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BlackChampagne -- no longer new; improvement also in question.: Drugs in Amsterdam



Wednesday, July 29, 2009  

Drugs in Amsterdam


I'm not sure why it's popped up now, but I've seen a bunch of linkage to this video today.



Since it's only a minute long and you can watch it faster than I can explain it. So just watch it.

What I find interesting is the pathology behind all of those conservative denunciations (all of which were lies) about the Netherlands. You see the shiny white people on Fox talking, and it's not what they say as much as how they say it. They stress words like "liberal," "free love," and then turn to "anarchy," "cess-pool," "corruption," etc. It's about controlling the language, and since they know 99% of their viewers will never know or care that they're being lied to, it's safe to make such claims.

At the same time, it's kind of amazing how the condemnation and denunciations roll forth, aimed at a country which, as the stats in the later half of the video demohnstrate, enjoys far better public health and suffers far less of a drug problem than does the US, by almost every measure.

What's actually happening in Amsterdam? They're phasing out the licenses to a small amount of the 229 "coffee shops" in the city. Some since they were too close to schools, but the majority since they were clustered downtown near red-light district, and the area is getting kind of seedy.

Needless to say, there are dangerous, violent, anarchistic cell pools in the downtown areas in every major American city where crack, heroin, and every other sort of narcotic (most of which are illegal and nearly unknown in Amsterdam, since people can legally enjoy pot and minor hallucinogens like mushrooms) are readily available. The drug trade in America is far more lethal, profitable, and dominated by organized crime than anything in Amsterdam. And decades of "The War on Drugs" has done nothing but make it harder for junkies to seek treatment, wasted countless billions on ineffective police actions, and filled our prisons. But that's not worthy of mention on Fox News, since (non-prescription) drugs are illegal and bad, and to the Conservative mindset, results don't matter. It's all about pushing the party like propaganda, speaking of ideology rather than reality, and motivating through fear by demonizing those you disagree with.

Labels: ,

Comments:

Wait, you're basing this condemnation of Fox on a 1 minute clip featuring happy people (presumably in Amsterdam) and three e-stats, despite the fact that the Fox clip referenced made no claims in regards to any of the stats?

The only thing mentioned was corruption, which was not addressed by the stats. Who is right? Hell if I know, but I do know that this video brought us no closer to the answer than the O'Reilly-sponsored diatribe.

PS: I would advocate an end to sex ed programs if it wouldn't mean an end to any and all sex education. It is a job for parents, but it seems to be a job most of them have long since left behind.

I also like how the focus was so tightly on abstinence programs; sex ed doesn't work in general, no matter what you say about it. I'd like to see the stats of a pro-sex program, wherein the teachers advocated sexual encounters. I'd be willing to bet it wouldn't cause any more of a blip compared to the control group than this sex ed program.


 

You sort of alluded to it, but the U.S. drug policy has also led to an erosion of civil liberties, the paramilitarization of local police departments, and the burden of proof being moved to the defendant as opposed to the state.


 

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