Welcome to the Future, It’s Happening Now!

by: Tony Vance


After having given the opening speech of the 2013 Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy said the most interesting thing during the question and answer period in response to a question regarding a film about the failure of the War on Drugs titled ’Taboo’. The question asked was, “Do you foresee a day when we’re gonna step back from the ledge of the War on Drugs, and if so, what specific legislative measures, and how do you see the process? The Senator’s reply was, ”I think we have, we have spent tens of billions, hundreds of billions of dollars on this so called War on Drugs. Well, we’ve lost!”

On the local front, in this morning’s 20 January 2013 Kentucky Enquirer, under the headline, ‘Effort Focuses on Heroin’ is a story about 50 Northern Kentucky city and county officials who met Saturday January 19, 2013 to discuss the area’s growing heroin problem. The meeting brought forth two conclusions. That the problem is worse than originally thought, and that pressure must be brought on State and Federal Legislators to do something. They complained about the lack of funding for mental health services, lack of addiction services and the lack of a coordinated effort to change our current policies. Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmonson was quoted as saying, “We’ve lost the War on Drugs. What we have been doing hasn’t worked. It will never work. Something different needs to be done.”

I wonder if any of these people know what has happened in Portugal? Portugal ended prohibition eleven years ago and replaced it with a policy of harm reduction. The result has been a 50% drop in all the markers by which we measure the damage from drug abuse.

Also on the local front, the resolution that the Veterans of Foreign Wars support Veteran access to medical marijuana thru the auspices of the Veterans Administration and that the Federal Government act post haste to make this happen has passed the 9th District of the Department of Kentucky of the Veterans Of Foreign Wars. The resolution should be on the agenda of the Spring Conference in March. If you are a member in good standing of the Department of Kentucky of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and you support this resolution, contact your Post Commander for details on attending the Conference. If you can’t attend the whole conference at least try to attend the Council Administration Meeting on Friday evening of the Conference. Show up and support the resolution!

http://thomyv.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/59/