Pubdate: Fri, 4 Dec 2009
Source: AlterNet (US Web)
Copyright: 2009 Independent Media Institute
Website: http://www.alternet.org/
Author: Tony Newman
Note: Tony Newman is communications director for the Drug Policy Alliance.

2009 Marked the Beginning of the End of Failed Drug War:

TOP 10 STORIES OF THE YEAR

Here Are 10 Stories That Contributed to the Unprecedented Momentum to 
End America's Longest Running War.

2009 will go down as the beginning of the end of the United States 
drug war. I have worked at the Drug Policy Alliance promoting 
alternatives to the war on drugs for 10 years, and I can say without 
a doubt that there was more debate and movement toward sensible drug 
policies this year than in the last 9 years combined! Here are 10 
stories that contributed to the unprecedented momentum to end 
America's longest running war.

1) Three Former Latin American Presidents Call Drug War a Failure (February)

In February, the Latin-American Commission on Drugs and Drug Policy - 
co-chaired by three distinguished ex-presidents, Fernando Henrique 
Cardoso of Brazil, Cesar Gaviria of Colombia and Ernesto Zedillo of 
Mexico -issued a groundbreaking report that declared the drug war a 
failure. The report further advocated the decriminalization of 
marijuana and the need to "break the taboo" on an open and honest 
discussion of international drug policy. The release generated 
hundreds of articles around the world and continues to be referenced 
by elected officials in Latin American and around the world.

2) Michael Phelps and the Bong Hit Heard Around the World (February)

The photo of Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps taking 
a "bong hit" at a party in South Carolina was plastered across the 
front pages of newspapers around the world in February. The image of 
Phelps inhaling marijuana, just a few months after setting a record 
for most gold medals won in a single Olympics, dealt a powerful blow 
to the lazy, "couch potato" stereotype of pot users. Kellogg's 
promptly dropped Phelps as a spokesperson, badly misreading public 
sentiment. Dozens of columnists slammed Kellogg's for this decision, 
and a major AP story reported on groups calling for consumers to 
"Drop Kellogg's" for dumping Phelps. A few weeks later, the 
advertising trade magazine Ad Age reported that Kellogg's brand 
favorability had tanked since it dropped Phelps - even more than when 
the company instituted a massive recall due to a problem with 
salmonella in its peanut butter.

3) Obama Justice Department Says No More Raids on Patients and 
Caregivers in States with Medical Marijuana Laws (March)

During his campaign for president, then-Senator Barack Obama promised 
that if elected, he would end the raids on medical marijuana patients 
and dispensaries that were acting in compliance with their states' 
laws. In March, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder affirmed this 
pledge, and in October the Justice Department issued new policy 
guidelines codifying the change. Patients and caregivers breathed a 
sigh of relief, and President Obama received almost universal praise 
in media around the United States and the world.

4) Drop the Rock! NY's Draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws Finally Reformed (April)

After 35 years, New York's harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws were finally 
brought down in April, when Gov. David Paterson signed historic 
reforms eliminating lengthy mandatory minimum sentences for certain 
nonviolent drug offenses. The reforms, which took effect in October, 
restored judicial sentencing discretion in most drug cases, expanded 
alternatives to incarceration and invested millions in drug treatment 
programs. Advocates who fought for years to secure these reforms are 
now working to turn New York from a model of everything that is wrong 
with drug policy to an example of what is possible when we deal with 
substance abuse as a health matter instead of a criminal justice issue.

5) Governor Arnold Calls for Debate on Legalizing Marijuana: Voters 
to Decide in 2010 (May)

California is ground zero when it comes to the debate over taxing and 
regulating marijuana. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger generated 
national media in May when he said that marijuana legalization is an 
idea that should be considered and debated. The issue garnered more 
national attention with the introduction of a bill pending in the 
California Legislature to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol. 
Meanwhile, some Oakland, Calif., activists aren't waiting for their 
legislature to act; they have drafted a voter initiative to tax and 
regulate marijuana and are gathering signatures to qualify it for the 
2010 ballot. Recent polls show 56% of Californians support taxing and 
regulating marijuana.

6) Drug Czar Calls for End to the Drug War (May)

White House drug czar Gill Kerlikowske, in an interview with Gary 
Fields of the Wall Street Journal, called for an "end to the war on 
drugs." "Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war 
on drugs' or a 'war on a product', people see a war as a war on them 
and we are not at war with people in this country," Kerlikowske told 
the Journal. He added that the Obama Administration is likely to deal 
with drugs from a public health perspective rather than as a criminal 
issue and would favor treatment over incarceration to reduce illicit drug use.

