Haven't sheen it yet. Just watching re-runs. It was a funny show. With the added edge that you knew Charlie was playing Charlie.I just saw one of the new season 'Two and Half Men' episodes. We've jumped the shark I'm afraid.
Charlie has definitely lost his Sheen. The show doesn't work without his confidence and charisma. I guess that's the cocaine. Hard to watch now.
Indeed K. I saw 'No Country For Old Men' the other night. All that murder and lawlessness for a case of white powder. Urgent policy change is required.Mexico, at the mercy of drug cartels, funded by Western desire, is on it's knees.
Something has to change.
The desire will not go away.
Nuevo Laredo police chief gunned down, Mexican authorities say
By Mariano Castillo, CNN
February 3, 2011 -- Updated 2146 GMT
(CNN) -- The director of public security in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, was gunned down Wednesday night, officials said, though details of the incident remained scarce.
Gen. Manuel Farfan Carreola, who served as police chief, was shot near his office by unknown assailants, said Everardo Sanchez, a spokesman for Mexico's attorney general's office. He had been in the position since a new administration assumed city leadership on January 1...
... and the decriminalisation experience in other countries has shown a decline in usage rates, whilst government revenue from usage soured, and police resources can be diverted to actual crime prevention & investigation.a blanket ban on it sure hasnt done anything positive except make the crims rich! abit like prohibition didnt stop ppl drinking only made the mob wealthy.
... and the decriminalisation experience in other countries has shown a decline in usage rates, whilst government revenue from usage soured, and police resources can be diverted to actual crime prevention & investigation.
It seems so obvious - unfortunately we seem beset by an era of political cowardice so we can't expect real change anytime soon.
like it or not people are going to use illicit drugs no matter what the law is, some people will try it then never touch it again, others will be occasional "social users" while there are always people with addictive natures who will become full blown addicts.
those of us who don't touch the sh*t will make no difference to this equation whether we dis-agree with drug use or not. while ever it remains illegal however, the huge amounts of money involved will fuel drug crime & violence. my thoughts are legalise all drugs
Netherlands to close prisons for lack of criminals
The Dutch justice ministry has announced it will close eight prisons and cut 1,200 jobs in the prison system. A decline in crime has left many cells empty....
http://vorige.nrc.nl/international/article2246821.ece/Netherlands_to_close_prisons_for_lack_of_criminals
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0617-lopez-drugs-20120617,0,7270973.column"We had a police officer shot in crossfire on a drug raid, and he went into a wheelchair for life, and I'm thinking, 'Wow, this guy's like this because he was trying to keep an addict from getting his heroin?' We had another cop killed in a buy-bust.... He shot him in the face. And this weighs on you, and you ask, 'What is the value of what we're doing?' "
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-09/decriminalise-drugs-to-curb-addiction-report/4251256A national report into illicit drugs has recommended decriminalising ecstasy and cannabis under a government-controlled program to help curb addiction.
It comes as Australian Federal Police reveal there has been a massive increase in the amount of illegal drugs and criminal assets seized in the past year.
The 52-page report on alternatives to prohibition, by the Australia 21 group, was released in Adelaide today.
One of the report's proposals is to establish a government supplier for cannabis and ecstasy.
The drugs would be available to people over 16, who would then be supported by counselling and treatment programs.
The report also recommends similar programs for heroin and cannabis use.
Co-author Professor Bob Douglas says it is clear prohibition is not working, and Australia needs to have a serious debate about legalising controlled drug use.
"It's been a political benefit for people to pretend they're tough on drugs, but lots of politicians in Australia recognise now that this has to be changed," he said.
Professor Douglas says similar programs are being used in Europe with proven positive results.
He says criminal gangs have a monopoly on the black market, but a government regulated drug program could help to safely curb usage.
Australia's crackdown on drugs has been pointless and devastating, writes Greg Barns. What are we trying to achieve?
Every weekend, thousands of young Australians take drugs when they go partying, clubbing or sit around chilling with their friends.
