Tag: war on drugs

In what justice advocates celebrated as a major shift away from the devastating and failed policies of the nation’s so-called “war on drugs,” Oregon on Monday officially became the first state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of all drugs with a new policy that also aims to boost access various related services. #nomoredrugwar

“The dual mission of the Manhattan D.A.’s office is a safer New York and a more equal justice system,” District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement. “The ongoing arrest and criminal prosecution of predominantly black and brown New Yorkers for smoking marijuana serves neither of these goals.”

NYC Police Commissioner Bill Bratton announced that possession of 25 grams or less of cannabis would no longer be an arrestable offense. As marijuana arrests become more lenient, and the acceptance of cannabis possession frees up resources for other pursuits for law-enforcement personnel, hopefully the state of New York will follow with its own laws accepting cannabis.

The American people are now overwhelmingly opposed to more war in Ukraine, Syria, Iran and elsewhere. Support for a war against Syria is 500 percent less than for the Iraq war. Support even for the Afghanistan war has collapsed. In fact, most Americans are now strongly opposed to intervention in any Arab country. In addition, a new Pew poll also shows that the American people are sick of the war on drugs, noting that a broad majority of Americans are ready to significantly reduce the role of the criminal justice system in dealing with people who use drugs.