Policy

What It’s Like For American Drug Reformer To Go To A Country With A Compassionate System

April 4, 2018 By Phillip Smith, AlterNet.org Educate! Drugs, Policy, Portugal

The American activists couldn't wrap their heads around it. Sitting in a dingy office in a nondescript building in central Lisbon, they were being provided a fine-grained explanation of what happens to people caught with small amounts of drugs in Portugal, which decriminalized the possession of personal use amounts of drugs 17 years ago. The activists, having lived the American experience, wanted desperately to know when and how the coercive power of the state kicked in, how the drug users were to be punished for their transgressions, even if they had only been hit with an administrative citation, which is what happens to people caught with small quantities of drugs there. Nuno Capaz was trying to explain. He is vice chairman of the Lisbon Dissuasion Commission, the three-member tribunal set up to handle people caught with drugs.

How India’s Neoliberal Policies Killed 250,000, Birthed Modern Farmers’ Uprising

April 2, 2018 By Manmeet Sahni, Telesurtv.net Educate! Farmers, India, Neoliberalism, Policy, Uprising

In March, for weeks, tens of thousands of Indian farmers rallied, under the red flag, meeting in several cities to list their agenda and demands for the government to implement peasant-friendly policies as part of broader agrarian reform. Since 1995, four years after India opened its doors to free markets, according to India's National Crime Records Bureau, NCRB, nearly 270,000 Indian cotton farmers have killed themselves. The 'Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India,' has placed the death toll for a cumulative 16-year at 256,913 deaths, the worst-ever recorded wave of suicides of this kind in human history. Some of the experts have linked this wave of farmers' suicides to the expensive, out of reach genetically modified seeds, fertilizers, and insecticides. These genetically modified seeds are priced nearly four times higher than the ordinarily available seeds. One of the most popular being Bollgard, developed by Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech.

One Million Trees Pledged To ‘Trump Forest’ To Offset President’s Anti-Climate Agenda

February 21, 2018 By Lorraine Chow, Ecowatch.com Create! Climate Change, Policy, Trump Administration

Trump Forest—a global reforestation project aiming to offset President Trump's anti-climate policies—has reached 1 million trees after thousands of pledges from around the world. Trump Forest was launched just under a year ago after POTUS announced he was pulling the U.S. from the Paris agreement. "Thanks to you guys, you've pledged more than a million trees all over the world to try and offset that ignorance," Adrien Taylor, one of the three founders of the project, said in a video message announcing the milestone. "In doing so, you've not only offset some of the carbon emissions that have come out of the Trump administration, you've also helped reforest communities, and you've helped create a small silver lining in the very dark cloud of ignorance which is in the White House."

Mixed Reactions In Legal Marijuana States By US Attorneys To New DOJ Policy

February 7, 2018 By Bruce Kennedy and Alex Pasquariello, Thecannabist.co Educate! DOJ, Marijuana, Marijuana Legalization, Policy

It’s been a month since U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole Memo, Obama-era Department of Justice guidance on enforcement of federal law in states that legalized marijuana in some form. Sessions’ marijuana policy shift didn’t just inject uncertainty into the legal cannabis industry — it empowered the Justice Department’s U.S. attorneys to enforce — or ignore — federal marijuana laws. U.S. attorneys are the chief federal law enforcement officers within 93 districts throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. They’re nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. U.S. attorneys have three primary duties, according to the Justice Department’s website.

Policy Road Map To Reparations For ‘War On Weed’

January 24, 2018 Lawrence Grandpre, lbsbaltimore.com Create! Criminalization, Marijuana, Policy

Over the past 50 years, the city of Baltimore and the State of Maryland’s active investments in policing the War on Drugs have created conditions of concentrated poverty in Baltimore City. While not limited to marijuana, cannabis prohibition has been, and continues to be, the vanguard of the War on Drugs in terms of social impact. Even today, despite the perception of increased tolerance of marijuana and many states’ pursuit of legalization, marijuana possession is the number of cause of arrest in the United States. In fact, in recent years marijuana arrests have continued to increase. Currently, over 100,000 Americans are incarcerated for marijuana possession, racking up a total cost of over three billion dollars. From 1990 to 2000, 75% of the increase in arrests for drug charges nationwide came from marijuana related offenses.

Norway Takes First Steps From Extreme Drug War To Sensible Policy

January 18, 2018 By Péter Sárosi, Drogriporter.hu Create! Drugs, Norway, Policy

This was definitely a result of a bottom-up movement. It has had a few strong voices for quite some time, like Arild Knutsen and Thorvald Stoltenberg. Since the beginning of 2016 The Association for Safer Drug Policies has become a strong voice in Norwegian drug policy, and together with the other organisations working for drug policy reform we have been able to shift the centreline of the Norwegian public debate and influence the programs of almost all major political parties, including the party of government. Even though we were certain changes would come at some point, we didn’t expect our Health Minister from the Conservative party to change his view on decriminalisation as fast as he did. It really takes courage to front new drug policies and to take a new stand in a heated debate like this, like he did.

