The American Drug War

Lately, there has been some increased attention to the drug war. USA Today ran a front page story about decriminalizing marijuana when California allowed its citizens to vote on the issue this November. With these issues in mind, OTB thought it would be a good idea to review the documentary film The Last White Hope (2007), about the drug war and its implications in American society.
One of the core aspects of the film revolves around the social and political circumstances surrounding the Iran-Contra affair of the eighties. Last White Hope explains the events that lead up to Richard Nixon first declaring a "war on drugs" in 1971 and the creation of the Drug Enforcement Agency in 1973. It then follows the movement until the 1980s when Ronald Reagan was president and the politics at the time of Iran Contra. The film turns on the story of "Freeway" Rick Ross. Ross was the biggest drug dealer in the United States in the 1980s. He owned several pieces of property which he used to convert cocaine into crack and employ dozens of people in the areas around Watts and South Central Los Angeles. Ross was buying his cocaine from Danilo Blandon, who had close ties to the Contras. Ross would spend almost 20 years of his life in prison for his trafficking activities. Blandon would do less than 24 months and was given a job at the DEA upon his release. Those at the top, those responsible for the logistics and funding of this operation, such as Oliver North, were free to pursue a political career or become failed television host.
The film goes on to examine why these laws are kept in place, especially the prohibition of marijuana. A litany of interest lobby to keep these laws on the books. Producers of liquor and cigarettes are some of the biggest donars to the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Private contractors, who are paid billions of dollars to run penitentiaries, and pharmaceutical companies lobby congress to educate them on the dangers of marijuana. Consequently, the DEA's budget has ballooned from $100 million in 1973 to almost $20 billion today. Meanwhile, of all those who use illegal substances in the United States, 85% use only marijuana, meaning that the decriminalization of marijuana would necessitate massive budget cuts to law enforcement and corrections, which, while politically unpopular, would generate billions in taxpayer savings, and, when combined with the tax revenue that such a product could create, would almost single-handily solve state budget issues.
The film almost makes the point of our children. Won't somebody please think of the children!? Well, they have. Unlike alcohol and cigarettes, marijuana, and even much harder drugs, are easy for teens to obtain because drug dealers don't ask for ID. When governments prohibit these substances instead of regulating them, they essentially cede all control over to criminals.
The main focus of the film is, although prohibition is couched in language about saving our communities, it is actually tied into the same political games that allow lobbyist and huge corporations to deny us common sense legislation on issues such as global warming, financial reform, and other issues that make Washington favor Wall Street over Main Street. Until the population stands up to policies that incarcerate non-violent drug offenders and demand that we treat this problem as the medical and psychological condition that it is instead of criminal issue, we will continue to throw money at an un-winable war (sound familiar?) and deny our citizens the rights to do what they want with their bodies and minds.

XX Breakout

On Friday, English "chillwave" band the XX played Sonar in Baltimore. The XX are one of the biggest new bands on both sides of the Atlantic. The album made several top ten list for 2009, including Rolling Stone and NME.
Consequently, the buzz awaiting the band was pretty intense at the sold out show. XX, however, are not exactly a rock band, and it took several songs for the crowd to settle in for the laid back sounds. Once they had, everyone seemed to enjoy the show, and XX played all the songs from their debut album plus one cover.
Many dance/alternative bands from the UK have tried to find success in this country in the last few years, but something about XX feels different. They seem more popular and accessible than previous bands, and will have a chance to win over many more fans this summer when they play several major festivals in the United States, including Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Coachella.

Chessmaster

Last week, President Barack Obama managed to anger politicians and constituents all over the political spectrum when he announced his energy plan, and his proposal for off-shore oil drilling. As energy prices continue to climb, and global warming continues to threaten us, energy policy has been an important issue, both inside and outside of Washington, for a long time. Obama's drilling plan is actually two fold. First, he has lifted the ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic coast for all states south of New Jersey, except for Florida. Florida bans drilling by statute and that cannot be lifted without legislation by congress. Also, and this was widely under-reported, it reinstates a ban off of Alaska's coast that was lifted under George W. Bush.
With this action. Obama has pissed off progressives and conservatives alike, although, really, those guidelines don't really work for this discussion. Both of Virginia's Democratic Senators are for it, but Democratic Senators from Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Florida are against it. Also, both of Alaska's Senators, Democrat Mark Begich and Republican Lisa Murkowski, are for it. Of course, this thing gets a little more complicated as soon as one digs just a little.
Obama is doing this to lay the ground work for energy and environmental legislation. Some Congressmen, notably of Virginia, want that plan to include a revenue sharing agreement between the state and federal government that would allow the states to take some portion of the tax monies that come from the oil being taken out of the ground. These are lawmakers who might not be inclined to vote for the energy bill at all, but more state revenue would make it a lot easier to swallow. And, of course, there has to be oil coming out of the ground to create revenue to share in the first place! However, some Senators, notably Democrates Jeff Bingamen of New Mexico and Byron Dorgon of North Dakota (both on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee), are for offshore drilling but against the revenue sharing agreement. Then there are the Republicans, who shouted "Drill, baby, drill" for months, and are now chastising Obama for not going far enough. What was that they were saying about Obama playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers?
Obama has managed to anger environmentalist and pro-business conservatives, and divide the Democratic party. Is this just smart politics, or is there some policy substance here? Has Obama flip-flopped? Maybe the best thing Obama has done here is outsmart the Republican talking point machine. Obama has come up with a nuanced plan that cannot be demonized in a 10 second clip by the right. Now, he can just sit back and watch their heads explode.