And every weekend, police around Australia try to do the impossible - clamp down on that use of those drugs with sniffer dogs, bag searches and other time-consuming methods.
While a handful of young people might be caught by police, the vast majority will not. For those who are caught, the consequences can be devastating.
Australia 21, a think tank headed by former Defence Department secretary Paul Barratt, yesterday released its second paper on drugs policy dealing with the issue of young people and drugs policy.
The subtitle of the paper Alternatives To Prohibition sums up the policy dilemma neatly: "Illicit drugs: How we can stop killing and criminalising young Australians."
The bottom line is, and it comes as no surprise to those of us who see drugs policy through rational and empirical eyes rather than via vision that is clouded by prejudice and fear, those countries which treat drugs usage as a health and social issue, rather than a criminal justice one, have more success in reducing drug overdoses, HIV and crime.
The Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland are examples of the former approach; Sweden, the latter.
Dr João Goulão, a leading Portuguese drugs expert, says that a combined strategy of decriminalisation and a major investment in the health system have allowed Portugal to stem the growth of drugs in that country.
Fears that Portugal would become a drug trafficker's playground have not been borne out. Importantly, there is 70 per cent community support for the Portuguese policy settings, a consequence of the reforms being driven by a bottom-up approach rather than imposed by government without consultation.
The way in which drugs are viewed by a community is important in reducing the appeal to young people, as the Netherlands shows. Since the 1970s and 1980s, it has run a decriminalised policy in relation to cannabis. As the Australia 21 paper notes:
[Since] the mid-1980s, the Netherlands has reported declines in the number of drug-related problems including dependent opiate use, injection drug user-related HIV Infections and drug-induced deaths. For all drugs with the exception of ecstasy, reported use by Netherlands youth is below the European average.
In Switzerland, while drug use and possession has not been decriminalised, there has been two decades of policy focussed on health and harm-minimisation strategies which are strongly supported by the community.
By contrast, in Sweden, where a tough on drugs policy remains in place, drug usage and deaths from overdoses remain worryingly high, but even the law enforcement and welfare agencies are now working together with young people in a therapeutic way, because throwing the statute book at a young person simply does not work.
Australian drugs policy is still focussed on law enforcement and zero tolerance. When Australia 21 released its first paper in April, Prime Minister Julia Gillard dismissed it with a patronising line about drugs killing people and so forget about policy change.
It will take even more time, but i remmeber a few years ago articles like this wouldn't have even had a chance in the mainstream media. People are slowly opening their eyes at least. Now we just need politicians to take notice to their constituents (cause they do that so well...)
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/20/uruguay-takes-war-on-drugs-in-new-direction-state-monopoly-over-the-production-and-distribution-of-marijuana/Uruguay has long been at the vanguard of social reform in Latin America. Today, it is on the verge of passing into law one of its most radical ideas yet.
The Broad Front – the center-left coalition that holds power – is proposing a state monopoly over the production and distribution of marijuana, making Uruguay the first national government to sell cannabis directly to citizens. The government says the measure is necessary to combat rising drug-related crime, decrease health risks for users, and counter ineffective US policies on drugs. But within Uruguay, interest groups have labeled the legislation totalitarian, while some international bodies argue it breaches global conventions.
“We’re putting this forward as international policy,” says Sebastian Sabini, president of the parliamentary commission created to debate the bill. “The war on drugs has failed. There are more consumers and more violence.”
“Uruguay is opening up a new path,” he says.
Uruguay's Drugs Policy: Regulating Market For Pot
Increasing drug use and narcotrafficking has made some Latin American countries among the most violent places on Earth. But tiny, progressive Uruguay, where it's always been legal to use marijuana, is leading the way with an alternative drug policy.
The government of President Jose Mujica has proposed a law that would put the state in charge of producing and selling marijuana to registered users.
In the capital Montevideo, Adrian Gonzaga and Felipe Castro have a business together and usually work outside installing fiber-optic cables. But on a recent stormy day, like almost everyone else in the city, they're taking the day off: having tea with friends, eating toast with strawberry jam and smoking a joint.
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