Renegotiating NAFTA Could Make Trade Policy Right

January 11, 2018 By Owen E. Herrnstadt, Epi.org Create! NAFTA, Policy, Trade Deal

The United States, Canada, and Mexico are currently in talks over changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Renegotiating NAFTA offers an opportunity to create a new labor template based on long overdue and urgently needed labor standards that are consistently enforced and upheld. In order to accomplish this, we need to update and strengthen current language (based on the May 10, 2007 template). Among other things, there should be fewer limitations on the kinds of labor violations that are covered, and each signatory must be in compliance with the standards set forth prior to joining the agreement. The following recommendations constitute some of the steps needed to achieve these essential improvements to the labor chapter...

Brazil Announces End To Amazon Mega-Dam Building Policy

January 4, 2018 By Sue Branford, News.mongabay.com Resist! Brazil, Dams, Policy

An indigenous leader in April 2015 at the São Manoel dam construction site on the Teles Pires River in the Tapajós basin. Photo by Midia Ninja courtesy of International Rivers. In a surprise move, the Brazilian government has announced that the era of building big hydroelectric dams in the Amazon basin, long criticized by environmentalists and indigenous groups, is ending. “We are not prejudiced against big [hydroelectric] projects, but we have to respect the views of society, which views them with restrictions,” Paulo Pedrosa, the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, told O Globo newspaper. According to Pedrosa, Brazil has the potential to generate an additional 50 gigawatts of energy by 2050 through the building of new dams but, of this total, only 23 percent would not affect in some way indigenous land, quilombolas (communities set up by runaway slaves) and federally protected areas.

Protest Gov. Cuomo’s Birthday Fundraiser Over Failed Policies

December 15, 2017 Erik McGregor, erikmcgregorphotography.blogspot.com Resist! Government, New York City (NYC), Policy, Protests

New York, NY - Hundreds of New Yorkers joined NYC progressive groups on a mock “Voters Over Donors” birthday party outside Governor Cuomo's 60th birthday fundraiser event on December 14, 2017 at Cipriani Wall Street, demanding he puts renewable energy, affordable housing, and voters over his Wall Street donors. The “Voters Over Donors” event highlights how Cuomo’s failure to enact major legislation is hurting New Yorkers. Cuomo's Voters called on the governor to strengthen rent laws and invest in housing for the homeless; halt all fracking infrastructure, move to 100% renewable energy and institute a fee on corporate climate polluters...

Biocapitalism, Corporate Colonialism And Education Policy

November 14, 2017 Staff, educationalchemy.com Educate! Capitalism, Colonialism, Education, Policy

By Staff of Education Alchemy - In the last few years a lot of debate has been had over promise and perils of ESSA. Many education advocates argued we must embrace ESSA because it promised to reduce federal choke hold of high stakes standardized testing that was wielded starting with NCLB and ramped up further under Race to the Top. The promise of EESA seemed too good to be true. Why would the same people who devoted decades to dismantling public schools, creating avenues for defacto segregation, and privatizing a public system suddenly want to turn around and “do the right thing?” ESSA authors (Lamar Alexander) claimed that testing would take a “back seat” And it has. The argument in support of ESSA was “to restore responsibility to state and local leaders what to do about educational decisions. If a state decides to move away from Common Core, they don’t have to call Washington and ask permission—they can just do it.” And so many supporters of democratic public education “bought in” to the hype. Exactly what ARE states deciding to do instead? Those are the details we need to examine, and it’s vital (if we are really to reclaim public spaces and democracy) that we understand that there is a global paradigmatic shift occurring beyond the scope of what we already think we know or can anticipate. We must broaden our understanding of the end-game.

These Corporations Have The Biggest Influence On Climate Policy

September 16, 2017 Lorraine Chow, www.ecowatch.com Educate! Climate Change, Corporations, Lobbying, Policy

By Lorraine Chow for Eco Watch - For better or worse, corporations have a major influence on climate change policy. Just look at Koch Industries, a multinational conglomerate owned by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch that has contributedhundreds of millions to federal candidates and lobbying over the last 25 years. The "Corporate Carbon Policy Footprint," a new analysis from U.K. nonprofit InfluenceMap, now ranks Koch Industries as the company with the strongest opposition to the Paris climate agreement and most intensely lobbies against policies in line with the landmark global accord. The InfluenceMap scoring system does not measure a company's actual greenhouse gas emissions. Rather, it measures "the extent to which a corporation is supporting or obstructing the climate policy process." For the InfluenceMap report, researchers analyzed more than "30,000 pieces of evidence" on 250 global companies and 50 major trade associations on their lobbying records, advertising, public relations and sponsored research, according to Bloomberg. The research group gave the Wichita-based company an "F" grade for its anti-climate actions: "Koch Industries appears to be actively opposing almost all areas of climate legislation. In 2014 in the US, they were reportedly active in their opposition to a carbon tax, funding politicians and campaigns to oppose the tax.

