- Share links: drugwar, massincarceration, and majority. This article was written by Timeshifter. See charts and maps. See also: Drug War, mandatory minimum sentencing, handguns. And: Republican-led drug war.
| How the war on drugs affected incarceration rates. By Lauren Carroll, July 10th, 2016. Politifact.
The war on drugs led to "a 500 percent increase in incarceration in our country, disproportionately affecting poor and disproportionately affecting minorities." — Cory Booker on Sunday, July 10, 2016 in an interview on "Meet the Press".  |
Incarceration Nation.. By Fareed Zakaria, Time magazine, April 02, 2012. "America's War on Drugs Drives High Incarceration Rates."
Mass imprisonment of drug users driving global epidemics of HIV, hepatitis, and tuberculosis. 14 July 2016. The Lancet. "In parts of Europe, over a third of inmates inject drugs (38%), in Australia (55%) it is more than half. This is in stark contrast with injecting drug use in the general population (0.3% in EU and 0.2% in Australia)." Many users steal in order to get money for drugs. Thus they end up in jail in high numbers, contributing to mass incarceration.
| Drug war + Trickle-down Reaganomics, = mass incarceration and mass control. |
| See article: Trickle-down economics plus drug war. |
| The majority of people incarcerated in prisons and jails in the USA are in due to drug-related offenses, crimes to get money for drugs, or drug-related parole or probation violations. Wikipedia: Drug-related crime. The number of inmates in the USA has increased almost 5 times over since 1980. It peaked in 2008. Obama's Democrat landslide in 2008 turned the incarceration rate around. The cost of the U.S. drug war is at least 1.5 trillion dollars. Cannabis is safer! Share link. |
- See also: Drug war charts and maps. And: Brutality and the drug war.
Emphasis added to the quotes.
- Prisons & Drug Offenders | Drug War Facts.
- Drugs and Crime Facts. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics: "In 2004, 17% of state prisoners and 18% of federal inmates said they committed their current offense to obtain money for drugs. In 2002 about a quarter of convicted property and drug offenders in local jails had committed their crimes to get money for drugs, compared to 5% of violent and public order offenders. Among state prisoners in 2004 the pattern was similar, with property (30%) and drug offenders (26%) more likely to commit their crimes for drug money than violent (10%) and public-order offenders (7%). In federal prisons property offenders (11%) were less than half as likely as drug offenders (25%) to report drug money as a motive in their offenses."
Let us not forget about the astronomical increase in the number of correctional officers, too. 469,500 in 2012. See: Correctional Officers : Occupational Outlook Handbook : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. US incarceration peaked in 2008.
489,000 in 2013 (see chart below). For drug offenses alone.
Need to add in drug-related burglary, robbery, murder, etc..
All to get drug money, defend turf, etc..
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Obama helped turn around the Reagan-Bush War on Pot, mandatory minimums, mass incarceration. See: US incarceration peaked in 2008.
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USA: Peak of 7.3 million people in 2007 under adult correctional supervision: On probation or parole, or incarcerated in jail or prison. About 3.2% of the U.S. adult population, or 1 in every 31 adults. More info here. See template.
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In 2009 26.4% of those in federal and state prisons, or on probation or parole, were in due to drug offenses. Jail numbers are not included below. 
How it happened
Chart below covers prison inmates only. See also: timeline combining prison and jail inmates.
Chart source: The Score: Why Prisons Thrive Even When Budgets Shrink. In The Nation. By Mike Konczal and Bryce Covert, September 24, 2014. Quote below from article (emphasis added):
Explosion in incarcerations since the 1980s. Under the "war on drugs," aggressive policing drove up the percentage of those in state prisons for drug offenses from 6.4 percent in 1980 to 22 percent in 1990. More minor drug charges made it easier for prosecutors to push felony charges by citing a defendant’s prior record. These convictions triggered harsh sentences under new guidelines like California’s "three strikes" law, passed during the same period. The enforcement of these punitive new laws was, and remains, racist: according to the ACLU, black people are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, though they are equally likely to use. This, in turn, makes black people vulnerable to the rest of the criminal-justice system.
See also: commons:File:U.S. incarceration rates 1925 onwards.png.
| The drug war is a big cause of the high US incarceration rate. Also, the rest of the developed world has much lower rates of handgun ownership, and much lower murder rates. They never reached the levels of violence the USA did due to handguns and drug war. So they never had the clamoring of the far-right National Rifle Association (NRA) demanding mandatory minimum sentencing. Canada and Europe have long had much lower incarceration rates, better healthcare, and far fewer and shorter sentences for marijuana offenses. |
U.S. statistics for drug-related homicides are very inadequate.
