ALL OVER THE MAP

I have a few international items to pass on today, looking at the plants our government loves to hate.

Thanks to Eric Mytko for posting the link to this interactive photo essay from PBS detailing the path of heroin from the poppy fields of Afghanistan through to the chemical derivative that ultimately makes it to the streets. There's also an interactive map illustrating the dispersal of the fields.

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In Columbia, Mama Coca's petition in protest of irresponsible eradication policy is picking up more signatures. The count is currently at 1,938 and the list is becoming a veritable who's who of the biggest players in the international reform movement. This is just a little reminder to add your name to this growing roll call to protect the lungs of our planetary ecosystem.

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My dear friend Paul von Hartmann has a new blog to showcase his unifying strategy to end Cannabis prohibition in 2004. Working from France, Paul is a one-man NGO dedicated to the acceptance of cannabis in its rightful place as the most beneficial plant on earth. His many ongoing projects including Project Peace, The Project Peace blog and Between The Dreams function as a one stop shop for an education on every aspect of this magical botanical.

Which reminds of something I read today pointing out the futility of eradicating the innocent plants when it's the chemical derivatives that are dangerous and by the way the chemicals used in processing the drugs generally come from US corporations. If the prohibitionists were really serious about eradicating the drugs, they could simply eliminate the source of those processing chemicals. Of course that would mean smaller dividends for the stockholders in the chemical corporations instead of the windfall they enjoy from the sales of the eradication agents with which they are currently poisoning the planet.

Does anybody think these companies really don't know that their product is being used to support a black market enterprise? I'm pretty certain the CEOs have at least guessed.