Reverend F. Dean Becker: (00:00)
Hello, my friends. Welcome to this edition of Cultural Baggage. I am Dean Becker, the Reverend Most High. And after a 20 year investigation, I have determined that there is not one person on this planet better able to speak of the need to end this thing called drug war than me. Yours truly. So, today I am your guest. Uh, the following was recorded in Lisbon, Portugal, couple of years back. Now, I was invited by the European Monitoring Center on drugs and drug abuse to give a speech to their top scientists and their top administration, as well as the local police chief and police commissioner. Here we go. And 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (00:47)
Problematic, 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (00:49)
Okay, I don't think there's a heck of a lot I'm really going to teach you, but, but I do want to just give you a perception of what the drug war is like in the United States. Perhaps that's the best I can do at this point. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (01:05)
Um, earlier Lucas and I were talking there in the hallway, and I, I I was talking about the guy who kickstarted, who, who, the guy who initiated the drug war worldwide. His name was Harry j Anslinger. He was head of the, uh, uh, the effort to prohibit alcohol in the United States. And when the 1930s came around and they ended the prohibition of alcohol, he needed another job. So he became the , he became the head of the Bureau of Narcotics, the, the forerunner of the Drug Enforcement Administration. And he, he, oh, and, and Harry Jane Slinger. He, he, uh, he wanted to, um, give a reason for the Bureau of Narcotics. He, he needed a paycheck. So, so he, he, he started, uh, uh, giving reasons for, in particular marijuana because a lot of people were doing marijuana. Very few people were doing heroin or, or cocaine. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (02:20)
There, there were a number. But here, here's a couple of quotes from Harry. Marijuana is the most violence causing drug in the history of mankind. Now, we all know that's bs, but it was believed, it was in the newspapers. He worked with, uh, um, William Randolph Hurst, major publisher, many newspapers around the United States. And Anslinger sold his ideas, uh, through those newspapers. Another one, reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men. Okay? That, that sold in the 1920s, and it still lingers to this day. I, I, I often talk about reefer madness being drug war madness, because it's, it's just convoluted and twisted. Um, but anyway, that's enough for Harry. But he went on to get, he, he produced a movie, reefer Madness. Have you ever seen that movie? The 1920s? Um, you have seen it. It's ludicrous now. It's laughable now, but it frightened America's parents back in the, the 1920s. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (03:29)
Uh, he, he then went on to the United Nations. Harry j Anslinger took his idea to, we have another police officer here. Okay, good. Okay. Tell us, sir, I'm Dean, your commissioner , glad to have you here with us, sir, I got your chair right there. Thank you for coming. I, I was just telling folks, uh, about the guy who instigated the drug war. His name was Harry j Anslinger. He was, uh, head of the Bureau of the Alcohol prohibition. And then when it ended, he tried to, uh, get, uh, uh, himself a new job by the Bureau of Narcotics. Um, he, he convinced he, he produced a movie, reefer Madness. I don't know if you've seen it. I, I highly recommend it. It's laughable now, reefer Madness. It's out there on YouTube and, and elsewhere. Uh, but he, he managed to convince people that marijuana was bad, that had, I, I mean, no offense by this. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (04:31)
He, he was known for making quotes like reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men. Um, you smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother. I mean, he just goes on . But the, the point is, he was then given the, uh, expertise or the level of recognition, and he took that idea to the United Nations, and he sold it in the United Nations. He traveled the world. He probably convinced people here in, uh, uh, your country, 30, uh, back in the 1930s. But anyway, I just wanted to share that with you, that it, it started with one man who needed a job. Um, for 20 years, I've sought the most knowledgeable people on the planet to discuss the drug war. I've interviewed more than a thousand individuals, scientists, doctors, all kinds of politicians, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, police chiefs, prisoners, providers, patients, and priests. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (05:31)
