Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)Nixon Policy Advisor Admits He Invented War On Drugs to Suppress 'Anti-War Left and Black People' [View all]
Nixon Policy Advisor Admits He Invented War On Drugs to Suppress 'Anti-War Left and Black People'
by Julianne Escobedo Shepherd
Jezebel Magazine, 3/22/2016
Dan Baum, writing in support of drug legalization at Harpers, has unleashed a frank 1994 quote from former Nixon policy advisor John Ehrlichman, and as inadvertently salient an argument for legalizing drugs as any Ive ever seen:
[hr]
- more: http://jezebel.com/nixons-policy-advisor-admits-he-invented-war-on-drugs-t-1766359595
by Julianne Escobedo Shepherd
Jezebel Magazine, 3/22/2016
Dan Baum, writing in support of drug legalization at Harpers, has unleashed a frank 1994 quote from former Nixon policy advisor John Ehrlichman, and as inadvertently salient an argument for legalizing drugs as any Ive ever seen:
[hr]
At the time, I was writing a book about the politics of drug prohibition. I started to ask Ehrlichman a series of earnest, wonky questions that he impatiently waved away. You want to know what this was really all about? he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what Im saying? We knew we couldnt make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.
I must have looked shocked. Ehrlichman just shrugged. Then he looked at his watch, handed me a signed copy of his steamy spy novel, The Company, and led me to the door.
- more: http://jezebel.com/nixons-policy-advisor-admits-he-invented-war-on-drugs-t-1766359595
The ongoing suffering caused by this craven policy boggles the mind.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
44 replies, 9654 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (119)
ReplyReply to this post
44 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Nixon Policy Advisor Admits He Invented War On Drugs to Suppress 'Anti-War Left and Black People' [View all]
klook
Mar 2016
OP
And only one Presidential Candidate has been bold enough to call the WOD what it is-
Warren DeMontague
Mar 2016
#1
while another candidate has a campaign manager (sorry, I mean DNC chair) who
Betty Karlson
Mar 2016
#15
..and who allies herself with Sheldon Adelson on the topic of putting medical mj users in prison.
Warren DeMontague
Mar 2016
#29
But, they said : "the rest of us" meaning their class. They have been very faithful about not
LiberalArkie
Mar 2016
#12
"If the American people knew what we have done, they would string us up from the lamp posts."
Rex
Mar 2016
#22