Nixon's "War on Drugs" is a farce when we find out the Nixon has so many friends in the illegal drug trade.

Date:   7/19/2008 12:03:34 AM ( 16 y ago)

Heroin as currency?

The response to government involvement in the illegal drug trade is generally denials, and then "ya, we heard this before, its old news". So why does the War on Drugs continue to be taken seriously when the same governments who are behind it are also helping the illegal drug traders do their trafficing?

Opium traders are a fairly well known bit of history... there were the "Opium Wars", where Britian was demanding the China stop getting in the way of the opium traffic that was bringing such riches to Britian. The problem for China was that so much of it's currency and wealth was leaving the country due to the number of opium users spending their money on opium.

Then there was the French Resistance, largly a bunch of organised crime types ["Corsican Mafia"] who were being rewarded [for their fighting the fascists like Germany was sending into France] by being allowed to sell heroin. The French governments of Pompideau and de Gaulle were setting up the routes and protecting the refining labs of Marseille for these drug runners who operated world-wide. It was ample compensation!!

What is perhaps less well known is that "illegal drugs" are still funding a lot of political and military operations. We have all heard of the "Iran-Contra" affair, but for some reason the public didn't really seem to see that it was just one small example of an ongoing operation where drugs were trafficed and the drug growers and dealers were protected in return for weapons and assassinations and intelligence. It has been this way since the Opium Wars!!

Other drugs, such as cocaine, have entered this marketplace now too. For the poor people, the down and out addicts, there is "crystal meth" and other very harmfull drugs, which are sold mostly by independants. It is the big crime outfits that cater to those with enough money who can afford heroin and cocaine, and where government agencies are involved. Pot can be grown by anyone, but it still brings in sufficient dollars to be of some use to these big organised crime outfits. There is also some trade in prescriiption pills, especially morphine, that is not controlled by organised crime... and is a thorn in their side because it cuts into their market a bit, which is probably why doctors are pressured by their "Colleges" to keep prescriiptions small except for cancer patients [there has to be some compassion or the public might protest!]. Too bad for the "non-cancer pain patients" who only get small amounts, and not enough to match the well-known tolerance to morphine.

But I digress...

Nixon was the first American President to become heavily involved in the illegal drug trade. His association with organised crime types was known way back when he was first aiming for the Presidency in 1960. He had many good friends and supporters who were top-dogs in the organised crime world, such as Mayer Lansky and the "Cuban Exiles" and some of the Corsican Mafia. The Cuban Exiles were the ones who fought the Bay of Pigs debacle and other operations against Castro, and they were and are heavy drug trafficers.

What seems so strange in all this is that the public takes Nixons "War on Drugs" seriously. In fact, it seems almost like some of the "Sgt.Stedenkos" in the DEA actually take it seriously too. In reality, the DEA is just doing their part to eliminate independant dealers who are taking turf away from the drug runners who are working for the CIA. But maybe nobody told them, and they believe they are doing something honorable. What a joke on Stedenko!!

And I suppose that if the DEA agents can be fooled, then the public at large is even more prone to believing that the War on Drugs is for real. Prohibition is just a way to keep the values of "illegal drugs" up so that the profits will fund the organised crime types who are living off the drug trade.

In the bigger picture of global economics, any commodity that has such incredibly high values as illegal drugs do, there will be involvement with governments. The leaders are elected with drug funds, and they in turn help keep the trafficing lanes open. Illegal drugs command a third or fourth spot in terms of valuable commodities, right there just behind oil, metals,and weapons, and just ahead of legal drugs [pharmaceuticals] in terms of how much money trades hands in their marketplaces. Illegal drugs are a major industry, and it would be foolish to think that the highest office in the land is not involved, or that they would be trying to stop it.


Read some more on this topic [since this is such a brief account here]:
"The Politics of Heroin" by Alfred McCoy [some detailed history here!!]

"The Big White Lie" by Michael Livine [a real Sgt Stedenko until he opened his eyes]

"Drugs, Oil and War" by P.D Scott [and other essays, etc - Google it!]

"The Great Heroin Coup" by Henrik Kruger




 

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