- Drug Related Crime [4]. March, 2000 article. Office of National Drug Control Policy. Article quote (emphasis added):
Why Statistics on Drug-Related Crime are Difficult To Interpret: Homicide as an Example. ... The FBI does not include as drug-related a murder that occurs during a robbery or a burglary committed by someone under the influence of drugs or a murder that occurs during a robbery committed to obtain money to buy drugs. In these cases, the homicide is recorded by its relationship to the most serious offense only, and robbery and burglary are more serious than drug trafficking in the FBI offense classification and in most State laws. Thus, current FBI homicide information may not categorize a large number of drug-related murders as so related.
- Drugs and Crime Facts. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Has drug-related homicide chart from 1987-2007, with rates of 3.9% to 7.4% for drug-related homicides. "The Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that in 2007, 3.9% of the 14,831 homicides in which circumstances were known were narcotics related. Murders that occurred specifically during a narcotics felony, such as drug trafficking or manufacturing, are considered drug related."
- OPED: War Won't Solve the Drug Problem. July 15, 1999. Washington Post. By Rob Stewart, of the Drug Policy Foundation. "In 1988, just over half of the murders in the city [New York City] were 'drug-related.' But once the researchers examined the circumstances of the murders, they discovered that the clear majority, 74 percent, were results of the drug trade, not drug use (14 percent) or the need to get money for drugs (4 percent)."
- The 50 Most Violent Cities In The World. (On one page). Nov. 10, 2014. By Pamela Engel and Christina Sterbenz. Business Insider. "US cities also made the list, led by Detroit at No. 24 and New Orleans at No. 26." And Baltimore at 36, St. Louis at 45.
Minor parole and probation violations
20 Jun 2019: One-quarter of state prison admissions are for minor parole and probation violations, report finds. The Washington Post.
Cash bail. Innocent people in jail
- The Bail Trap. By Nick Pinto. Aug. 13, 2015. New York Times.
Drugs and probation violations
- Probation and Bail Violations :: Providence Probation Attorney Joseph Lamy. From the article:
| Another difficulty for defendants charged with a probation violation is that the condition “to keep the peace and be of good behavior” is ambiguous and open to interpretation. For example, you are arrested for marijuana possession and are also charged with a violation of probation. Even if the marijuana possession charges are dismissed, you may very likely be found to have violated probation. Why? Because a judge can be “reasonably satisfied” that you were not of good behavior if you were even near drugs or someone who had drugs or involved in any incident that caused the police to be called. |
Parole violations and drugs
16.1% of parole violators returned to state prisons in 1997 for drug related violations; for failing drug tests, possession of drugs, failing to report for drug testing, failing to report for alcohol or drug treatment. Info is from Table 21 (below) of the PDF for this report: Trends in State Parole, 1990-2000. NCJ 184735. October 2001. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
See image info.
Sentence length. Incarceration rate
| Mandatory minimum sentencing charts. |
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First mandatory minimums chart below is from an older FAMM report, "Correcting Course: Lessons from the 1970s Repeal of Mandatory Minimum Sentences". FAMM is Families Against Mandatory Minimums. [5]. See Wikipedia: Mandatory minimums. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 increased the amounts of crack cocaine required to trigger 5 and 10 year sentences. [6]. See revised charts since then. Share link to this page. For charts of all federal mandatory minimums (not just for drug offenses), go here. Later chart with revisions, such as the amount of crack cocaine required for various sentences: |
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American Exception. Inmate Count in US Dwarfs Other Nations'. April 22, 2008. New York Times. Page 1, section A, front page. Archive. From the article (emphasis added):
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November Coalition graph. Some Congressmen and police who prosecuted the War on Drugs now believe it caused a large increase in the United States incarceration rate. See Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and larger chart with sources. See template. Incarceration peaked in 2008. |
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- 2003. Federal Judge Quits, Calls Judicial System Unjust. Associated Press (AP) story, National Public Radio interview, and Judge John S. Martin's statement. "The result, he said, is a slew of lengthy prison sentences for low-level drug dealers 'who society failed at every step.' ... While many judges have criticized sentencing guidelines, it is unusual for a judge to publicly cite the frustrations of the job in stepping down." -June 25 2003 AP story. See also: Let Judges Do Their Jobs. By Hon. John S. Martin Jr..
- Dissenting Opinions of Judges, Federal Drug Sentencing, Mandatory Minimum Sentences. A list of many articles by judges. At November Coalition.
Mandatory minimum sentences
| Some people don't know that the National Rifle Association had a large part in causing the huge increase in the U.S. incarceration rate. The NRA strongly lobbied state-by-state for mandatory minimum sentences (also known as "Truth in Sentencing"), and "Two and Three Strikes" laws. Mandatory-minimum sentences, and long sentences in general (compared to other nations), are the root cause of the astronomical US incarceration rate according to a New York Times article. The majority of people incarcerated in the U.S. are in prison or jail due to drug-related offenses, crimes to get money for drugs, or drug-related parole or probation violations. |
See Wikipedia: Mandatory sentencing. See also this page. Mandatory Minimum sentencing is often used for non-violent crimes such as drug possession. It is a modern-day way to create concentration camps for drug-using "undesirables." Sentences that usually do not allow parole until at least around 80% of the sentence served. Federal laws, and most states, have mandatory minimums. The majority of U.S. prisoners are in due to the drug war in some way or another.
See Wikipedia: War on Drugs, and Wikipedia: Sentencing Reform Act.
Life for pot
- See main article: USA. Life for pot. See also: Number of marijuana prisoners in the USA.
- Life in prison for selling marijuana: Meet the people new pot laws forgot. MSNBC. 8 Sep 2015. [7][8]. "At least 67 people are in prison right now, sentenced to die there for selling marijuana". And: LifeForPot.com. And: POW420.com also lists some cannabis lifers. Facebook: Life for Pot. And: Life In Prison For Pot And Other Travesties Of Marijuana Prohibition. 4 Sept. 2014. Forbes.
- Jeff Mizanskey, life without parole: Missouri man freed after spending two decades in prison for marijuana charge. 1 Sep 2015. Guardian. [9]. And: Grandpa Doing Life Without Parole. [10][11]. Nazi Republican prosecutor.
- Saudi Arabia beheads 4 for pot. [12][13][14][15]. Religious Right: Supported Life for Pot. [16][17][18]. Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich proposed a law that would execute people for 2 ounces of marijuana.
- Life for Pot Prisoner Larry Duke Released! [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].
Cannabis arrests
Sources for marijuana arrest numbers by year:
- Commons:File:US Cannabis Arrests.svg - see sources and data table below the timeline chart.
- Percent distribution of arrests for drug abuse violations. By type of drug, United States, 1982-2009. Sourcebook of criminal justice statistics Online.
- See also: Wikimedia Commons:Category:Cannabis arrest statistics.
http://norml.org/share/marijuana_arrests_chart.gif
http://www.norml.org/share/marijuana_arrests_chart500_short.gif
Nixon and Reagan. War on Drugs
Nancy and Ronald 6 Wilson 6 Reagan 6 riding the drug war Beast in 1986. Note Nancy's "Just Say NO" sign. Larger image.
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Drug War Invented by Nixon to Extend His Power. By Fintan O'Toole. Aug. 13, 1999. Irish Times.
In June 1971 Richard Nixon declared a "War on Drugs."
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| Tricky Dick Nixon (above) has won his drug war! The Prison-Industrial Complex. A Nixonian "enemies list" that almost everyone is on at some time. |
Bush. Huge drug war escalation
- 2nd nationwide televised Bush speech on drugs on September 12, 1989: Quote from speech:
Some think there won't be room for them in jail. We'll make room. We're almost doubling prison space. Some think there aren't enough prosecutors. We'll hire them, with the largest increase in Federal prosecutors in history.
- Life sentence for buying weed? 25th anniversary of Papa Bush's War on Drugs escalation speech on September 5, 1989. The first prime time address of his presidency. Result: Life for pot.
Propaganda of incarceration nations
- Reagan's war on cannabis is where the U.S. incarceration nation began. Number of marijuana prisoners in the USA: 40,000+ in 2011. All drug offenses: 489,000 in 2013.
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Ronald Reagan, 1980 campaign speech: "Leading medical researchers are coming to the conclusion that marijuana, pot, grass whatever you want to call it, is probably the most dangerous drug in the United States, and we haven't begun to find out all of the ill effects, but they are permanent ill effects. The loss of memory for example." -
Obama helped turn around the Reagan-Bush War on Pot, mandatory minimums, mass incarceration. See: US incarceration peaked in 2008.
Propaganda of incarceration nations. Reaganism is about drug war, code-word racism, hate radio, mass incarceration, and above all, trickle-down economics (Reaganomics).
| Drug war + Trickle-down Reaganomics, = mass incarceration and mass control. |
| See article: Trickle-down economics plus drug war. |
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Nancy Reagan and Ronald Reagan of the USA. The "Just Say No" campaign.
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Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union.
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See Wikimedia Commons: Category:Government propaganda. Note the "glorious mission" or "glorious war" nature of much propaganda. Like the Republican-led Holy War, the "War on Drugs". See Wikipedia: War on Drugs. It is really a war on some drug users. This particular glorious war was reinvigorated by the cult leaders, Ronald and Nancy Reagan. The B-movie actor Ronald (6) Wilson (6) Reagan (6) is still worshiped like a God (or idol) by some segments of the Republican Party.
Welcome to America
| "Welcome to America, home to 5% of the world's people & 25% of the world's prisoners." NAACP, ACLU File Lawsuit Against City of Philadelphia for Rejecting Criminal Justice Reform Ad. Article by NAACP. Lawsuit filed October 19, 2011 during the period of the Occupy movement. Also see the ad banner article by Courthouse News Service. The drug war and prisons are big business, and a big part of how the 1% controls the 99%. See Facebook comments about the banner. The Republican Party leads the racist drug war.
Incarceration peaked in the USA in 2008. <<--See that article for sources, stats, and charts for the banner. Most inmates are incarcerated due to the drug war.   Image info. See billboard and stats. |
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| Chart below is from a July 2000 report: |
 From this July 2000 report: Poor Prescription: The Costs of Imprisoning Drug Offenders in the United States. From the report: "Nearly one in four persons (23.7%) imprisoned in the United States is currently imprisoned for a drug offense. The number of persons behind bars for drug offenses (458,131) is roughly the same as the entire prison and jail population in 1980 (474,368)." |
Cannabis is safer
Return to top. Full site / Mobile. To Top. Or End. Note: This section and the following ones are at: Beyond drug war, debt, and wealth concentration. To single-payer healthcare and progressive taxation.
See articles: Cannabis is safer. And:
History of US Republican-led war on cannabis, and their lies about its health effects.
See 2024 GMM-420 on Fandom and on Shoutwiki. Leave event links and compilations at any wiki talk page (no need to log in). Or leave them in posts or comments at Facebook: Global Cannabis March and 420. And: Global Cannabis March in Europe. Or the private GMM group. Especially events outside the US. For any year. See years.
| To Top. Or End. Or Articles. |
Republican states
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• Cannabis laws worse in Republican states • Many maps showing failings of GOP states • Minimum wage • Wage theft |
Cannabis laws worse in Republican states.
Return to top. ~~ Return to section.
Wikipedia: Cannabis legality in US
Legal for recreational use
Legal for medical use
No comprehensive medical program
● Decriminalized
Many maps showing failings of GOP states.
Return to top. ~~ Return to section. Many PNG, JPG, and GIF maps for Facebook, etc.. See full article:
Maps. US Republican states. It's not just cannabis prohibition. It's also their higher overdose rates, worse healthcare, lower minimum wages, higher debt, higher murder rates, higher COVID death rates, higher incarceration rates, higher poverty rates, lower percentage of female legislators. Article linked above has many US maps. See Wikipedia: Republican states to see states with Republican governments. See also the page without the cannabis map: Maps showing the many failings of US Republican states.
| PNG map (with note) for Facebook. Incarceration rates by state. PNG map is sharp on Facebook, unlike on some wikis. Try it! |
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| SVG map. Incarceration rates by state: |
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Minimum wage.
Return to top. ~~ Return to section.
| Wikipedia: List of US states by minimum wage. Note low minimum wages in Republican south. Get PNG map (with note). |
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| The federal minimum wage would be $13.46 in 2022 dollars if its real value had remained at the 1968 level. Even more in 2024 dollars. See graph below. |
| History of the US federal minimum wage. $13.46 inflation-adjusted peak in 1968. $7.25 an hour now due to Republican filibusters in the US Senate. See Wikimedia GIF chart. |
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- See Wikipedia: Republican states.
- Wikipedia: List of US states by minimum wage.
- Wikipedia: List of European countries by minimum wage.
Beyond drug war, debt, and wealth concentration. To single-payer healthcare and progressive taxation. Simultaneous with the Republican-led drug war the GOP used the Senate filibuster to undemocratically severely restrict increases in the minimum wage at the federal level, and in GOP states.
| US minimum wage would be $23 an hour in 2021 if it had kept up with productivity. |
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- A $15 minimum wage would cost jobs, right? Probably not, economists say.
- There’s More Evidence That Raising the Minimum Wage Won’t Cost Jobs.
- The U.S. has one of the stingiest minimum wage policies of any wealthy nation. Washington Post.
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Wage theft.
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See: Wikipedia: Wage theft. And: Wikipedia: One Fair Wage.
- Employers steal billions from workers’ paychecks each year. From: Economic Policy Institute.
- Across Portland, Restaurant Owners Are Running Afoul of the Feds for Pooling Employees’ Tips.
- Analyzing Ohio’s two $15 minimum wage proposals. Republicans oppose significantly helping tipped workers.
