Drug War (remember that?) Roundup

February 20, 2006 4:24 AM

Drugs on the Rez. It's a hell of a life going from utter poverty, where your mom gets you drunk so you'll stop complaining about being hungry, to being able to buy your kids toys with $100 accessories and sending them to private schools, to going back to literally not having a quarter to call your dad. In this case, the money came from Canadian oxycontin. It's not just Native Americans who are targeted by the authorities. It's also Indians. There's a pretty good newish book on the subject of black markets, Illicit. Laos' opium market is apparently gone -- in favor of meth and Afghanistan's market is black in name only, so why keep up the facade?
posted by raaka (14 comments total)

Today's NY Times has the second part of the series: Dizzying Rise and Abrupt Fall For a Reservation Drug Dealer.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:22 AM on February 20, 2006

We must maintain the Drug War so that moral people everywhere can sleep comfortably at night.
posted by tweak at 5:26 AM on February 20, 2006

Is it not a little ironic she used her earning to fuel a gambling problem? So she probably got her money back in the end! Fabulous! And yes, we should all be morally opposed to drugs as part of our civic duty.
posted by cdcello at 6:29 AM on February 20, 2006

I used to think it was just a failure but you know, it IS a facade. Once again, this comes back to border control issues. You have a WOD™ but do they put troops on the border to stop the flow? No. Now we have the WOT™ but do we put troops on the border to protect Americans from the impending doom we keep hearing about? No. How can anyone take any War on Anything serious when you won't even patrol your borders with enough people to prevent 'the bad guys' from getting in? arghhhh.....
posted by j.p. Hung at 6:37 AM on February 20, 2006

Frankly I've never seen a country as drug-obsessed as America, in every sense of the word.
posted by clevershark at 6:41 AM on February 20, 2006

Frankly I've never seen a country as drug-obsessed as America, in every sense of the word.

What does that Mean!!!! AHH! Stop trying to sound frank! What other meaning could drug-obsessed have? Or are you referring to America?
posted by cdcello at 6:53 AM on February 20, 2006

What other meaning could drug-obsessed have?

Uh, he means both as a philia and a phobia.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:16 AM on February 20, 2006

Gee...why does Afghanistan have a huge drug market alla sudden?
posted by Smedleyman at 7:32 AM on February 20, 2006

I used to think it was just a failure but you know, it IS a facade. Once again, this comes back to border control issues. You have a WOD™ but do they put troops on the border to stop the flow? No. Now we have the WOT™ but do we put troops on the border to protect Americans from the impending doom we keep hearing about? No. How can anyone take any War on Anything serious when you won't even patrol your borders with enough people to prevent 'the bad guys' from getting in? arghhhh.....

What's easier:
1) Protecting huge borders
2) Protecting Mexican airports, with the same level of security we have here

My guess is #2. If we can stop jihadists from flying into san Diego, we can stop them from flying into Mexico City.

The only reason people want to "protect the borders" is to stop illegal immigrants, which is both pointless and impossible.
posted by delmoi at 9:13 AM on February 20, 2006

Why the Feds Care More About Pot Than Meth
posted by homunculus at 10:01 AM on February 20, 2006

Gee...why does Afghanistan have a huge drug market alla sudden?
--------------------------------------
The book State of War has lots of good info on this, basically because the U.S. needs the assistance of warlords/opium farmers in Afghanistan on their 'War on Terror' they're willing to overlook a few things on the 'War on Drugs', at least until the 'drugs' reach 'murican soil. Then it's bad, real bad, so very, very bad. Now Afghanistan is providing over 90% of the world's opium! Cheers!
posted by mk1gti at 10:19 AM on February 20, 2006

Every time I peruse a story like this, I assume that the cops quoted and described in glowing, respectful terms are completely corrupt lying thieves. Works for me!
posted by telstar at 10:29 AM on February 20, 2006

they're willing to overlook a few things on the 'War on Drugs', at least until the 'drugs' reach 'murican soil.

After which, there is a large and profitable industry in confiscating the goods we let be imported, along with all the other assets of anyone found with those goods.

It's a good business to be in if you hate everyone in the world.
posted by sonofsamiam at 11:03 AM on February 20, 2006

As someone who has been ground up and spat out by the law enforcement end of the WOD*, I find myself cheering for the bad guys, even though the rational part of my mind knows meth is a scourge. Amurrica's drug policies make my head explode. I read the second of the NYT articles yesterday. When it is THAT easy to make that kind of money...well, I don't know if I could turn it down, if I were in her shoes. Even if it meant getting my neighbors hooked on OxyContin. I have little hope that she'll be able to resist the allure of the easy money. Hope so, but think not.

I can't help wondering if legal access to milder drugs....like, say marijuana, wouldn't have at least blunted the impact that meth and OxyContin have had on the rez.

*In 2005, in Shelby County Alabama, I was convicted of possessing about three grams of marijuana. I was sentenced to thirty days in jail, with the prospect of doing ninety more days unless I finish paying off a $1700 fine and attending mandatory "substance abuse counseling" and 36 AA/NA meetings, as well as being subject to random drug tests, all of which I pay for. And while in jail I met people who had been convicted for similar offenses and received far longer sentences. I'll omit too-lengthy whining about how the search was unlawful and I was coerced into signing a consent after being threatened by two very large, very intimidating meatheads with badges who burst into my home after I demonstrated my willingness to cooperate with them completely. I learned my lesson: never treat drug cops like they are rational human beings. They aren't. They see themselves as Paladins on a Holy Crusade, which of course legitimizes whatever tactics they choose to use to achieve their goals. A bag of weed is as bad as a crack rock, a bag of meth, or a bag of heroin. It's all the same stuff to them. They live in a black-and-white world which must be a strangely comforting place to be, devoid as it is of any need to draw distinctions or exercise independent thought. Hiya Officer Galutza! Have a GREAT day!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 4:03 PM on February 20, 2006