Pubdate: Thu, 21 May 2015
Source: Valley Advocate (Easthampton, MA)
Copyright: 2015 New Mass Media
Contact:  http://www.valleyadvocate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1520
Author: Charlotte Burns

THE REAL DRUG PROBLEM

We've heard lots of lip service from Governor Baker about the need to 
do something about drug addiction. I heard something shocking. 
There's a peanut factory in Springfield which employs mostly 
pre-release prison inmates. While this seems like pure altruism on 
the surface, it looks to me like the same old exploitation routine. 
Keep our jails full of folks with minor drug offenses, and then use 
them for cheap labor, displacing regular workers with full pay and 
benefits. I knew they were using "slave" prison labor down south to 
keep costs down, but I had no idea Massachusetts got in on the act.

The war on drugs will never end because too many people are making 
money off it. The prison industrial complex is promised full beds. 
Prisoners are a source of cheap labor. Gun manufacturers are making 
money hand over fist on guns used on both sides. It's no secret 
millions of dollars of guns are smuggled into Mexico and Central 
America so cartels can wield their iron heel on the terrorized 
citizenry. People fleeing the horrors of these countries are detained 
at our multi-billion dollar privatized detention facilities. And 
companies are profiting from building border walls. San Jose Mercury 
reporter Gary Webb lost his life reporting on the connection between 
the CIA and the crack addiction of South Central L.A. to make money 
for covert operations in Central America. Considering that drugs are 
cheaper and more plentiful than ever I ask, "Is this still going on?" 
How is it our biggest suppliers, Afghanistan and Colombia, are also 
the home of so much U.S. military involvement?

We'll never see sensible drug policy which actually cuts down on 
crime and addiction, such as decriminalizing crack and heroin and 
opening clinics that allow prescribed patients to get their doses. 
Vancouver, B.C., and Switzerland do this. Addicts can hold jobs and 
break the cycle of jail and streets. As their lives improve, most 
have the courage to quit. Organized crime and drug gangs have been 
put out of business there. Drug overdoses are uncommon. This will 
never happen here, because too many people are getting rich off 
drugs. Addicts' lives matter! As a society we need to stop demonizing 
them and profiting off them.

Charlotte Burns

Palmer
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom