Global Marijuana March

[Beerman]

Hey JohnnieWalker,

The beer was made from cannabis leaves and buds infused with the sweet wort, the seeds I just eat.

 

[EdRooney]

Funny while this mass march was going on, the press was running headlines on the "drug trafficking crisis in Argentina", only conceding a few short lines on the back pages to the pro-legalisation march.

For those of you who are new here, this should give you a good idea of how the Argentine press only publicises the demonstrations it likes, burying the rest.

 

[Redpossum]

Funny while this mass march was going on, the press was running headlines on the "drug trafficking crisis in Argentina", only conceding a few short lines on the back pages to the pro-legalisation march.

For those of you who are new here, this should give you a good idea of how the Argentine press only publicises the demonstrations it likes, burying the rest.

Yes, I saw that, and I hated it too. But consider the source. Your links are to La Nacion and Clarin, both conservative mouthpieces. Of course they are down on MJ legalisation, and big on saying anything to embarrass the current government. What really bothered me was the announcement about resuming cooperation with the DEA, and that coming at the same time as the march.

Ah well, two steps forward, one step back.

 

[EdRooney]

I agree, my links were not very comprehensive; I just included them instinctively because they're by far the biggest. Even so, I think you'll find the same thing in the allegedly left of centre press like Página 12, because they follow the gov't line, which is in complete agreement with the corporate press' line: that we're living through some kind of drug wave. There isn't really something like The Nation or Counterpunch in the US here: established leftist press that has been consistently on the side of legalisation.

Since you're a Yank, you can easily compare the current political environment here with the US in the early 90's, just as mass incarceration really took off there: politicians of all stripes consistently using fear of drugs and violence to further their platforms. I only hope it doesn't reach the same madness here as it has there.

 

[Redpossum]

I agree, my links were not very comprehensive; I just included them instinctively because they're by far the biggest. Even so, I think you'll find the same thing in the allegedly left of centre press like Página 12, because they follow the gov't line, which is in complete agreement with the corporate press' line: that we're living through some kind of drug wave. There isn't really something like The Nation or Counterpunch in the US here: established leftist press that has been consistently on the side of legalisation.

Since you're a Yank, you can easily compare the current political environment here with the US in the early 90's, just as mass incarceration really took off there: politicians of all stripes consistently using fear of drugs and violence to further their platforms. I only hope it doesn't reach the same madness here as it has there.

Well said, and you're right, Pagina12 wasn't really much better. I make a point of reading, (as well as I can, which improves little by little) Pagina12 and either Clarin or La Nacion almost every day. Both sides were disappointingly lacking in support or even recognition of a rally that brought 120,000 or 150,000 people into the street.

Then again, as a Californian, I remember what a long uphill fight it was to get even medical MJ laws passed. And the Feds still don't formally recognise the state-level legislation.

Does Argentina have a ballot initiative process of some sort? Waiting for politicians, any politicians, to start the ball rolling with something that contradicts the status quo is like waiting for Gabriel to blow his horn; you might have faith it's going to happen some day, but...

 

[EdRooney]

Short answer: no-- there is no major party with a legalisation platform, and the media is ensuring that they don't, by running these narco headlines everyday.

As for advances in the US, I say small beans. The real effects of the "War on [some] Drugs" are the mass incarceration of the poor, mostly blacks, and its use as a foreign policy tool to interfere in places like Colombia. And the recent legalisations have had negligible effect on either of those.

 

[Redpossum]

Short answer: no-- there is no major party with a legalisation platform, and the media is ensuring that they don't, by running these narco headlines everyday.

As for advances in the US, I say small beans. The real effects of the "War on [some] Drugs" are the mass incarceration of the poor, mostly blacks, and its use as a foreign policy tool to interfere in places like Colombia. And the recent legalisations have had negligible effect on either of those.

Again, well said, and I completely agree. Drug laws are indeed both a tool of social repression and an excuse for neo-colonial adventurism.

It's just that I try to take a "glass half full" view of things.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Página 12 was once a credible crusading newspaper. Now it's just a government mouthpiece.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

So, the conservative Clarín (http://www.clarin.com/ciudades/Multitudinaria-legalizacion-marihuana_0_1132087232.html) and La Nación (http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1470765-la-marcha-mundial-de-la-marihuana-en-buenos-aires) just ignore the issue, then?

 

[Redpossum]

So, the conservative Clarín (http://www.clarin.co...1132087232.html) and La Nación (http://www.lanacion....en-buenos-aires) just ignore the issue, then?

Hey, good catch! I missed both of those.

It's interesting to note the differences, not just in the two stories, but also in the comments. Like this one -

El consumo induce a buscar drogas mas pesadas, ej: volver a rifar el voto entregando nuestras vidas al expolio de los K. ¡Fuerza Fernández; que ya llega Consumo Para Todos!

I love that argument. As a man once said in reply, "yeah, and 100% of all alcoholics started out drinking milk". Was that George Carlin's line?

Although, there are some amusing possibilities. Wouldn't it be fun to see Anibal set his moustache on fire? No, no, no, bad Possum, bad!