I've invested more than 30,000 hours investigating this, uh, situation. And what I found sickens me. It compels me to reject with my very being, the idea that this drug war has any reason to exist. Been, uh, nearly 50 years since President Nixon declared the war on drugs, uh, to quote, go after the blacks without appearing to do so. It's now over 50 years since the United Nations first declared their war on drugs with the belief that they would eliminate drugs from planet Earth. Within five years. Uh, cocaine was made of federal offense in the US when politicians proclaimed that black men on cocaine would rape white women, or at a minimum would fail to step off the sidewalk when a white man approached in 1937, because Mexicans were taking our jobs and might rape white women while high on marijuana, the feds crafted the marijuana tax act later, declared unconstitutional, and with Timothy Leary versus USA, and then put under the regiment of the, uh, ludicrously named Controlled Substance Act. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (06:37)
Over the lifetime of the drug war, more than 45 million American citizens have been arrested for these plant products in their pocket. The US has invested way over a trillion dollars, some say more than $3 trillion waging this drug war. At the same time, the Barbaras cartels, the terrorists, thousands of violent gangs make more than $300 billion a year from this policy. What policy, uh, excuse me. What positives have we derived from this policy? And I say there is nothing positive has come forward from it. It is a fairy fairytale. It is a projection. It's a hope, a dream that somewhere down the road, we will stop these kids if we just keep at this. Meanwhile, the terrorist cartels and gangs are profiting overdose deaths are increasing exponentially, especially in the United States right now. The Fentanyl car, fentanyl is, nobody knows what they're buying. They buy this stuff on faith, and they hope that, uh, it, it, it won't, won't kill them. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (07:36)
Um, most, most politicians remain ignorant about this subject. They, they don't want to know the truth. But when I interviewed, uh, former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, I asked him, is there anything positive in this drug where he said Nothing? There is no benefit. Um, belief in the drug war allows ignorance to be used as a badge in the United States. It allows for, uh, uh, stop and frisk. It allows for battering rams, it allows for SWAT teams. It allows for this mentality that drug users are so dangerous, so slippery, that we've got to do any and everything possible to stop these people. Uh, when the truth be told, most drug users just want to be left alone. I think we all know that here. Um, let's see. I I, I use this phrase a lot because it, it kind of, uh, displays the war of terror. Is the war on drugs with, you know, rockets because the mechanism, the mindset against drug users was immediately in the US extrapolated to go after, uh, people that we feared were, were, uh, out to do us harm. Um, 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (09:02)
We, we take this, this attitude that we've gotta protect the children. That seems to be at the heart of the drug, where at least it is in the United States, that we have to protect the children, whatever, uh, by whatever means possible. Uh, the phrase I like to use is that, uh, we've got to protect the futures of millions of kids each year, because we're afraid these drugs might destroy their future. So we arrest them, seeing, thinking that will save them. And in, in essence, it, it, in the us it means no credit, no, uh, education, no housing, no job. It means go out on the street and sell more. That's what it means in America. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (09:46)
I interrupted myself to say that was recorded in Lisbon, Portugal. I'm giving a speech to the European Monitoring Center for drugs and drug addiction. We continue. 

