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Old 08-29-2003, 12:12 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Location: Olympia Washington
Drug use = Terrorism: VICTORY act

This is an article from the Drug Policy Alliance. This article is biased but thats ok because I think this act is just ridiculous. I don't want to try to explain it because I'm not so great at that. Just read the article and feel free to vent if you think it is as ridiculous as I do, or try to justify it if you think it's a good idea.

Wed, Aug 27, 2003

It was bad enough that the government used tax payer dollars to produce ads calling marijuana users terrorists. Now things are more serious and the government is trying to create laws based on this weak link between drugs and terrorism.

Senate Republicans have been discussing new legislation that would expand the Justice Department's already overbearing PATRIOT Act powers to investigate suspected terrorists and drug criminals. The most recent drafts of the legislation - misnamed Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act of 2003, or the VICTORY Act (....that should be a small r and where did the Y come from??) - would provide extra penalties for drug sellers alleged to be directly or indirectly funding terrorist groups and would dramatically expand the government's power to seize records and conduct wiretaps in connection with "narcoterrorism" investigations.

According to the Washington Post, several of the measures are similar to proposals made during the early debate over the PATRIOT Act. Now known as one of the biggest threats to civil liberties in the U.S., the PATRIOT Act has since been pushed back by about 150 communities, as well as the legislatures of Alaska, Hawaii and Vermont. The House recently voted to cut off funding for a type of "sneak-and-peak" search warrant authorized by the law.

Despite the backlash, Attorney General John Ashcroft is currently touring the country touting the benefits of the PATRIOT Act, including promoting the proposed drugs and terrorism legislation yet to be officially introduced. This latest effort to conflate drugs and terrorism represents a major expansion of laws that allow the government to conduct surveillance, asset forfeiture, racial profiling and other powers under the guise of terrorism threat. Already, anti-terrorism powers granted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 have been stretched to pursue defendants for crimes unrelated to terrorism, including drug violations, credit card fraud and bank theft according to a report by internal investigators at the Justice Department. According to the Washington Post, the 60-page report identified dozens of cases in which department employees have been accused of serious civil rights violations involving enforcement of anti-terrorism powers, otherwise known as the PATRIOT Act.

The Drug Policy Alliance worries that non-violent drug offenders not involved in terrorism will be deemed terrorists under the law and that the federal government will eventually turn its “drug users are funding terrorism” propaganda campaign into even harsher penalties for drug users. In addition to relying on fear of terrorism to promote its drug policy the government is perpetuating another myth commonly found in the drug debate: blaming problems caused by the illegality of drugs on problems caused by drugs. Since illicit drugs can only be obtained and used within the underground market, the problems of crime, ill health and death will remain until drugs are made a public health concern. It is not nonviolent Americans that are responsible for terror funding, but the drug war itself, which creates the illegal markets that generate those funds. Blaming Americans for funding terrorism is like blaming alcohol consumers in the 1920s for Al Capone’s violence.
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Old 08-31-2003, 12:29 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Another fascist bill that will probably get passed because...


1.) Most Americans simply don't care.
2.) The government is corrupt as shit.
3.) Just another excuse for the police to come ramming in your door.
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Old 08-31-2003, 01:22 PM   #3 (permalink)
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Location: Austin, TX
i disagree.

i dont think it will get passed cuz the legislators prolly regret voting for the PATRIOT act and wont commit the same mistake again. look at all the uproar PATRIOT caused and VICTORY is sure to provoke some more.

it's amazing how they link everything to terrorism and use it as an excuse to take away more and more of our civil liberties.

More power to the ACLU!
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Old 08-31-2003, 04:41 PM   #4 (permalink)
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I tend to agree. Everything is becoming linked to terrorism.

Unfortunately in this country, all most people do is complain and do nothing. I'm starting to believe more and more that Americans are the most whipped people on the planet.

You are right, there will be uproar. And no one in Washington will give a damn.
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Old 09-04-2003, 12:09 AM   #5 (permalink)
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Location: Olympia Washington
I was hoping more people would check this post out. I guess your right, no one really does care. It's so silly we're in a room called politics and there are polls like "Would you fuck Condoleeza (sp?) Rice?" It's funny but not appropriate to the topic. Oh well.
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Old 09-04-2003, 06:38 AM   #6 (permalink)
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disturbing, but it is in line with PATRIOT II, and not quite unexpected. "Terrorist" is the hot button word, replacing "Communist" of the 50s and 60s in getting laws passed.

hell, i think there's government education movies linking drug use to communisism during that time. little digging might bring that to light.
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Old 09-04-2003, 06:55 AM   #7 (permalink)
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Location: Pennsytuckia
Well, sit back and smoke your VITCTORY cigarettes and drink your VICTORY Gin. I think we should all start practicing showing no emotions. It will be a needed skill in the coming days.


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Old 09-04-2003, 07:01 AM   #8 (permalink)
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Location: Sydney, Australia
Hey dude, remember the '80s?

Remember when Michael Jackson was black?

Remember 'Like a Virgin'?

Remember 'Miami Vice'

Remember 'Just Say No'?

Remember the Contras?

Remember when the CIA backed mujahidin encouraged Afghan farmers to grow opium poppies?

Um, on second thoughs lets just forget the '80s...Er, your under arrest liberal <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">communist</span> terrorist scum!!
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Old 09-04-2003, 03:36 PM   #9 (permalink)
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the University Democrats (@ UT Austin) are petitioning the Austin City council to ignore the patriot act like other cities are doing.
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Old 09-04-2003, 04:49 PM   #10 (permalink)
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Location: Tiger I Turret
Has any bill that Bush passed made sense?

THe guy is trying to creat a world somewhat akin to 1984 with the government watching and controlling your every move.

The guy is a complete moron who can't compose a complete sentence, answer a question, or go a week without doing something stupid.

When was the last time you saw a pot smoker with the incentive to even go out of the house for a reason other than munchies? For a former coke head, bush sure is against pot.
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Old 09-06-2003, 02:17 AM   #11 (permalink)
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Location: Portland
le*sigh... it's so sad...
I send the faxed, I spread the word.. but people really do not care... all you can do is inform those you know, and do your part (VOTE!) .. eventually, things will get so fucked up, people will start to notice... one day..
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Old 09-06-2003, 04:12 PM   #12 (permalink)
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Well, if you want to connect 2 and 2, Ernesto 'Che' Gueverra Lynch de la Serna was connected with the Bolivian Cartels, and various rebels Nicaraguan Sandinistas were partially funded on Coke money. However, Wahabes are the anti-drug types in Terrorism. Aside from other Arab groups (such as the legendary Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) most terrorists happily utilize drug operations or drug money to further their aims. Generally, the pot smokers=terrorists thing was bullshit.
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