States with tipped workers getting the same minimum wage as everybody else still have plenty of restaurants. Restaurants can't compete based on how small their hourly wage is. Customers no longer need to pay huge tips because workers get a higher hourly wage regardless of tips. Customers can still leave tips, but don't feel extorted. Republican leaders oppose higher minimum wages (of all kinds, but especially for tipped workers) because as pointed out elsewhere on this page, a main goal of the GOP is to concentrate wealth. Besides opposing progressive cannabis laws.
From a US Bureau of Labor Statistics page is this wage info:
| Percentile | 10% | 25% | 50%
(Median) |
75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly Wage | $ 8.94 | $ 11.43 | $ 15.36 | $ 20.00 | $ 28.89 |
| Annual Wage | $ 18,600 | $ 23,770 | $ 31,940 | $ 41,600 | $ 60,100 |
One Fair Wage. Progress and organizing map. See JPG file. [1].
GOP blocks healthcare
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• Canada • Portugal's decrim • Harm reduction • Government debt • Save $1.5 trillion: • Single-payer • Medical bankruptcies • Richer Canadians • Healthier Canadians • Health spending • Poor and sick |
Canada.
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Canada. See links. See also: Global Marijuana March Canada. Click to enlarge map:
Portugal's decrim.
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See: Portugal. Cannabis-related links and decriminalization. See the utter failure of the US Republican-led drug war and mass incarceration: It is killing Americans at the rate of one Vietnam War every 6 months.
There were around 105,400 US drug overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending February 29, 2024, at a rate of 288 deaths per day. 314 deaths per million US population. Only around 10 to 72 total deaths per year in Portugal, a country with universal healthcare, and where all drugs have been decriminalized since 2001. See timeline table of yearly overdose deaths by European country.
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| Chart from: December 15, 2020 article: Scotland's drug death crisis in six charts. BBC News. PNG file. |
Harm reduction.
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Government debt.
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Share link: Debt ceiling. See: Wikipedia: US debt ceiling.
Save $1.5 trillion:
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Per year in the US via:
Single-payer .
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Republicans oppose single-payer universal healthcare. US would save 1.5 trillion dollars per year if it instituted Canadian universal healthcare. That is 5.4% of US GDP.
Canada spent 11.2 percent of its GDP for total healthcare costs in 2022. US spent 16.6 percent in 2022. Former US Lawmaker Finally Enjoys Social Policies He Fought for—In Europe.
Medical bankruptcies.
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See: Health Care Costs Number One Cause of Bankruptcy for American Families. And: Americans have high personal medical debt, unlike Canadians. [38][39][40]. High student debt is another problem Americans have due to Republican politicians. Unlike Canadians. Changing the age of adulthood to 17 would free up a year of education money.
Source and comments. Get JPG file.
US household debt at all time high. By quarters. 1st quarter 2003 to recent times. Chart.
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Richer Canadians.
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US is Broke, not Woke. Healthcare spending and debt ceiling.
Many sleepy Americans can't do the math concerning healthcare costs and medical debt. Also, the cost of high incarceration rates due to the GOP-led war on drugs. Also US student debt, and US household debt due to GOP's low minimum wages, etc...
Source and comments. Get JPG file.
Wikipedia: List of countries by wealth per adult. Canadians are richer on average than Americans, and they have more energy because Canadians don't have to take 3 jobs, go bankrupt, or sell their homes, due to medical and student debt. See Wikipedia: List of countries by total health expenditure per capita. See: Student debt balance is forgiven after 15 years payment in Canada.
| USA. Two Leading Economists Say Medicare for All Would Give 'Biggest Take-Home Pay Raise in a Generation'. |
| Medicare spends 1.4% on bureaucracy. Insurance companies spend 16-20%. See chart. We need Medicare for All. |
Healthier Canadians.
Return to top. ~~ Return to section.
See: End drug war with universal healthcare and decriminalization. Cannabis is legal across Canada. See Wikipedia: Cannabis in Canada.
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US Republicans Voted Often to Kill Coverage of Pre-Existing Conditions. [41][42][43].
Health spending.
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Republicans are responsible for the large US government deficit. Because they support the wasteful US healthcare system over the much cheaper single-payer universal healthcare in Canada and elsewhere. See: Canadian single-payer universal healthcare versus US healthcare.
| Wikipedia: Health spending by country. Percent of GDP. See Gross domestic product. 11.2% for Canada in 2022. 16.6% for the US in 2022. |
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| See Wikimedia PNG chart source. |
| Wikipedia: Health spending per capita. OECD countries. US dollars, using economy-wide PPPs. Public, private, and total expenditures. $6,319 for Canada in 2022. $12,555 for the US in 2022. |
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| See Wikimedia PNG chart source. |
See more countries. Get PNG file.
