tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543539.post8515055210697815678..comments2023-09-20T11:15:28.673+01:00Comments on Transform Drug Policy Foundation Blog: Three major new reports on HIV/AIDS and the war on drugsjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15263261726046054614noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543539.post-50695990911957243832012-07-30T17:33:52.137+01:002012-07-30T17:33:52.137+01:00Spanking replies from you both.
Thank you for tak...Spanking replies from you both.<br /><br />Thank you for taking time from your day to answer my question.<br /><br />In response to Danny's 2nd point i would say that i see prohibition and the banking system as fundamentally intertwined, ie. both must fall/change together - but that's my opinion.<br /><br />Keep on with the pressure - it's visibly building now...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543539.post-64486009130544351192012-07-30T12:17:39.402+01:002012-07-30T12:17:39.402+01:00Here is my view:
1 The global banking system faci...Here is my view:<br /><br />1 The global banking system facilitates, it doesn't bankroll prohibition. Our taxes do that.<br /><br />2 Clearly better regulation of banking would help. But this is partly an issue of sequencing. Can prohibition end with the banking system mainly intact as it is now? If crisis is the main driver of change, there is plenty of pressure bearing down on prohibition to cause it significant problems, even without reform of the financial system.<br /><br />3 Transform is not in a subordinate role in relation to the Open Society Foundations. OSF fund some of our projects - end of. They do not determine what we decide to do.<br /><br />4 There is a herd of elephants in the room. That is the nature of single issue campaigning. We discuss some of the issues tangentially, but we cannot give them all the attention they deserve - it would detract from the work we cover.<br /><br />5 Lastly, Ed Vulliamy has been brilliant on some of the drugs issues. However, he opposes legalisation and regulation, on the basis that it would empower 'legitimate' capitalists. So no, Ed isn't on his own. He is working in parallel, with criticisms of some of what we do.Danny Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10139449664223847222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543539.post-10222725850918610772012-07-30T11:54:56.344+01:002012-07-30T11:54:56.344+01:00My view is that whilst problems with the global ba...My view is that whilst problems with the global banking system are an important issue - its reform is for other groups or individuals with the relevant expertise and resources. Transform is focusing on ending the war on drugs - a reduction in the secondary harms that flow from it (including corruption and money laundering) will inevitably follow. <br /><br />The same can be said for poverty reduciton - its something we naturally support and something that is related directly and indirectly to various facets of the drug problem - but it isnt the focus of our work (which is specifically pursuit of more just and effective dru policy and law). <br /><br />We can ofcourse point to the important issues, and this one is flagged up clearly in the new Alternative World Drug Report - as a cost of the war on drugs (see economics chapter)Steve Rolleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11487781869462634203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543539.post-67659840411429526602012-07-30T11:46:49.716+01:002012-07-30T11:46:49.716+01:00"You can't end AIDS without ending the Wa..."You can't end AIDS without ending the War on Drugs"...<br /><br />And you can't end the War on drugs without tackling the global banking system that controls and finances the entire network.<br /><br />My question for Transform is when will you adopt the financial/banking focus toward which Danny hinted more than a year ago? Is Ed Vulliamy expected to do his monumental work all on his own? I have seen nothing from Transform that indicates a serious<br />engagement with this central issue.<br /><br />I find this silence unsettling given the obvious developments and<br /> activism surrounding banking recently, especially considering<br /><br />Transform's subordination to hedge-fund 'philanthropist' George Soros.<br /><br />Transform does truly excellent work, but i can't help but feel<br />awfully crowded by an elephant in the room. What say you, Transform?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com