Possibly New Labour’s most pathetic “Good news” propaganda story yet has just been shown on the BBC News, on the day that unemployment climbed over 2.2 million.
It had all the proper ingredients for a NuLab “feelgood story”, including exciting video of the Royal Navy in action, and grave looking spokesmen for the law enforcement agenices.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency announced that, due to their tremendous success in drugs interception operations, the price of cocaine in London had risen from £35,000 in December 2007 to £45,000 now – a 30% increase.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8044275.stm
Wow! Obviously all thoe video clips of Royal Navy inflatables zooming about really fill you with pride. What a tremedous success!!
Except that there is not much cocaine actually produced in Basingstoke. Cocaine comes from South America and is a commodity priced in dollars. In dollar terms the price per kilo in London has stayed almost perfectly constant on the figures given, at around 67,000 dollars.
All SOCA are measuring is the collapse of the pound, which presumably is not caused by Royal Naval operations.
Just how stupid do they thnk we are? Why is the BBC broadcasting this story based on a 100% fake premise?
When I was a youngster I used to tune my radio to stations like the distant Luxembourg and sometime pass by Radio Moscow .
They were always full of pride about the wonderful harvest or the fantastic new works program….Thats the BBC News of today..
Craig,
I seem to remember you stating in a post some time ago that the reason we are in Afganistan was to re-establish and then protect the opium crop…..as the Taliban had almost completely succeed in wiping out production of the drug while they were running the country.
It seems to be a fact that opium production has been at record levels for the last couple of years……
……..so although our political masters are very exercised about the human rights of Afghan females, they are obviously comfortable with this occupied country exporting literally tons of a substance that is corrupting western societies and is responsible for enormous distress, dysfunction, taxpayer expense and also thousands of deaths, mostly of our young people.
Do you still think that this is one of the main aims of the ‘Afghan War’?
If not, why do you think we are still there?
Do the government and the BBC have a right to be stupid? And if they do, are they at liberty to treat us as fuck-wits?
Another issue about street drugs, and our governments willingness to use the ethics of abuse of such, as their personal bogeyman to police the citizens personal choice by, is the fact they allow Ritalin to be used against un-consenting children.
Ritalin works very similarly to cocaine, in that it also inhibits the re-uptake of dopamine at the synapse. And I wonder what the addiction consequences are for the thousands of kids, mainly boys, who are pushed through this abuse.
Let’s hope such issues are resolved before young Cameron reaches school age, because if he is as independently minded as his father, then he may well fall victim to its use.
It’s the economy – stupid!
Add a few snorts to the “shopping basket” and …
reflation has started, we’ve turned the corner, the economy is expanding, the green shoots of coca (sorry I meant recovery) etc.
It’s always very important for the government to be seen to be tackling crime rather than being a participant in it.
The BBC internet report mentions that the purity of cocaine seized by police has been falling during this period, indicating a shortage of supply. The rise in prices is also seen in the Euro price. This report is consistent with SOCA having experienced success in its work last year.
However I suspect that there will need to be something like a Dutch solution – of allowing a limited use of drugs under careful supervision – to deal with the problem of addiction more fully. In particular, I see no sense in prosecuting people who use cannabis for pain relief.
The sad truth is that the state has a hand in the nasty business of trading and profits derived from the drug’s trade ( and I definitely don’t mean that the state’s role being played is merely in the enforcing laws against trafficking). The CIA’s Iran/Contra dealings dramatically highlighted what has been in existence for a very long time.
In 2002 I did some research and wrote an article, in which I recalled the British role in the opium trade from the mid-1800s ( see: http://cannabisnews.com/news/14/thread14721.shtml)
There has been consistency in the state’s “unofficial role” of making profits out of the illegal drugs trade – be this in China, India, during World War 11 or now in Afghanistan.
The hardest hit we could inflict on drugs barons and those in lieu with them for decades, is to legalise and regulate all drugs, it would be the equivalent of pulling the rug away from under their feet.
