WASHINGTON'S DRUG WAR CONTRADICTIONS PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE DrugSense FOCUS Alert #325 - Monday, 6 March 2006 On Wednesday, March 2nd the Bush administration published an annual report on international narcotics control, listing its accomplishments in disrupting the production and trafficking of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other drugs to the United States. Sadly, the proclaimed successes come on the heels of a different report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy released a few weeks ago saying that "cocaine is widely available throughout most of the nation." The ONDCP offered similar assessments for heroin and marijuana. The U.S. "War on Drugs" is well into it's 36th year. Leading federal officials seem to remain blind to the utterly ineffectual results proffered by a policy of criminal prohibition. Their ignorance comes with an increasing audacity given that their own offices and leaders report contradictory data. Coverage ran Thursday in the New York Times, but failed to attract significant attention in other newspapers. Pubdate: Thu, 02 Mar 2006 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2006 The New York Times Company Contact: Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Joel Brinkley Note: The 2006 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) is an annual report by the Department of State to Congress prepared in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act. It describes the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the international drug trade in Calendar Year 2005. The 900 page report is on line here http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2006/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/international+narcotics+control Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Colombia Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Afghanistan Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Bolivia U.S. LISTS ITS PLUSES AND MINUSES IN FIGHTING NARCOTICS WORLDWIDE WASHINGTON- The Bush administration published an annual report Wednesday on international narcotics control, listing its accomplishments in disrupting the production and trafficking of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other drugs to the United States. But perhaps the most important measure of the programs' efficacy was issued just a few weeks ago, when the White House drug-policy office reported that "cocaine is widely available throughout most of the nation." The office offered similar assessments for heroin and marijuana. "Yes, narcotics are readily available," said Anne Patterson, the assistant secretary of state for international narcotics enforcement. "But if we weren't doing these projects, the problem would be dramatically worse." The government spent more than $1 billion last year fighting drugs. The successes included Colombia's extradition of 134 suspects to the United States on trafficking and other criminal charges during 2005, the most ever. The report also noted that Laos had reduced its opium poppy cultivation to negligible levels, and that Thailand, once a major producer, had "practically eliminated" drug production, though that point was also made in the 2004 report. In singling out trouble spots, the State Department report focused on two countries in particular, Colombia and Afghanistan. In Colombia, the United States has financed a multibillion-dollar antidrug program since 2000. Every year, thousands of acres of coca plant have been sprayed with herbicides; the department reported record spraying of 36,000 acres in 2005. But each year, growers plant new bushes so quickly that for the past three years, acreage under cultivation has remained stable. As a result, the report said, "Colombia is the source of 90 percent of the cocaine entering the United States." Congress is to debate the financing for the Colombia project this spring. The antidrug campaigns have run for more than 25 years, but, officials acknowledged, traffickers have almost always been able to meet American market demands. Drug enforcement officials measure their success on small fluctuations in purity and price. On Wednesday, an official pointed to a note in the report that said preliminary reports indicated that enforcement efforts "may have led to an increase in the U.S. street price of cocaine" and "a reduction in purity." Afghanistan is the other country of major concern. About 30 percent of Afghanistan's economic activity is a result of opium poppy cultivation, which supplies about 90 percent of the world's heroin. Ms. Patterson said intelligence information shows that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan was increasing this year. Last year, the administration warned that Afghanistan was "on the verge of becoming a narcotics state." On Wednesday Ms. Patterson said at a news conference that controlling production in Afghanistan "is going to be a huge challenge" and "is going to take years and years and years." Most of the heroin produced from Afghan poppies is sold in Europe and Asia, not the United States. Though the report did not address it, the administration remains gravely concerned about Evo Morales, the new president of Bolivia, who once led a major coca planters' union and has vowed to end the American-financed eradication programs. Although Mr. Morales has not said what he intends to do, he has offered the paradoxical position that he will not impede coca cultivation but will fight drug trafficking. Government troops in charge of coca eradication have stopped work, awaiting orders. Thanks for your effort and support. It's not what others do it's what YOU do Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal tips on how to write LTEs that get printed. And of course, you are welcome to join Steve and other LTE writing friends of MAP this Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central, 7 p.m. Mountain, or 6 p.m. Pacific for a roundtable discussion of how to write LTEs that get print and specifically how to best respond to this Focus Alert. See: http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for all details on how you can participate in this important meeting of leading minds in reform. Discussion is conducted with live Voice (microphone and speakers all that is needed) and also via text messaging. The Paltalk software is free and easy to download and install. The password for this gathering will be: welcome-pal (all lower case) PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to if you are not subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others can learn from your efforts. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list () will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form Prepared by: Stephen Heath, MAP Media Activism Facilitator =.

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