Annotate Bibliographies for Gap-fill Sources

Gap-fill Source 1

"Annual Causes of Death in the United States." Drug War Facts. Ed. Douglas A. McVay. 6th ed. Canada: Common Sense for Drug Policy, 2007. Drug War Facts. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. <www.drugwarfacts.org>.

      This website is an online version of a book by the same name, published by an organization called "Common Sense for Drug Policy". Now on its 6th edition, it is mainly a compilation of facts and statistics gathered from reputable government, scientific, and medical resources. The motivation behind the book and the website is to make readily available facts and information about drugs and the drug war that may not be as easy to access as they should be. It provides both abstracts and raw information, mostly from government or government-sponsored sources and scientific journals, in an effort to dispel many of the myths and misconceptions related to the War on Drugs.

"Our mission is to offer useful facts, cited from authoritative sources, to a debate that is often characterized by myths, error, emotion and dissembling. We believe that in time an informed society will correct its errors and generate wiser policies."

      It is clear that the creators of this book and website are in favor of a change in the United States' current drug policy, and they are not shy or deceptive in any way about stating the mission behind it all. Despite all this, the contents of the book/website are written relatively without bias or political persuasion. It is composed with noted professionalism, and each and every source, table, statistic, or study is thoroughly cited.
     At this point I have only used the "Causes of Death" table from this website, which comes from cdc.gov's National Vital Statistics Report. I am referencing the table with the hopes of shedding light on the paradox of legal vs. illegal drugs in the United States, which is one of my "Circles of Evidence". However, this source could offer much more support to my research on the War on Drugs itself, and on the question of whether this is a human rights issue.




Gap-fill source 2

Wooldridge, Howard. "Modern Prohibition and Individual Liberty." Campaign For Liberty. 31 July 2009. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. <http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=150>.

     This article was written by retired Michigan police detective of 18 years, Howard Wooldridge. While it is more of an editorial and is heavily biased, Wooldridge offers quotes from politicians, fellow police officers, and cites a poll from Zogby International. He also provides the unique perspective of a former law enforcement officer, who witnessed firsthand the effect of the Drug War on American citizens. He once had to enforce the very policy that he is now arguing against, and his opinions are based on almost two decades of experience with the unjustness and ineffectiveness of the Drug War.
     He is of the opinion that the penalties for using a drug should not be more detrimental than the effects of the drug itself. Wooldridge touches on the fact that many successful presidents, athletes, and other public figures have used illegal drugs in their past and suffered no ill effects, however, a drug charge on their record would've significantly reduced their ability to succeed in society. His article raises an important question about the paradox of modern prohibition, and this lends itself nicely to my research subtopics of illegal vs. legal drugs in America, the ineffectiveness of the War on Drugs, and prohibition as a human rights issue.

"What is ironic is that citizens are still allowed many, many dangerous and even deadly activities and choices. Many states allow motorcycle riders to go 70 MPH w/o a helmet. Bungee jumping kills a few every year, as does white-water rafting & snow skiing. We can eat ourselves into a heart attack or smoke tobacco until we are dead or incapacitated. We can take aspirin & Tylenol to our heart’s content and can’t sue anyone when those drugs kill us from long-term overuse. Those freedoms we still have. But then the biker who goes 70 without a helmet is later arrested for toking up with Willie on the back porch. That is an example of how inconsistent, illogical the laws are today. "

      He also mentions what he considers to be some of the biggest hurdles to reforming drug policy, and why representatives with common sense might not be campaigning against the Drug War:

"...they set aside their principles in fear of the wrath of the voters and the police / drug industries which wants their cash cow Drug War to continue. NOTE: the police love the overtime and job security from arresting 1.9 million citizens on drug charges each year. Big Pharma fears cannabis as a low cost (nearly free), low side-effect, highly effective and low addiction property medicine"

    Big Pharma is a common euphemism for the extremely well financed pharmaceutical lobby in our government, which makes a very real effort to prevent any kind of liberal drug legislation from passing. He leaves the reader with the claim that this "modern prohibition" and Drug War is contradictory to the very principles this country was founded on, directly relating to my claim that this is a human rights issue that encompasses the freedoms defined in our founding documents.