The history of prohibition and the USA styled War on Drugs is a history of failure.

Failure to meet primary aims in even a cursory manner. Failure to protect the health of the community. Failure to meet minimal cost effectiveness. Failure to protect economies. Failure to prevent global crime, vice and terrorism as a direct result of prohibiting certain drugs. Failure to resist corruption and above all, failure to respect basic human rights. This episode we look more closely at the current situation.

At every step of legislation we can identify singular dynamics. From the banning of opium smoking - but only by Chinese immigrants - to the Harrison tax act, to Nixon's Vietnam troop saving "Drug War", to calls today for "tough on drugs" measures, one constant appears. The presence of the the religious right and the anti drug lobby, agitating for strict control of immoral/illegal behaviour.

Profit and trade for governments/law enforcers and moral influence hence power for Christian institutions, have been apparent at many junctures. Nonetheless, from the mid 19th century through the 20th and up until today the level of addiction and problematic use has remained at around 1 - 1.3% of the USA population. Figures are almost identical for developed nations.

The real drug problem is not drug use, it is the failure of prohibition and the control of such a large black market by criminals. From discriminating against immigrant labourer opium smokers in the 1800's to fully geosynchronised drone and satellite controlled commando raids on billion dollar cartels today, the level has remained at about 1%.

Firesnake looks at the history of prohibition, the synthesis of heroin, morphine and the advent of the hypodermic along with the influence of wars. We review the large scale legal use of opiates in "tonic" and cough preparations, and the IV use of morphine that saw "white middle class women" the most common user in the 1800's. By the end of the 19th century the USA "Pure Food and Drugs Act" demanded manufacturers list ingredients on "patent medicines". This exposed a huge level of morphine use and addiction.

The simple act of providing accurate information - and not warnings or threats - saw addiction drop markedly through this simple honest "education" strategy. People chose to manage this problem. Opiate and heroin addiction was treated as a medical condition until the 1914 USA Harrison Tax Act. This law circumvented the Constitutional right to imbibe any substance by linking prescription and use to taxation. The new crime of "possession" was born.

Overnight a benign mode of behaviour became criminal, and was driven by the police, the anti drug lobby and the religious right. The significance of this cannot be overstated. We look at how a problem with wording around opiate prescription; "in due course of treatment", ensured the jailing of doctors. This led to a supreme court case, known as the Webb case, and precipitated outright prohibition of prescribing opiates for addiction - a centuries old practice. Thus "prohibition" was born.

We cover the history in some detail and include an audio montage on prohibition and the "Drug Free World" we certainly don't have. We've laboured long and hard in the humble Firesnake holeplex and cobbled together an audio mashup with over 20 contributers from around the world. They speak on prohibition, illicit drugs, effects, policy, health, human rights, corruption, mandates, ideology, morality, the need for policy review and more.

A word on lack of duplication. There are no repeated segments, no audio was pre-recorded. One sentence introducing UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa is repeated - once.

The repeated "moral obligation" heard from one contributer is a collation of unique sequential components of answers to questions in an interview. None are repeats. Bronwyn Bishop just happened to comply by offering the same reply to each quesion, nicely qualifying her argument. All segments are out-takes blended together to give a unique perspective on prohibition.

Voices include:

Danny Kushlick; Dir. "Transform" UK - EU Review "Towards a drug free world", Private interview.
Tony Geoghegan; Dir. Merchants Quay Ireland - Private interview.
Lieut. Jack Cole [Ret] Founder, LEAP - Private interview.
Fr. Joe Kane; Chaplain, Reuters Island Jail. NY - Private interview.
John McGroarty; Ret. Det. Chief Superintendent, Cardi Drugs Unit - Private interview.
Ethan Nadelmann: Dir. Drug Policy Alliance, NY - Private interview.
Matsukis Marios; Cypriot MP: Allied Democrats and Liberals for Europe - ADLE; EU Review "Towards a drug free world".
Francis Wilkinson; Ret. Chief Constable, UK - Private Interview
Sanho Tree: Dir. Institute for Policy Studies, Washington - Private interview.
Chris Davies; ADLE MP, UK - EU Review "Towards a drug free world".
Paul Hunt; UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health - IHRA presentation
Peter Sarosi; Hungarian Civil Liberties Union - EU Review "Towards a drug free world".
Antonio Maria Costa: Ex. Dir. UNODC - Private interview.
Dr. Philip Emafo; Chairman INCB - Private interview.
Margaret Court; DFA Patron, Australia - Marketing Audio
Boris Van Der Ham: ADLE MP: Netherlands - EU Review "Towards a drug free world".
Bronwyn Bishop; Australian Liberal MP: out-take of interview out-take from "The Winnable War" podcast
Christopher Hitchens [Author/Journalist]; USA Live TV interview, 2007
Paul Gallagher; Firesnake - "Prohibition: The I.N.C.B." - podcast
Sophia In 'Tveld; ADLE Dutch MP: - EU Review "Towards a drug free world".
Michael Heney; Investigative Journalist
Tony Abbott; Australian Liberal MP - Interview grab

And more...

Enjoy.

All sources and articles touched upon are here.

Music, thanks to Garageband.

Gags.

1 hour.

27 MB.