Editorial: The Big Bully
David Borden, Executive Director, borden@drcnet.org, 8/31/01
"America: Love it or Leave it." It's the classic refrain
sometimes heard from the mouths of our nation's less thoughtful
patriots. Fortunately, most people know better than to pay
attention to it. Democracy, after all, depends on the vigor of
those who have criticisms to make and who do so out loud. Doing
so doesn't mean that they don't love their country, and even
those who don't should still be heard, if we do value democracy.
Leaving the country doesn't necessarily help, either. At a
benefit recently in New York City, comedian Barry Crimmins said
that he isn't leaving the United States because he doesn't want
to be victimized by its foreign policies. Like most good comedy,
Crimmins' comment is based on truth, in this case a sad truth.
As a military and economic superpower, the presence of the United
States is felt worldwide in many ways, for both good and evil.
Our government's reaction to growing calls for drug policy reform
abroad is a stark example. The past few weeks have seen
astonishing developments in the international dialogue on the
issue. In Colombia, senators have introduced bills in the
nation's congress calling for full drug legalization and
permitting cultivation of coca, sparking a vigorous discussion in
the media. At the same time, the National Assembly of States,
led by Colombia's governors, has called for a serious, global
legalization debate.
The tone of the governors' comments indicated that they are less
interested in debating whether to make drugs legal than in how
best to do so; and a similar initiative came out of the Andean
Parliament, which called on its members to take the legalization
debate back to their own countries. In the Caribbean, meanwhile,
Jamaica's National Ganja Commission has come out squarely in
favor of marijuana decriminalization, and word is that the
government is serious about doing something about it this time.
So what do US officials have to say about all of this?
US ambassador to Colombia Anne Patterson issued a not very thinly
veiled threat, saying that legalization would cause Colombia
"problems with the international community." In Jamaica, an
embassy spokesperson said that "[t]he US government will consider
Jamaica's adherence to its commitments under the 1988 UN Drug
Convention when making its determination under the annual
narcotics certification review."
In other words, stop talking about legalization, or we'll ruin
your economies.
This bullying is nothing new. Back in 1994, when Colombia's top
prosecutor, Gustavo De Greiff, came out for legalization, the US
Justice Department and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) launched
extremely vicious attacks on him. The fact that De Greiff had
just risked his life leading the Colombian government's operation
against top drug lord Pablo Escobar bought him no slack. The
implied threats were so severe that De Greiff turned down a
speaking engagement at Harvard because he feared retaliation by
the US government against his country if he accepted
(http://www.drcnet.org/images/degreiff1.gif).
And the bullying isn't limited to our hemisphere. In 1995, the
show "Four Corners" (Australia's equivalent of "60 Minutes" or
"Nightline") reported the US government had covertly threatened
the country if it went ahead with an intended heroin maintenance
trial program (http://www.drcnet.org/guide1-96/meddling.html).
The US at that time sat on the UN's International Narcotics
Control Board, which has the power under treaty to shut down
Australia's legal opiate industry, an important employer in the
province of Tasmania. It was neither the first nor the last time
that Australians have made such accusations, and heroin
maintenance has yet to take place there despite extensive support
and good results from such programs carried out elsewhere.
US officials have far less power with which to punish our
European allies, but they still try to meddle. Judge James P.
Gray of California reported, for example, after visiting the
Netherlands, that Dutch health officials identified two principal
problems they have in dealing with drugs. One is that the
country attracts users from around the European community and
elsewhere, the cost of being an island of tolerance in a sea of
repression. The other big problem for them is the United States,
whose foreign officials just won't leave them alone!
The Dutch, at least, haven't been bullied, but have continued to
go their own pragmatic way. Interviewed for a 1995 ABC News
special, "America's War on Drugs: Searching for Solutions," a
Netherlands health official commented, "We are a small country
and have no illusion of changing your [the US] drug policy -- but
perhaps you have the illusion of changing ours."
Still, our nation's drug war bullies manage to cause a lot of
damage -- in the case of Netherlands, for example, by spreading
outright lies about their drug policy and its results. A
legalization debate manual published by the DEA went so far over
the top that the Dutch foreign ministry actually filed a formal
complaint with the US State Department. And it's quite possible
that without pressure from the US, portions of Europe would
actually have ended drug prohibition by now, at least in part.
Who will stop the big bully? In a democracy, that means the
people; it is up to us to discipline our government for its
misdeeds. Love it or leave it? No, I don't think so. How
about, "change it"?
drcnet.org
Please share this with as many as possible. The fascist media doesn't report facts like this.
... Mezz - Safe and happy holiday weekend to all! |
