The Battle Rages On

What a joke…the War on Drugs…what a waste….

What a gripping image and a profound statement Helen!!! Once again you are standing for something of substance. You have highlighted two American tragedies here. Drugs and imprisonment. Good for you!!! Bad on us…

honey you are going to get a file so thick if you keep thinking about stuff and noticing the truth and telling others about it. arn’t you suposed to be happy with mcdonalds and tv and stuff like tha? but keep it up anyway I for one am loving it.

The bigger deal people make about the worse it will get. Save prison for criminals not people who need a substance to help them feel better. Nobody is hurting me.

Yes I know I can tell and you know what it reminds of something I heard once along the lines of …. the road to hell is wide and smooth and really well lit and the other way is narrow and dark and dangerous. stay on the difficult path it will get you out of the maze a lot quick in the end.

Civilization as we know it seems to built on the seven deadly sins sugar coated to look desirable and the seven contrary virtures are so unnoticed and unannouced that it would seem that no one has ever heard of them. but in the end its our own choice which path we choose to illuminate our own way forward.

I admire your courage to speak out.

Keep up the great work Helen. Your photography sends a stong message.

NZ and America have too much in common along these lines.
I hear we’re no. 2 on the list for per-capita incarceration rates…
NZ is suffering a massive meth-amphetamine epidemic at the moment.
There are police task-forces, reminiscent of the DEA, formed in every major center to persecute the hapless fools who chose to abuse this drug, or push it on others.
It is currently illegal for a mental-health worker to enter the general prison population in any but the lowest security prisons here. The people of my beautiful country are spending money, hand over fist to either smoke ‘Fries,’ or paying tax to lock people up and give them ready access to what is becoming the most powerful and profitable business network in the country.
Everyone who ever takes recreational drugs, MUST become educated if this is to stop. We are the only ones to blame for our failure to keep informed on our legal position, and the associated risks of our chosen lifestyle. The man can only hold you down if you give him the chance. Drugs can only fuck you up if you don’t learn to respect them.
Don’t buy into the bullshit – have fun and stay free.
This has been a public service announcement, brought to you in part by Cannabis Sativa, Albert Hoffman and Clone42.
P.S. sorry about the rant – I’m pretty passionate about this.
Awesome image too. ;-)
Peace.

Yes Helen, we have the same sad wasteful story here in Australia.

True. I find it appalling that women are free to abort their unborn child because they claim “it’s their body and they have a right to do with it as they please” but they will go to jail if they are caught with a joint…the great paradox of “BIG BROTHER.”

i’m with you, my friend.

Brilliant work.

Oh so many sides to this issue. Too bad it all wasn’t this simple. To the people who are recreational drug users…”what’s the big deal right?” “we aren’t hurting anyone”...why don’t you ask a mother, brother, father, sister; who’s loved one was murdered by some drug addict on the street all cracked out on coke or some other form of ILLEGAL drug…OR ask a police officer’s family what they feel about drugs when they had to bury the one that they loved trying to keep the streets safe for you, me, your children and etc… I come from a background of law enforcement, my brother also protects our borders and I find it very offensive to see people sitting behing closed doors speak about things they’ve never confronted first hand. This goes out to all who think it’s silly to keep drugs illegal, to those who have fought the ‘demon’ of addiction, and to those who have died trying to keep American’s safe. The War on Drugs a joke???? Go live in a crack house and tell me what you think then! The only joke to me is thinking the situation would get better by legalizing it…WOW! That’s crazy.

And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
-Matthew 5:9

Well, to ask if I’m kidding is kinda silly. No Helen, I’m not kidding. Do you personally know a police officer by chance??? Why don’t you ask them. And if you don’t care to debate…why are you saying it’s great to speak your mind…is that only if one agrees with you???

Is he the one protecting the streets, or the one getting the ‘pay off’ you speak of. Pretty offensive statement you speak.

I would hardly think that my ‘opinion’ is considered an attack on you. Quite the contrary. I was simply stating my position in this matter. As far as pointing out the cop issue…you were the one who said it, I defended my point. End of story. Wow. Didn’t know with all the contraversial photos you would be so sensitive. Just an opinion. Guess it can’t be made here…my bad. Great picture tho.

Oh. and P.S. My comment on legalizing drugs etc…had nothing to do with your photo directly, it had to do with previous comments. Just to clarify…

This is so very touching. Beautiful work as always.

Helen, once again you have pricked the conscience, brought the injustice and madness of the legal system to the fore and ruffled a few feathers(!). I for one, applaud you and your work and say this-You are unique, talented, honest and have a heart like a lion. Respect to you, dear Friend.