Poor and sick.
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Canadians are healthier on average, and their preventive healthcare is much cheaper! Versus US Emergency Room care. See Wikipedia: Health spending as a percent of GDP by country (gross domestic product). And: Wikipedia: List of countries with universal health care.
| "The Easy-to-Digest Republican Party Platform" from Michael Moore has this image: "Keep 'em poor and sick". |
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A war on the poor.
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US Republicans have led cannabis and drug wars worldwide. All to create poorer 2nd class citizens. They are blocked from many educational, job, and voting opportunities. Part of the conservative plan to concentrate wealth in fewer hands worldwide. And these wars are racist.
Wealth concentration
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• The rich get richer • Top tax rates now favor the rich • Rich pay few taxes • A global minimum wealth tax |
The rich get richer.
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| See Wikimedia Commons PNG image. |
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| See PNG image info. |
USA. The sorry state of the nation.
Mar 19, 2024: Sanders, UAW president press harder for shorter workweek. Excerpt: "Today, American workers are more than 400 percent more productive than they were in the 1940s. And yet, despite this fact, millions of our people are working longer hours for lower wages," they wrote. "In fact, 28.5 million Americans now work over 60 hours a week and more than half of full-time employees work more than 40 hours a week." After adjusting for inflation, American workers make almost $50 less a week than they did 50 years ago, they said.
Top tax rates now favor the rich.
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The solution is steep progressive taxation: Wikipedia: Progressive tax.
| US federal income tax rate on billionaires averages only 8.2%. Click image to enlarge. |
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| "Most taxpayers, including firefighters and teachers, average a federal income tax rate of approximately 13.3%." |
| See JPG image info. |
Rich pay few taxes.
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Making History: U.S. Billionaires Paid Lower Tax Rate Than Working Class. October 10, 2019. On FAIR360.com. Sources listed on graph: Emmanual Saez and Gabriel Zucman. Average effective tax rates of 400 richest families and bottom 50% of US households. 1960-2018. Includes federal, state, and local taxes.
See PNG file.
April 15, 2024. Biden: "If Congress enacted President Biden’s tax plan, tens of millions of workers and families would have their taxes cut, nobody making less than $400,000 would pay a penny more in taxes, and the wealthy and big corporations would finally pay their fair share—which would fully pay for the President’s tax cuts and investment agenda."
| Trump's 2017 tax cuts for the rich. See PNG image info. |
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| On average, taxpayers in the income groups highlighted in yellow will incur a net cost (shown as a positive figure as this reduces the budget deficit), due in part to reduced healthcare subsidies. Higher income taxpayers receive a benefit via tax cuts (shown as a negative number as this increases the budget deficit). The percent of taxpayers in each income group is also shown for the 2023 period. "Taxpayer" in the chart refers to a tax return, meaning it could represent one person or a married couple filing jointly, among other options. [44][45]. Commons source. |
A global minimum wealth tax.
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See: The poster child for the perils of dynastic wealth. By Robert Reich. Dynasties created by Republican regressive taxation.
Google: Buy, Borrow, Die. Tax strategy of the rich to pay few taxes. See Google Images search, too. See the ProPublica video and articles: [46][47]. And other articles: [48][49][50][51].
See JPG file.
Jan 24, 2024 article: $8.5 Trillion in Untaxed Assets: Data Shows Why 'We Need a Billionaire Income Tax'. EXCERPTS: analysis found that the wealth of America's billionaires and centimillionaires has exploded in recent years as Republicans have enacted massive tax cuts for the rich ... "The cumulative $8.5 trillion of unrealized capital gains held by America's billionaires and centi-millionaires in 2022 has jumped by more than half–or $3.2 trillion–just since the last Fed survey year of 2019,"
Democrats who attack the rich do better in elections. The party should take notice.
Genuine democracy
Voter suppression.
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Vote out the many Republicans supporting backward cannabis laws. It is purposely made more difficult by the lack of no-excuse postal voting. Just one example of Republican voter suppression in GOP states. Such as many states in the south.
| Wikipedia: Postal voting in United States. See PNG map with note. |
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Lies of GOP radio.
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Google image search: Top right wing radio hosts.
How Fox News and the Right-Wing Media Machine Made My Dad Crazy. Republicans dominate talk radio. Especially in the Republican south with its backward cannabis laws.
See Wikipedia: Conservative talk radio. A percentage of people in many states do not have access to broadband internet, and desktop or laptop computers. Cell phones are a poor substitute for many people. So they are left with Republican propaganda radio, its code-word racism, and its constant disinformation.
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End the Senate filibuster.
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What is the filibuster? A look at the Senate’s consequential quirk and debate on its future. USA Today.