New TSA Policy May Lead To Increased Scrutiny Of Reading Material

June 26, 2017 Jay Stanley, www.aclu.org Educate! Policy, Surveillance, TSA

By Jay Stanley for ACLU - The TSA is testing new requirements that passengers remove books and other paper goods from their carry-on baggage when going through airline security. Given the sensitivity of our reading choices, this raises privacy concerns. Tests of the policy are underway in some small airports around the country, and DHS Secretary John Kelly recently said that “we might, and likely will” apply the policy nationwide. “What we’re doing now is working out the tactics, techniques, and procedures, if you will, in a few airports, to find out exactly how to do that with the least amount of inconvenience to the traveler,” he told Fox News. The policy may also apply to food items. The rationale for the policy change given by Kelly and the TSA is that the imposition of growing fees for checked baggage by the airlines has prompted passengers to more densely pack their carry-ons, and that this has made it harder for screeners to identify particular items amid the jumble of images appearing on their screens. Laptops must already be pulled out separately because they are regarded as a heightened threat and can be better examined if they are not scanned in a bag with many other objects.

Trump Names Climate Foe As Top DOJ Environment Attorney

June 8, 2017 Marianne Lavelle and John H. Cushman Jr., www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Climate Change, DOJ, Donald Trump, Environment, Policy

By Marianne Lavelle and John H. Cushman Jr. for Inside Climate News - Jeffrey Bossert Clark, a lawyer who has repeatedly challenged the scientific foundations of U.S. climate policy and was part of a legal team that represented BP in lawsuits stemming from the nation's worst oil spill, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, was nominated by President Donald Trump on Tuesday to serve as the Justice Department's top environmental lawyer. Clark, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis, has represented the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in lawsuits challenging the federal government's authority to regulate carbon emissions. In court he has repeatedly argued that it is inappropriate to base government policymaking on the scientific consensus presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "When did America risk coming to be ruled by foreign scientists and apparatchiks at the United Nations?" Clark demanded in a 2010 blog posting on the EPA's endangerment finding. Clark was prominently involved in industry challenges to the EPA's "endangerment finding" that set the scientific basis for all subsequent attempts to regulate greenhouse gases, including from autos and industrial sources.

Women Imprisoned Under Drug War Speak Out Against Sessions’ Policy

June 1, 2017 Victoria Law, www.truth-out.org Educate! Drug Policy, Policy, Prison, Women

By Victoria Law for Truthout - In the federal prison in California, Michelle West described people standing in front of the television in shock this past Friday as they learned about Attorney General Jeff Sessions' memo, which promises to intensify the war on drugs. "They knew it was going to be bad because of his past comments regarding the criminal justice system, but not this bad," West said. In federal prisons across the country, a similar scenario played out as people, many of whom were sentenced under the drug war policies of the 1980s and 1990s, learned about Sessions' two-page memo entitled Department Charging and Sentencing Policy. The directive instructs federal prosecutors to pursue the most serious, readily provable offense. It thus resurrects the emphasis on mandatory minimum sentencing requirements, which have required judges to impose draconian sentences for drug crimes, even when they don't believe these sentences are warranted. Sessions' memo rescinds and reverses the reforms implemented by former Attorney General Eric Holder, which urged prosecutors to charge people with low-level drug cases to avoid triggering mandatory minimum sentences. Nearly half (or 92,000) of the people in federal prison are serving sentences for drug convictions.

Climate Policies Could Boost Economic Growth By 5%, OECD Says

May 27, 2017 Marianne Lavelle, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Climate Change, Policy

By Marianne Lavelle for Inside Climate News - The world's major economies could boost their long-term economic growth by 2.8 percent with policies that lower greenhouse gas emissions and boost resilience to climate change impacts, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in a new analysis. That rises to nearly 5 percent mid-century when the economic benefits of avoiding future impacts of climate change are factored in. "Far from being a dampener on growth, integrating climate action into growth policies can have a positive economic impact," Angel Gurría, secretary-general of OECD, said Tuesday at an international meeting on climate hosted by the German government in Berlin. The new figures bolstered a theme that has been sounded repeatedly by the OECD, the research and policy organization that represents developed nations. "There is no economic excuse for not acting on climate change, and the urgency to act is high," Gurría said. OECD economists estimate that the major economies in the G20 could add 1 percent to average economic output by 2021 and lift their 2050 output by up to 2.8 percent through economic policies that are shaped to address climate change.

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