On you Helen. War on Dugs is a Hipnotic Induction to have you accept the hipocracy and lies generated to justify limiting liberty. Australia, and most of the worlds farmers grow Opium Poppies for the Pharmacutical Industry, legally. Afghanistan, Burma and other countries farmers seem to be prevented from doings so, by the conspiracy to create and have an enemy.
Until the 50s Heroine, Cocane, and canabis were legal. They are all still used widely in medicine. Doctors have told me to use Canabis, if it helps. I have a broken neck, and depressed fracture of the skull, so they feel that anything that helps with the pain is OK. The only drugs that I have become psychotic on are the anti-psychotics I was prescibed for a psychiatric illness I am now told I don’t and never had. The last anti-psychotic I was prescribed, Olanzapine, has now been linked to possibly causing Diabetes.
My father, now dead,said while he was young, and a young adult, when Cocaine, Heroine and canabis were legal, there was not the not the associated organised crime there is to-day, murder, extortion, blackmail, etc.etc.
There was also no media created bullshit “Drug Culture”, or false image that it is cool.
Ice, was frozen water, which you scattered on and had difficulty driving on.
Speed, was driving too fast.
Crack Head, was a a term for someone with a depressed fracture of the skull.
Defense was defense.
After making a few complaints about an instance wwith the police, against the police, I was given a ” good friending”, and offered a chance to sell a bit of dope and make some money.
Being also recently warned that if I was seen to know of or be involved in a crime I would be arrested. So I put in evry copper that I new was involved in illegal drug trafficing. Although I accept they were probably good officers working undercover. A senior State police officer told me she had just sacked five of her best officers, I asked her what that said about the rest.
My local MLA ( state government Member of Legaslative Assembly ) when I asked him why there wasn’t enough funds to adequately increase the police numbers, said to me ” If we go increasing the police numbers too much, we run the risk of creating a police state”. I don’t think he thought about htat staement too much. His name is Joe Helper.
More people have a psychiatric condition because of head injuries from motor vehicle accidents than because of drug use.
The AMA ( Australian Medical Association ) has said that alcohol is singley, the worst drug. Psych workers have said to me, and others, that being drunk is the closest thing to being psychotic that there is.
In the past 10 years, a sad number of police from my home town have been charged for sex offences against women and minors, drugs, etc etc.
If a percentage of the population is criminal, that same percentage is found in any occupation.
We can’t print that story, it may proove too embarrasing.
I don’t have a criminal record. I am told I should be dead. I am told I will be. I don’t pay for drugs, i do get given them. If you want to score see your doctor, he or she will be able to prescibe the right dose, and you will not have to deal with dealers who are paying or being paid by the authorities.
Thanks for your guts Helen. Peace, Love, Tolerance.

great image

Terrific

control of the heroin trade is big business- big enough to be traditional controlled by governments (like the east india company’s monopoly on opium in the 19th century, for example).

the eponymous war on drugs in many countries is not about trying to stop drugs, it’s about controlling the market, which can then be manipulated for political, diplomatic and commercial purposes.

don’t believe your t.v folks.

Well said!!! Great work!!!

Fukk hugs. Give my drugs. LOL

wow

I love your message through your work…....keep it up

Nice piece of work…interesting reading…

Sorry if I seemed invasive Helen. I just had to do it justice. I mean look at it now. What this means to me is, now that it is framed, thus the issue becomes even more crucial. Thus the debate progresses just as the battle rages on…You are a master Bascom. Love your hate logo by the way. That would look fukkin’ awesome on a white shirt.

marijuana is bad, sex is immoral…yet, wars are legal and teaching violence with video games is good, death dealing is big business…just think, you are paying the taxes they turn around and put you in jail with that money for minding your own business and relaxing with a toke or two.
Many States have de-criminalized or made it a misdemeanor for pot, but the Feds defy the those States un-constitutionally. ..
It’s one thing to warn and tell us what is bad for us, but to intrude and regulate what they believe is bad for us is a blow against personal freedom.
I smoke cigarettes, yes, they are bad for me…They just passed a law that you can’t smoke anywhere, in any bar or restaurant which, to me, is up to the individual establishment to make that decision. Yeah, I know all about the second-hand smoke debate, too…still, it is not constitutional to make a law saying where and where I cannot smoke a cigarette, but, yet, they support the sale of cigarettes as legal, just as booze is legal….
the bottom-line is that our individual freedoms are being whiddled away, first this one then that, and then where will it end?
Many drugs are terrible, but more die from legal drugs…I never heard of anyone dying from marijuana….so, if it were legal and you could use it in other ways than smoking it, it would hardly damage the lungs…but,the amount quantity that it would take to use it in cooking might get you arrested even where it is a mis-demeanor for simple possession. THC Tea would be cool :))

Hard drugs are truly a problem, but pot…never could figure out why it is so scary to the lawmakers.

I don’t advocate anything either, I merely rant….losing battles; The VietNam War, The War in Iraq, The War on Drugs…I agree…wasteful…...

Lovely shot, brilliant framing! awesome work! strong message. Idiots and politics.

We are all drug takers …

dIDN’T YOU SAY THIS ALREADY?

Hi Helen – a well composed shot and the fact that it is thought provoking is clear in the comments above.

I do feel however that the statement you are making ignores the fact that drugs do not only kill but that they also destroy many people’s lives holding them in bondage and making them slaves to their addiction. To glamorize them under the guise of a political statement does not seem very wise.

It may well be that the War on Drugs is costing a lot of money with little effect. But would we rather that the government does nothing about anything than do what they can about something?

Just a thought.

Love Love & Love this print, very moving and perfect for society today many thoughts come to mind. Thank you for the image.

Helen you have not failed in your message – recieving you loud and clear! In laymans terms…. IT SUCKS!

very powerful message and a awesome image, excellent composition on this, i love your choice of lighting

Kudos for using your artistic talent…...
Reaching out to others to help them stay informed.
Excellent and gripping image!