A minority of Senators (40%) should not be able to block laws supported by the majority of Americans. And rural states have even more disproportionate power. 11 Jan 2021: Mitch McConnell Told To 'Save The Damn Crocodile Tears' After Whining About Voting. "Seems @LeaderMcConnell is weak on the math skills. The Democratic half of the Senate represents 41,549,808 more Americans than the GOP half."
Cannabis would have been rescheduled long ago if not for the Republican filibuster. The War on Cannabis accelerated in the US, and that's where it will end. US Congress could legalize, reschedule, or remove cannabis from the federal schedule if the Republican filibuster were gone. Vote in US Senators who will abolish it. [53][54][55][56]. Senators Manchin or Sinema could abolish it now.
See JPG file.
See JPG file.
End the electoral college.
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Presidents should not be elected who do not receive the highest number of votes.
Abolish the electoral college. Imagine the US without the 12 years of the Bush and Trump presidencies and their backward cannabis policies.
See JPG file.
Ranked voting.
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End the Presidential veto.
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See Wikipedia: Veto power in the United States. Presidents should not make law.
Over 50 years ago (on Dec 9, 1971) Republican drug-warrior President Richard Nixon vetoed a comprehensive childcare bill. End veto power!
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End Presidential war powers.
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Nixon, Reagan, and Bush are responsible for the US War on Drugs, and the lie that massive incarceration is a solution. See more lies in
Reagan's frequent demonization of cannabis.
Presidents have too much power. Wars later determined to be started based on lies of Presidents, or done in secret:
Vietnam War: President Johnson and the lie of the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
Cambodia: Nixon and Kissinger's secret B-52 carpet bombing campaign that helped create the unrest that led to Pol Pot's genocidal regime. And Kent State shootings in US.
Iraq War: President Bush and the lie of the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Gaza: Canada vs US.
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If we had a genuine democracy, then the government would be forced to follow the wishes of the majority of Americans. A national referendum on Israel, for example, would stop its mass murder.
See PNG file. See Gallup Poll article.
UN Probe Finds Israel Guilty of 'Extermination,' Torture, and Other War Crimes in Gaza. [57][58].
Biden on Trump: “No one is above the Law;” Except for Israel’s Netanyahu. Wikipedia: Genocide Convention: defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: ...". It also defines: "Complicity in genocide." See: Nearly All 600,000 Kids in Rafah 'Injured, Sick, Malnourished,' Says UNICEF. And: UN Food Chief Says Northern Gaza Suffering 'Full-Blown Famine'.
Compare genocidally complicit American politicians' actions to Canada's politicians stopping military aid to genocidal Israel. See Gallup Poll chart higher up showing US change from majority approval (Nov. 2023) to majority disapproval (March 2024) of Israeli military action in Gaza. Source: Majority in U.S. Now Disapprove of Israeli Action in Gaza. March 27, 2024 by Jeffrey M Jones. Gallup Poll. Watch Bernie Sanders video: "Mr. Netanyahu, do not insult the intelligence of the American people."
But Congress seems to be controlled by these people: Popular Christian Zionist leader John Hagee is no friend to Israel. "The head of the largest Christian Zionist organization is no friend to Israel — he wants an apocalypse there. ... For 20 years, he has built CUFI into the largest (at 8 million members), most-funded and most powerful 'pro-Israel' organization in America — dwarfing AIPAC, J Street, and others." Some of the same religious right with a history of support for the cannabis and drug wars.
Republican senator Lindsey Graham Equates Dropping Nukes on Japan With What Israel Should Do in Gaza: ‘Do Whatever You Have to Do to Survive’. "Reagan ordered a stoppage in 1982 after Israel attacked Palestinian fighters in Lebanon, a move he deployed more than once throughout the war. Ten years later, President George H.W. Bush delayed a $10 billion loan to Israel after the country pressed forward with plans to build settlements in the West Bank."
Mandatory retirement.
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Institute a mandatory retirement age for US Congress members, the President, and Supreme Court judges. Put those judges on fixed terms. [59]. Mandatory retirement exists for many US judges. Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden are too old to be President. And Trump is just too dumb: Video: Robert De Niro on Trump Being “So F**king Stupid”. See Robert Reich: Seriously, again, how dumb is Trump? And: Trump’s Brain Is Not Okay. An expert’s view of Trump’s mental slide into dementia.
Global warming
World Population Clock: 8 Billion People (LIVE). We need more trees and less people. More oxygen, less carbon dioxide. To slow down global warming. "Assuming no net migration and unchanged mortality, a total fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman ensures a broadly stable population." - Fertility rates. OECD Data. See country graphs. Also, inflation comes from an increasing population sharing one planet's resources.