Speaker 5: (10:01)
Can I have 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (10:02)
A question? Yes, sir. Um, 

Speaker 5: (10:04)
Is it like, is there an H limit at the point when, uh, the government says, okay, we'll take care of you. Like, do children age 15 end up in jail by using drugs, or they 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (10:14)
Have? Well, they, they, they, they give, they go to juvenile. They, uh, so there's no treatment. Often, often they're taken from their parents. Uh, it's, it's just a means to, uh, to start controlling that kid's life, because eventually, he'll, he'll wind up with foster home, perhaps, or, or out on the street. Um, but you, you hit on that here. My next, the overdose deaths are now, as they always have been, mostly caused by rebellion confusion, and by not knowing what's in the back in America, if these kids are get busted, then follows a never ending battle over morals. That starts with their parents, maybe their bosses, their wives, their husbands, their kids, the church, the cop, the da, the judges, the probation officer, the parole officer, the treatment provider. Then they've gotta pay fees and fines or wear ankle bracelets, and it just goes on and on. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (11:08)
That, that they, it's hard to get clear, get clear of a, a, a drug bust. It, it just stays with you for life. Now, failing that obligation, the fines increase, as does the oversight. The young person with its eternal black mark on their life and livelihood, they fail and flail until the only job he could find is with the world's largest multi-level marketing organization. The black market and drugs with the tiny amounts needed of fentanyl and car fentanyl, now, hundreds of times more powerful than pure heroin. And thus, so easily smuggled that, uh, a one ounce bag is equivalent to, I think, 20 kilos of heroin or something, if, if the, the numbers work out. Um, anyway, the cops and the judges in the US are beginning to realize that this isn't working out. That it is, you know, a fairy tale as I call it, but they're afraid to back down. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (12:08)
They're afraid to now speak what they know to be true, because they made their bones. And that's a, a phrase I'll explain. It's a, it's a gangster thing. Uh, they made their bones. They, they killed people, you know, not that they're actually killing people, but they do on occasion. But they, they made their reputation. There we go. They made their reputation through believing in this drug, and it's now hard for them to back down my Fair City of Houston. Uh, when I first started on the radio, it was 16 and a half years ago, I opened it with this phrase, broadcasting from the go log you filling station. You guys understand that, uh, from the Gulag supply line, this is cultural baggage. That's the name of the show. Because back then we were arresting so many people that they were filling the jails. They were under the, the beds. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (12:59)
They were in the hallways. They were, each morning they would load up a bus and ship it to a little small town nearby that, that even to other states. Um, because they, they just had so many, many kids, uh, on, uh, drug charges. 16 years later, the DA is my friend, the sheriff is my friend. The police chief is my friend. They understand this. They call, they have come on my show. They have said the drug war is a miserable failure. We've got to stop doing this because the truth of the matter cannot be ignored or can't be ignored forever. And my my point I'd like to get across to you guys is what Portugal has done is admirable. It's wonderful. What the European, uh, uh, union is doing is a great advance, but there's a much greater problem. And it is this belief in the drug war that allows the terrorist cartels and gangs to make $300 billion a year and does nothing to stop overdose deaths or children's access. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (14:05)
Thank you. Uh, I can't say that , uh, say the drug war pays the bills for the, the cops. Pensions for the DA's rise through the ranks for, for all of these kinds of things. But after, you know, 20 years of, of personally examining this, I could just say this, there is no benefit. It's a pipe dream of men who died long ago. All I wanted to say one thing, a humorous note, Harry J. Hensley, our first drugs are his first medical guy was a veterinarian. His name was James c Munch. And I, most of you may have heard of the word munchies. Munchies, right? That's where it came from, from that veterinarian's last name. Anyway, uh, that's not for you guys, okay? Because of drug prohibition, we are all potential victims, especially in the United States. We're considered to be criminal suspects, maybe carrying drugs, subject to a ugly law enforcement mentality. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (15:26)
And we're all obviously, and forever in great peril thanks to the drug war. Now, I, I'm gonna fess up. After I left the Air Force, I became a hippie. Uh, might be obvious , but I got busted 13 times. I've been arrested 13 times, mostly for minor amounts of drugs. Well, always for minor amounts of drugs. A seed in the floorboard could get you arrested back in the sixties, uh, a rope in the ashtray. I've had more than that on occasion, but not very much. 'cause I, I don't travel with a lot of drugs. I don't need to. I, I, I've learned not to. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (16:13)
But my, uh, the complicator for me was that I was a drunk at the same time, and I always got busted for being drunk, stumbling, whatever. And then they'd find the drugs never got charged for drunkenness, ever, ever. It was always for the little bit of drugs, because that's a much better, uh, mark or, or achievement for a policeman to bust somebody for drugs rather than, uh, drunkenness. And I, I guess it was, uh, May 8th, 1985, I quit drinking. I haven't had an arrest, been in trouble, had a ticket, a fight accident, nothing. And I, I guess the point I'm getting at is my drug of destruction, the one that it was eaten my life, eaten me alive is for sale in every block in the world. And yet, I drive by it every day. I choose not to use my drug of destruction. And the same perspective mentality could be justified or useful with, uh, these other drugs, because alcohol by God is a drug. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (17:28)
It's a deadly drug, kills, uh, hundreds of thousands of people. And, um, it just needs a new perspective. Um, um, before prohibition of these drugs, a gram of pure cocaine could be bought at the drug store for 25 cents. Now, the youngsters out there are buying a, a contaminated, mostly polluted gram of cocaine. Could go over a hundred dollars a gram prior to the drug war, a month supply of heroin could be purchased from Sears Roebuck, which is a big retailer in the US for a dollar, and they would throw in a syringe as, as a bonus, back in 1900. About one and one half percent of America was addicted. Today, after all this hoop law arrest and whatever, about one and a half percent of America is addicted still. Um, after 40, 50, a hundred years, it's time to face facts. The drug war is a pipe dream of men who died long ago. It's a quasi religion, a belief system that has attracted many adherence within law enforcement and the criminal justice system to speak from that ignorance, bigotry, and stead, fastly in support of primitive screeds, platitudes, and irrational tradition. The process has a strong resemblance to the persecution of witchcraft. Um, this isn't for those in this room, but, uh, 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (19:01)
The cemetery's overflowing with people who have been killed, not necessarily by bullets, but by persecution, by being driven from the center of society, by being driven, uh, to great despair. This is a bit overkill, but if we embrace the truth that the drug war is vacuous, has no real reason to exist, it's hollow, it's a horrendous mistake. I'm sure our law enforcement officials here are not gung the ho, not wanting to arrest everybody, certainly not in this city. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (19:53)
And my hope is that all the folks here can find ways to expose this fraud, this misdirection, it, it has legs. It's been carried, as I have said, almost a hundred years, and most, most folks are unwilling to address this, this conundrum, this, this situation. Uh, as boldly as it needs to be the answer to the drug war legalized, stop funding the Taliban gut. The cartels eliminate most of the gangs. Let Pfizer produce it. Let drugstore sell it. We'll, judge adults buy their actions like it used to be, instead of by the contents of a baggie or a, a, a pill. And we will then have lots of room in prison to hold anybody who would dare sell drugs to our children. Uh, kind of like me, you know, I, I was a bad alcoholic, but for 30 something years now, I've, I've managed to straighten up and fly, right? 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (20:55)
And we can expect the same from most kids, which is who do these drugs that from about age 15 to age 25, that's your, uh, your primary use group. And most of 'em wind up getting a job of a wife, children, whatever, and go away from that drug use. I'm not for gradual change to the drug laws. Incrementalism is a killer. Now, I wanna quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quote, gradualism is so often an excuse for escapism and do nothing is, which ends up in stand, still is. Say it again. Prohibition guarantees hundreds of billions of dollars will each year flow into the coffers of terrorists, cartels, and gangs who will continue to entice our children into the lives of crime and addiction. Overdose deaths will continue to rise along with a number of horror that yet preventable diseases. After two decades of trying to expose the futility, the insanity of this policy, I'm quite certain that drugs ares in the United States and other high officials will continue to run fast and run far from my questions. Considering the horrible consequences of believing in the drug war, what is the benefit? What do we derive that even begins to offset the horror we inflict on ourselves and the whole world by continuing to believe what is the benefit? The drug war is an abomination, and it must be ended 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (22:33)
When the speech was over. There was a great round of applause, a lot of handshakes. As people were leaving the room, many of the women kissed me, thanked me for the truth. The police chief and the police commissioner stayed for more than an hour after my speech. And we talked and laughed and joked about the idiocy of the US drug war. I learned later, the scientist who invited me had been chastised, nearly fired for inviting me to speak my truth at the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Abuse Headquarters in Lisbon. The following is an editorial I wrote when I finished my book, how to End the Drug War. Drug Prohibition has had its day. Some refuse to accept this fact because their mortgage payments depend on eternal drug war, prison builders and wardens, campesino growers and street corner vendors, corrupt customs agents and barbaric cartel hit men all need the drug war. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (23:33)
The violence is necessary to maintain the hysteria and thus the war. Without the stories of worldwide mayhem and ultra violence, the public would soon realize that drugs are not the main factor involved. It is drug prohibition. Hell. They might then work together to stop this eternal rain dance. I don't think too many of them consciously know they are working for the cartels. But every time politicians vote to escalate the drug war, they are insuring profits for insurgents, terrorists and bad guys all round. They are crafting scenarios that lead to increased overdose deaths, children killed in crossfires, corrupt law enforcement, more aids in Hep C cases, and billions of our tax dollars being continuously flushed down the drug war toilet. I spend my life tracking down guests that can provide the unvarnished truth about the drug war for my radio shows. As the holiday season approached, I was amazed that there were increasing numbers in political office who were willing to speak the L word of legalization. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (24:41)
I visited South Texas to interview two border sheriffs on the subject, and though neither would say they were for it, they agreed the time had come to talk about legalization. For decades, drug reformers have been formulating away out of this mess, but the politicians mostly ignored their recommendations. The press basically refused to share the plan, and the public has been sidetracked by the multi-billion dollar O-N-D-C-P sponsored quasi religion of drug prohibition. It will be easy to end the drug war. It will take a bit of education, a little courage, and a full serving of commitment working together. We can get it done before the year is over. Politicians, listen to your constituents and stop being a. Quit patting yourselves on the back for arresting tens of millions of your fellow citizens for nonviolent drug crimes. Really get tough on crime. Eviscerate the terroristic and barbaric criminal gangs that turn our nation's aversion to certain plant products against us, and use it as a means to threaten our national security prohibition has not worked. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (25:51)
A trillion dollars to law enforcement and 10 trillion to Al-Qaeda, the Mexican cartels, the Colombian paramilitary, and a million street corner vendors selling contaminated drugs to our children after a virtual lifetime. There is nothing approaching success in the drug war. Get real. Declare yourself a legalize while the iron is hot. Act now. Grasp the reality of this situation and you'll be among the first, shout it on the Senate floor. Yell it in the house. You are the one who wants to destroy the main financial engine of the cartels and rebel forces, governors and mayors should exclaim. You want to eliminate the reason for which most of the violent street gangs exist in America and by which they afford their high powered weaponry. Who the hell can be against such noble ambitions? You'll be a hero. If you want a one day coaching session call on my band of brothers and law enforcement against prohibition. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (26:51)
We're proud to serve press for way too long. America's media has served as the lowly scribed for government drug war propaganda. No real reporting, no true analysis, limited perspective beyond that of the O-N-D-C-P. Too much he said, she said, of giving balance to lies and liars. The press continues to carry water for the DEA and the O-N-D-C-P. Yes, some advertisers will not be happy. Some readers will initially be upset, but, once again, you will quite soon be a hero. Public time's up. You have to do your part. And yes, it will take some courage. Yes, they do tests at work. Yes, the cops could conceivably decide to kick in your door. Not very likely. Yes, you could have a squabble at the PTA meeting over this subject. That's the point. You know the truth. It's time to show your support for logic and common sense to feel more comfortable in endorsing the end of prohibition. 

Reverend F. Dean Becker: (27:54)
First, educate yourself a little more, and then set to work might. I recommend MA pnc.org. Your part is in simply sharing your thoughts about this subject with your family, your neighbors, coworkers, pastor, mayor, newspaper editor, police chief, district attorney, state, and federal reps. I promise you, it's easy as pie. Most of your friends and every one of these officials already know we have to end this jihad. They're just waiting on your approval. The drug war is an ancient pipe dream of men who have long since died. Its continuation is the very real dream of charlatan's, barbarians, and sorrowful creatures who have made their bones and cannot now face the truth that the drug war is nothing but a lie. Let's build a saner safer world for our children. End the madness. Well, that's it. Get off your. Help in this madness. And again, I remind you, because of prohibition, you don't know what's in that bag. Please be careful.