We have no control over drugs because we do not want to. vested interests in combating, policing, councilling, soliciting, lawyers private rrisons, the whole shabang created to deal with drugs is such a large sum, some 100 billion over ten years, that the public would go ape if they see what our Governments waste on this political football called drugs, to get NOTHING in return, except more proliferation and more addicted to class A’s.
Last nights message had nothing to do with success, it was solely designed to show that we are still able to spend taxpayers money on drugs enfocement and get nowhere. Just as with alcohol prohibition in the US 1930’s, we have proliferated drugs of all kinds and are unable to control the market, the substances or the means by which they enter the country.
lergalisation would enable us to educate people, grade drugs according to purity and strenght and stop creating fear in people when in reality pharmaceutical drugs are far more dangerous than, as mentioned earlier, cannabis, for example.
We have missed out, as a country that is, on vast sums that could have flown into the pockets of the exchequer, rather than into criminals swiss bank accounts.
Hi Craig,
I can inform you that the governments wonderful progress in this area hasn’t had any impact on the street price of Cocaine either. It may have impinged its purity somewhat but that is all.
Good work to stop this obvious point though.
Youre assuming that the people behind this story are intelligent enough to realise. I think Hanlons Razor applies in this case.
Hola amigos y amigas. Me llamo Sanchito Banchito y tengo una plantacion de coca en Bolivia lo que produzca muchos kilos cada ano.
Estoy escibiendo para confirmar que las actividades del gobierno de UK que me dano mucho y el projeccion de ganas para esto ano es casi 1 million US dolares menos que el proximo ano.
Pero, cuando la situacion economica es mejor, tenga un sentido que las City Boys estaran consumir mi producto en cuantidades increible…
Buenos tardes y saludos a Craig y su esposa y su nuevo hijo
‘Attention! The action we are now reporting may well bring the war on drugs within measurable distance of its end… Meanwhile the chocolate ration is reduced form thirty grammes to twenty.’
I would have thought that probably the most serious thing to hit the Cocaine industry would be the reduction in bankers’ bonuses!
Google translation of Jason’s comment:
Hello friends. Sanchito Banchito my name and I have a coca plantations in Bolivia which produces many kilos annually.
I write to confirm that the UK government’s much damage to me and the PROJECTION of desire for this year is almost 1 million U.S. dollars less than next year.
But when the economic situation is better, have a sense that the City Boys will be using my product in incredible quantities …
Good afternoon and hello to Craig and his wife and new son
$67, 000 a kilo, eh?
Well, I expect Hazel Blears can afford it ….
Not a bad Google translation. Ganas (from ganar) is kind of idiomatic, and is not ‘desire’ at all, but more like ‘winnings’.
But the rest just shows off my good grasp of Spanish as its word perfect. I thank you.
Indeed, the commenter who noted that a decrease in the financial sector’s profitability is bad news in the hills of Bolivia is dead right. Maybe we can turn Fred Goodwin on to the charms of blanco.
$67, 000 a kilo, eh?
Well, I expect Hazel Blears can afford it ….
And if not she’ll simply bill the taxpayer. Dope, porn, moats…
So, in fact, the price of cocaine has declined in absolute terms? You’ve omitted to mention inflation.
James,
Indeed but as the RPI is curremtly negative…
I blame swine flu. Or sun spots.
The Today Programme pulled the government monkey on the exchange rate issue, and said monkey stumbled somewhat, which isn’t reflected in the web piece which seems more like a regurgitated press release than news.
Hi
Some very interesting comments about cocaine. The reason why the purity level has dropped is because the Police/SOCA have cosy arrangements to seize quantities from the crime gangs through the informant/corrupt network. The crime gangs offer up the patsies and a quantity of sub standard cocaine to keep the authorities happy and the law enforcement agencies off their backs. This is true of other illegal substances and contraband. There are hard times with the dollar hence the gangs offer drugs that are even more cut than normal. No great mystery! Stop the World I Want to Get Off!!