Inside stories: coke and dope

A couple of quick links to items of interest. Time magazine runs a compelling photo essasy, Narco netherworld, which offers an inside look at the cocaine trade in Colombia. The x-ray of the drug mule was especially astounding to me. How do those guys swallow that stuff? I can't even take a whole vitamin if it's too big. I break them in half.

TomDispatch has a riveting article on the Afghan poppy trade by Ann Jones analyzing the insanity of the US driven eradication plan there. This is definitely the quote of the day.

Two years ago in Kabul I interviewed an American consultant sent by the administration to assess the "drug problem" in Afghanistan. His off-the-record verdict: "The only sensible way out is to legalize drugs. But nobody in the White House wants to hear that." He admitted that the sensible conclusion would not appear in his report.

This is the war on some drugs folks. Sensible solutions scuttled for insane programs because no one in the government wants to admit they've been wrong for the last 40 years anyway and they're addicted to the prohibition gravy train.