7) Mexico and Argentina Move to Decriminalize Marijuana and other 
Drugs (August)

Mexico and Argentina both made international news in August with 
major changes to their drug policies. Mexico, plagued by a 
devastating, violent drug war, passed a law eliminating criminal 
penalties for small amounts of drugs -including heroin, cocaine and 
marijuana -considered to be for personal use. In Argentina, 
meanwhile, the country's Supreme Court effectively decriminalized 
personal marijuana possession when it struck down a law that imposed 
penalties of up to two years in prison for possession of small 
amounts of marijuana. Ruling in a case involving several young men 
caught with marijuana cigarettes in their pockets, the court said the 
government should go after major traffickers and provide treatment 
instead of jail for marijuana users. Although the court decision 
dealt only with marijuana, the core arguments apply to other illicit 
drugs as well, so the ruling could open the door to broader drug law 
reform in Argentina.

8) The Results Are In: Portugal's Decriminalization Law of 2001 
Reduced Transmission of Disease, Cut Overdose Deaths and 
Incarceration, While Not Increasing Drug Use. (August)

Facing an epidemic of drug-related overdose deaths and disease 
transmission from dirty needles, the Portugal government took a bold 
step in 2001 and decriminalized the personal use and possession of 
all drugs, including heroin and cocaine. The police were told not to 
arrest anyone found taking any kind of drug. In 2009, the results of 
Portugal's decriminalization were released, and the results were 
striking: Drug-related problems, including the transmission of 
diseases, deaths from drug overdoses and incarceration, all decreased 
dramatically, while drug use did not go up. Portugal's experience is 
instructive; it showed the world that the sky did not fall with 
decriminalization and took the debate from theory to practice.

9) Coming Out of the Closet: "Stiletto Stoners" Explain Why They Like 
Marijuana (September)

Need more evidence that marijuana has gone mainstream in America? On 
the Today Show in September, Matt Lauer did a piece on so-called 
stiletto stoners -- educated, professional women with killer careers 
and enviable social lives who favor marijuana as their intoxicant of 
choice and are increasingly comfortable admitting it. The TV piece 
drew its inspiration from an article titled "Stiletto Stoners" in the 
September issue of Marie Claire Magazine. The story raised the 
question: Why are so many smart, successful women lighting up in 
their off hours? The sympathetic article and TV piece feature 
interviews with a wide range of successful women who wind down at the 
end of the day with a joint instead of a martini.

10) The Marijuana Legalization Debate Hits the Mainstream (Fall )

Emblazoned on the cover of the September issue of Fortune Magazine 
was a photo of actress Mary Louise Parker, star of the popular 
Showtime hit series Weeds, teasing the lead story: "How Marijuana 
Became Legal: Medical Marijuana Is Giving Activists a Chance to Show 
How a Legitimized Pot Business Can Work. Is the End of Prohibition 
Upon Us?" There have been dozens of thoughtful stories in 2009 on the 
growing momentum to end marijuana prohibition, including major pieces 
in prestigious outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, 
Newsweek, CBS News, CNN, the Economist and dozens of others! Last 
Month there was a revealing Washington Post story entitled: "Support 
for Legalizing Marijuana Grows Rapidly around the U.S.: Approval of 
Medical Use Expands Alongside Criticism of Prohibition." The story 
referenced a recent Gallup poll showing that 44% of Americans favor 
taxing and regulating marijuana, with the numbers higher than 50% is 
Western States like California, Washington and Oregon.

The Drug War Grinds On, but Change is in the Air (December)

For all the recent progress, drug policy reformers are under no 
illusion that the drug war will end any time soon. We know that drug 
prohibition and our harsh drug laws - fueled by a prison-industrial 
complex that locks up 500,000 of our fellow Americans on drug-related 
offenses - are poised to continue for some time wasting tens of 
billions of dollars a year and leading to the deaths of thousands of 
Mexicans and Americans every year due to prohibition-related 
violence. But we are clearly moving in the right direction, toward a 
more rational drug policy based on compassion, health, science and 
human rights. We need people to continue to join the movement to end 
this unwinnable war. If the people lead, the leaders will follow.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake