There are two other documents frequently posted to talk.politics.drugs:
For more information, see the bottom of this file.
- o - o - o -
DEA = Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. federal drug police. See http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/deahome.htmDecriminalization = ending criminal (though not necessarily civil) sanctions against drug users (though not necessarily those against drug sellers or producers.) This word's meaning varies by use; see: /CapitolHill/4727/alt-wod-faq.html
Drug Czar = Director of the U.S. Office of the National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), currently Barry McCaffrey. See: http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/ondcp/html/ondcp.html
Dutch drug policy = the mix of leniency for soft drugs and discouragement of hard drugs that has distinguished the drug policy of the Netherlands. For a complete description, see:
- http://www.niad.nl/fc1uk.htm
- http://www.minvws.nl/drugnota/0/index.htm
- http://www.xs4all.nl/~mlap/count/nl1.html
Eradication = destroying the harvest of plants from which drugs are taken or processed (i.e. hemp for marijuana, coca for cocaine, poppy for heroin).
Forfeiture = Laws under which private property may be confiscated based on the suspicion of drug trafficking or production. See http://www.fear.org/
Harm Reduction = an approach to drug treatment initiated by doctors and social workers who help drug users reduce the harm caused by their drug taking, eventually moving them to abstinence. See http://www.cts.com/~habtsmrt/hrmtitle.html
Interdiction = Intercepting drugs as they are transported from producer to consumer.
Legalization = ending criminal sanctions against the users, sellers, and dealers of the drug(s) in question, though presumably with restrictions similar to those of alcohol and tobacco. This word's meaning varies by use; see /CapitolHill/4727/alt-wod-faq.html
Libertarian = An American philosophy and political party advocating the removal of the federal government from most matters, including those of personal drug use. See http://www.libertarian.org/
Mandatory Minimums = Laws under which judges are forced to sentence drug criminals for minimum periods of incarceration. See http://www.famm.org/
NORML = The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. See http://www.norml.org/
Parent's Groups = family-oriented anti-drug activists especially influential in the 80s. See: http://www.emory.edu/NFIA/ (of special interest is the 'History of the Parent Drug Prevention Movement' presentation in their 'New' section.)
Prohibitionist = Related to the belief that the best drug policies are those of 'prohibition', or absolute intolerance, usually enforced by legal punishment or threat thereof.
Soft drugs = the less easily abused drugs, such as marijuana, as opposed to those more easily abused ('hard drugs') such as crack and heroin.
WoD = War on Drugs. Usually refers to 'get tough' policies, which include 'no-knock' nighttime raids, roadblocks, urine testing, mandatory minimum sentences for drug prisoners, the suspension of bill-of-rights liberties in drug cases, 'zero tolerance' policies that consider all drugs equally dangerous, drug "stings" in which police officers impersonate dealers or buyers, the interdiction of drug trafficking at national borders, the eradication of drug factories and fields by police and military personnel, and the confiscation ('forfeiture') of private property to continue financing the War.
Wo(s)D = War on (some) Drugs; i.e. on marijuana, psychedelics, and other currently-illegal drugs, as opposed to on all abusable drugs, including alcohol and nicotine.
Zero Tolerance = the absolute refusal to accept the existence of currently-illegal drugs or their users.
1) What's valid for discussion on talk.politics.drugs and what isn't?- o - o - o -- As the name suggests, this newsgroup deals with the political issues surrounding drugs and drug use. Discussions usually focus on the shortcomings and benefits of current drug policies, potential for change, and current events relating to drug policy. General discussions about drugs and drug use are best left to other newsgroups (such as rec.drugs.misc) except when relevant to a specific political issue.
2) Why are there non-drug-related discussions on this newsgroup?
- Many discussions are cross-posted from other newsgroups when the topic turns to that of drug policy (for example discussions about health care, sports, libertarian politics, etc.) When the discussion turns away from drug policy, the discussion is still carried. Of course, some threads are 'spams'; messages cross-posted to a large number of newsgroups, usually with the intent of provoking massive arguments. These are usually best ignored.
3) Why do so many discussions focus on American drug politics, as opposed those of other countries?
- The Usenet medium is largely dominated by Americans, so it is natural that most discussions tend to focus on the American experience with drug policy. Most of the world's supply of illicit drugs is sold within the North American continent where the demand is high. Arguably, this demand fuels fluctuations in supply in other countries. Trends in drug policy and law enforcement have been driven by American policies, especially with regard to narcotic producing countries in South America, South East Asia and Africa (see; Ethan Nadelmann, "Cops Across Borders: The Internationalization of U.S. Criminal Law Enforcement", Penn State Press, 1994).
These FAQ documents were written by a group of talk.politics.drugs regulars to help introduce newcomers to the newsgroup and in the hope that it would provide some basic guidelines for discussion. They do not represent the policy of any institution, group, or organization, and their legitimacy is determined by every individual who reads them. Talk.politics.drugs has no moderator or single organizing group; it is sponsored by every news site that carries it.
If you have any questions or comments about these FAQs or talk.politics.drugs, please feel free to contact the FAQ maintainer at: tpd@geocities.com
This FAQ was last updated September 3rd, 1996. It is posted to talk.politics.drugs on the first week of every month, and is archived on the Web at: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4727
These FAQs were edited and written by Tommy Ranks, with contributions from Kelly T. Conlon, Matt Elrod, and others.