Many US Republican leaders oppose birth control and abortion rights (even early abortion). Another reason besides their backward cannabis laws to vote them out. Birth control and abortion (especially early abortion) is legal (even free) in many countries. That needs to expand further.
We need the lowest curve below, by lowering the birth rate.
Immigration.
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The US and Europe can't import all the overpopulation of the world. Europe, especially, is already too densely populated. US Democrats and progressives in Europe need to limit immigration, or they will lose power, and cannabis policies will stagnate under right wing rule. Taxes on the rich will be cut yet more, which by definition means middle class taxes will go up, or stay up, to pay for it. Wikipedia: List of countries and dependencies by population density.
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Roswell. Warming
Roswell. Carbon-free energy
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See JPG file.
Share link: Roswell UFO. Much UFO technology has been back engineered, and its carbon-free energy could end global warming. See Stephen Greer (SG) playlist. SG video channels: [60][61][62][63][64]. See his documentary: The Lost Century: And How to Reclaim It. [65][66]. SG witness testimonies: [67][68][69][70]. National Press Club: 2023. 2001. SG documentaries for free: [71][72][73][74] [75][76][77][78] [79][80][81]. JustWatch: [82][83][84] [85][86][87]. And: [88][89][90][91] [92][93][94][95] [96][97][98][99] [100][101][102]. SG's Disclosure Project Intelligence Archive. [103]. See also the David Grusch, David Fravor, and Ryan Graves disclosures at July 26, 2023 House hearing about US possession of aliens, alien bodies, alien craft, and back engineering: [104][105][106][107] [108][109][110][111][112] [113][114][115][116][117]. See History channel: [118][119][120][121]. National Geographic: [122][123][124][125]. See: Bob Lazar and George Knapp. See Rendlesham Forest UFO witness interviews. [126].
See the July 8, 1947 Roswell Daily Record below. Image info. Click image to enlarge. Full-size is readable. See full text of saucer article. [127]. U.S. Army officer Walter Haut issued the initial "flying disk" press release. His 2002 notarized affidavit said there were 2 crash sites, and that he had seen a craft, alien bodies, and handled wreckage material. (see page 14 of pdf). It was released in a 2007 book after his death in 2005. 37 witnesses to the Roswell shape memory foil. [128][129][130] [131][132][133]. Page 54 of Jesse Marcel, Jr. book. Crumple it and it uncrumples without creases. Did not exist in 1947.
See JPG file.
See JPG file.
Affidavit is on pages 239-242 of the 2022 edition: Witness to Roswell, 75th Anniversary Edition: Unmasking the Government's Biggest Cover-up (more eyewitnesses). 36 pages previewed in Google Books. Click "preview" button and scroll down to pages 239-240. Search within the book. There is an inexpensive Kindle ebook. Moonwalker Dr. Edgar Mitchell wrote the foreword. The 20 paragraph affidavit is online here: [134] (page 14). [135][136][137][138].
Haut's daughter, Julie Shuster, in 2002, 3 years before his death, "verbally discussed each and every sentence" of the affidavit with him. She said it was not a deathbed confession. See Sept 2007 MUFON UFO Journal. Issue 473. Page 15. And this article from Special Broadcasting Service. Archived. See Julie Shuster on IMDb.
Google search: Walter Haut 2002 Roswell affidavit. Articles about Haut:
30 June 2007: Roswell officer's amazing deathbed admission raises possibility that aliens DID visit. By Nick Pope. Same article also published here and here. Archived here and here.
5 June 2022: Roswell officer's deathbed confession about theory of alien cover up. By Declan Carey. Archived here.
14 May 2021: Ex-Army officer ADMITS he saw ‘alien the size of a 10-year-old child’ after famous Roswell UFO crash in incredible video. By Emma Parry. Archived here. This article has a short excerpt of the video.
May 2021: Roswell Officer Speaks From the Grave: Video Released, Confesses that Alien was "the size of a 10 year old". By Anthony Bragalia. Archived here. From article (emphasis added): "This video clip is part of a memoir video / oral history over two hours in length that covers many personal and professional aspects of Haut's life. The video was taken at the Roswell Museum in 2000 with friends Dennis Balthaser and Wendy Connors."
Galactic Pot March.
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Return to top. See 2024 GMM-420 on Fandom and on Shoutwiki. Note: See the sections at the bottom of many pages: Beyond drug war, debt, and wealth concentration. To single-payer healthcare and progressive taxation.
Leave event links and compilations at any wiki talk page (no need to log in). Or leave them in posts or comments at Facebook: Global Cannabis March and 420. And: Global Cannabis March in Europe. Or the private GMM group. Especially events outside the US. For any year. See years.
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