Venezuela decriminalizes drug use

The democratically-elected government of Venezuela has survived attempted coups - military, economic, and mediatic - and keeps moving forward with the most sweeping reforms and advances in democracy and human rights in the hemisphere today.

The latest: a reform of the penal code that, while increasing penalties for drug traffickers like every other country, has just decriminalized possession. According to the oligarch's daily El Universal, which leads its report in a panic over the reform's simultaneous legalization of abortion and euthanasia, here's what the new law does for drug users:

"As personal dose for consumption, the (allowable) quantity of the drug substance is extended to that which is necessary for average individual consumption for no more than five days; and as a provisional dose, the quantity of the substance that is employed for average individual consumption (according to forensics experts) for no more than ten days."

...And if the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela sustains the inevitable backlash from Washington that will now come for daring to exercise its democratic will to increase human freedom, you will soon see other Latin American nations follow suit. Ecuador had already done it quietly (reported only by Narco News), but Venezuela's action, because of the size and influence of the country and its economy, and the context of its role in the current American drama, now provides cover for Brazil, Argentina, and the rest of the continent to do the same.

To those of you who wisely understood this connection between defending democracy in Latin America and reforming the insane war on drugs, and who raised your voices across the world to prevent the coups d'etat, this is your victory, too.
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The author of that quote is Al Giordano, writing from South America. He is a founder of "Narco News", a dedicated defender of "participatory democracy", and a teacher of "authentic journalism". Visit his blog, Big, Left Outside, and Narco News, which is up and running again after some revolutionary changes of its own.

If you've been reading YWA much, you are familiar with Al, and you are also familiar with my Venezuela page keeping track of that country's current events as they are affected by our amazing foreign policy.

If you haven't been reading YWA much, well....

I hope you're reading some source of alternative news.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.