisphere happened because Venezuelan democracy was defended and US-backed coups were defeated. This historic development is a discrediting knockout blow to all the hysterical accusers who claimed that the government of Hugo Chávez would somehow become "authoritarian" simply because he and the Venezuelan majority don't agree that "the market" should govern their land. The vestiges of McCarthyism or "Fear of a Red Planet" appeared in recent years even from some quarters that claim they want to liberalize drug laws. Our own newspaper, Narco News, took heat and sustained hard hits over the past two years in particular for our strong defense of Venezuelan democracy. "But that has nothing to do with drug policy," the fearful voices accused. Today, you can see the whole truth, kind reader. Fear no more. In January 2004, Venezuela decriminalized the drug user and the small doses he possesses. And if the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela sustains the inevitable backlash from Washington that will now come for daring to exercise its democratic will to increase human freedom, you will soon see other Latin American nations follow suit. Ecuador had already done it quietly (reported only by Narco News - http://www.narconews.com/Issue29/article703.html ), but Venezuela's action, because of the size and influence of the country and its economy, and the context of its role in the current American drama, now provides cover for Brazil, Argentina, and the rest of the continent to do the same. To those of you who wisely understood this connection between defending democracy in Latin America and reforming the insane war on drugs, and who raised your voices across the world to prevent the coups d'etat, this is your victory, too. Congratulations, remain vigilant, apply for your copublisher account to amplify your voice across the continents, and onward... From somewhere in a country called América, Al Giordano Publisher The Narco News Bulletin http://www.narconews.com/ narconews@hotmail.com Narco News is supported by: The Fund for Authentic Journalism P.O. Box 71051 Madison Heights, MI 48071 USA http://www.authenticjournalism.org Title: Re: Venezuala and Ecuador Descriminalize Cannabis. Post by: Rootsie on January 16, 2004, 01:38:18 PM Chavez decriminalized all drugs, not just cannabis. And the issue is not the marvelous healing qualities of the drugs. The issue is the War on Drugs and how the poor and non-white are getting locked up by the millions for possession of small amounts of substances their governments directly or indirectly make billions on.
Title: Re: Venezuala and Ecuador Descriminalize Cannabis. Post by: Ras_Legacy on January 17, 2004, 10:24:29 AM yeh..is it really safe to legalize synthetic drugs such as PCP or Esctasy? These drugs can seriously alter te mind and spirit. Is this an attempt by Chavez to make 'is people easier to govern by allowing them to destroy their intelligences with these harmful drugs?
Title: Re: Venezuala and Ecuador Descriminalize Cannabis. Post by: Rootsie on January 17, 2004, 04:37:27 PM It is naive to suggest that drug use has anything to do with whether a government 'allows' it or not. And statistics show that drug use actually goes down when drugs are decriminalized. Bill Clinton built a million jail cells during his presidency, and most of them are filled with nonviolent drug offenders.
For more on Chavez, look at trinicenter.com. Also some research on 'The War on Drugs' might help. |