Heroin | openDemocracy

“Only war makes it possible to mobilize all of today’s technical resources while maintaining the property system.”

- Walter Benjamin, 1936

The Exile Nation Project - Chris Bava

Charles Shaw 23 March 2012

Chris Bava is a former heroin trafficker who served 8 years in Federal prison following a worldwide sting operation in the late 1980s. Chris also struggled with addiction before and after his stint in prison, which eventually motivated him to move to Tijuana, Mexico, to seek out ibogaine, a variation of the African plant medicine, Iboga, which has shown a remarkable ability to interrupt addiction.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of December 1st 2011

Juliana Willars and Charles Shaw 29 November 2011

Local officials in both British Columbia and Amsterdam wrangle with their respective national governments on the question of how to deal with marijuana trafficking. Meanwhile, Colombia's incumbent president seeks to begin an international dialogue on the legalization of marijuana and other drugs. The UN reports that synthetic drug use in Asia is reaching epidemic proportions, with half the world's users living in East and Southeast Asia. ~ jw

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of April 18th 2011

Mark Weiss and Charles Shaw 16 April 2011

We lead this week with news from Central America, where the arrival of big-time drug trafficking has had a lethal impact, taking lives and carrying a heavy economic cost. In other news, we explore Russia's archaic approach to methadone treatment; and reflect on the Portuguese experience of drug decriminalization ~ MW & CS

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of March 14th 2011

Mark Weiss and Charles Shaw 16 March 2011

We lead this week with exciting news of a special preview of "The Exile Nation Project: An Oral History of the War on Drugs & the American Criminal Justice System.” Written, produced and directed by our very own Charles Shaw, the film puts a human face on the millions of American's subjugated by the US Government's 40 year, one trillion dollar social catastrophe ~ MW & CS

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of January 31st 2011

Mark Weiss and Charles Shaw 2 February 2011

We lead this week with promising news of a new Global Commission on Drug Policies, led by world political leaders, intellectuals and businessmen including Richard Branson, in an effort to achieve more human and rational drug laws.

This week's editor

Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

Europe from the bottom up

European Union stars in Paris. Flickr/notarim. Some rights reserved.

A new Europe can only come from the bottom up
Etienne Balibar

A social Europe must be a political Europe
Bo Stråth

As Europe is provincialized: a reply to Etienne Balibar
Sandro Mezzadra

European debate

A republican call for a basic income
Daniel Raventos and Julie Wark

Nuclear non-proliferation

oDRussia at journalismfestival .com

Mali - the plot thickens

Remote control war

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Conference. Moving beyond Militarism and War to a Nonviolent World: A Forum Devoted to Sharing Women-Driven Solutions

Articles exploring the themes of the fourth international Nobel Women's Initiative conference May 28-31. Jennifer Allsopp and Heather McRobie will be reporting for 5050

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Markha Valenta Inter Alia: religion, politics, culture

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