Tag Archive for "war on drugs"

Posts Tagged war on drugs

New report shows how the principle of “personhood” is already criminalizing pregnancy in the US

Regina McKnight was charged with homicide by child abuse after the state said her cocaine use caused her to have a stillbirth. It was later determined that the stillbirth was due to an infection, and her conviction was overturned–after she’d already served eight years in prison.

Laura Pemberton wanted to have a vaginal birth after having had a previous c-section, despite the advice of her doctors. She was in labor at her house, when her doctors sought a court order and dispatched the sheriff to forcibly bring her to the hospital. After an emergency hearing in which she had no legal representation, she was forced to undergo the surgery.

Michelle Marie Greenup was bleeding and in pain, so she went to the hospital. ...

Regina McKnight was charged with homicide by child abuse after the state said her cocaine use caused her to have a stillbirth. It was later determined that the stillbirth was due to ...

By Alexandra Brodsky • 11 years ago

Watch this new documentary on the racist, ineffective war on drugs

Despite recent legalization successes in the Northwest, the U.S. war on drugs is still going strong–and new documentary Breaking the Taboo makes the urgent case for ending the racist, ineffective battle in under an hour.

The film, directed by Cosmo Feilding Mellen and Fernando Grostein Andrade (and gloriously narrated by God Morgan Freeman), traces the history of the drug war through compelling interviews and news clips and follows the recent efforts of the Global Commission on Drug Policy.

The Commission and documentary have brought together some big names–including sitting and former presidents of the U.S., Switzerland, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, and Brazil–to call for the end of the policies that many of them once supported. Even Bill Clinton can recognize ...

The film, ...

By Maya Dusenbery • 11 years ago

“The war on drugs has become a war on women”

Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchu. Pic via CNN.

Violence against women in Latin America is on the rise–and it’s partly thanks to the US’s ineffective drug policies. A delegation of women, led by Nobel Laureates Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchu, released a report yesterday on the horrifying levels of gender-based violence in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.

Over the past decade, there’s been a 257 percent increase in femicide in Honduras, a 40 percent increase in Mexico, and a more than 30 percent increase in Guatemala. And in the last couple years, 24 women human rights defenders have been assassinated in those countries. (Recall Agnes Torres Sulca’s murder just a couple months ago.)

The violence is being perpetrated by both ...

Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchu. Pic via CNN.

Violence against women in Latin America is on the rise–and it’s partly thanks to the US’s ineffective drug policies. A delegation of women, led by Nobel Laureates Jody ...

By Katie Halper • 12 years ago

Videos from the non-violent war against the violent drug wars

Prostitutes and secret service and Latin America, oh my. This year’s Summit of the Americas was reduced to a scandal about secret service agents too dumb or too cheap to pay the money they owed the sex workers they solicited in Cartagena.

But the real story is that Latin American leaders are coming out of the woodwork and stating that the war on drugs is not working. These leaders are calling for reforms ranging from legalization, to decriminalization, to focusing of treatment instead of incarceration. And what’s shocking is that they are not just the lefty leaders who have come to power on Latin America’s so-called Pink Tide.

In addition to the left wing presidents in Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil, to name ...

By Maya Dusenbery • 12 years ago

Just say NO to the War on Drugs

Elon James White teamed up with the ACLU to urge Americans to “just say NO” to the War on Drugs. Why? Because it’s brought 40 years of wasteful, damaging, unjust policies. And also because David Simon says he’ll create another season of The Wire if we end it.

Via Colorlines.

I apologize for not having a transcript. If anyone has time to make one and leave it in the comments section, I will be very grateful!

By Maya Dusenbery • 12 years ago

Just say NO to the War on Drugs

Via Colorlines.

I apologize for not having a transcript. If anyone has time to make one and leave it in the comments section, I will be very grateful!

By aclu • 12 years ago

Pregnant Women Need Health Care, Not Jail Time

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, Staff Attorney, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

June 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s declaration of a "war on drugs" — a war that has cost roughly a trillion dollars, has produced little to no effect on the supply of or demand for drugs in the United States, and has contributed to making America the world’s largest incarcerator. Throughout the month, the ACLU has been blogging daily about the drug war, its victims and what needs to be done to restore fairness and create effective policy.

Deciding to continue a pregnancy, even if you are struggling with addiction, should never be a crime. But in the 40 years since ...

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, Staff Attorney, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

June 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s declaration of a "war on drugs" — a war that has cost roughly a trillion dollars, has produced ...