1/X THREAD ON OPIUM TEA

A mild opium tea called "doda" was widely sold in Canada until 2009.

Doda is made by grinding dried poppy heads & stalks into a powder, then adding hot water.

I can't find any first-hand media reports of social problems or crime arising from doda use. 2/x In 2009 Canadian police launched a major anti-doda propaganda campaign.

Anti-doda scare stories suddenly showed up everywhere. Cops dubbed it "the poor man's heroin."

Many stories like these appeared in early 2009.

In the years before, doda was never in the news.

1/ THREAD

The global drug war is the #1 cause of corruption & abuse among police around the world.

Here's a long thread covering all drug cop corruption cases this year.

Let's start with a massive report on Baltimore cop corruption released Jan 2022.

baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-… 2. The corruption in Baltimore's police was mainly around drugs. They are still paying out settlements to people falsely convicted after cops planted drugs on them and then lied in court.

baltimoresun.com/maryland/balti…

Police drug-related corruption thread.

Louisiana: Entire Baton Rouge police drug squad disbanded for systemic corruption.

wbrz.com/news/nearly-a-… 2. Panama: Drug smuggling operation included Air Force and Navy members, a captain in the presidential guard, airport security staff, a substitute judge and other government officials.

insightcrime.org/news/panama-un…

THREAD!
Have you heard of the Weadster Bunny? He's been hiding green treats for grown-ups around Vancouver today.

If you recognize the spots in these photos, go see if you can find a little brown bag with green tape. There just might be a treat inside!

Here's the first one. 2/ Some call him the Easter Buddy. Apparently he had a busy day hiding special gifts for all the grown-ups in Vancouver. Now the kids are tucked away in bed, it's time to find some Easter Flowers!

Recognize this spot? Scurry there now to find a Weedy Easter Prize!

THREAD: I've been learning about police foundation charities, since the controversy around the $1 million given to VPD by billionaire Peter Wall. Read this thread for some interesting info.

theglobeandmail.com/canada/british… Police Foundations have been spreading across North America for many years. They're registered charities which collect money for police projects from corporate donors.

smartcitiesdive.com/news/private-d…

THREAD: During the 1800s, many people believed that masturbating would drive you insane.

There was a huge cultural fear of masturbation. This natural act was punished, criminalized and pathologized.

Academics call this "The Great Masturbation Panic."

mimimatthews.com/2016/05/17/the… 2/ When people saw someone with a mental illness who was masturbating in public, they believed the mental illness was caused by masturbation, and didn't realize it was the mental illness causing the socially inappropriate behaviour.

lib.uwo.ca/archives/virtu…

THREAD: "Challenge coins" are common among military and police. They're little medallions to promote team spirit.

They're also weird and scary when you see the logos and designs these groups use.

Vancouver Airport enforcement uses a menacing Punisher logo for some reason. 2/ Last month a Toronto cop was ordered to remove a Punisher logo from his uniform. But it turns out this image is common on Challenge Coins and other internal police memorabilia.

thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…

Conservative MP retweeting a Qanon-backer account with paranoid conspiracy about George Soros. I wonder if the people obsessed with hating Soros know how often he parties with Trump insiders and does business with the Trump family?

Calgary cops force female officer on vice squad to describe sex acts, pretend to orgasm in public places and solicit strangers for sex as part of her "training."

Read the whole article. It's brutal.

#DefundThePolice

calgaryherald.com/opinion/column… Reminder that the RCMP is currently facing a class action lawsuit from hundreds of RCMP officers, workers and volunteers claiming sexual, mental and physical harassment from other RCMP officers and police officials.

globalnews.ca/news/6488391/r…

THREAD ON THE MYTH OF CANNABIS POTENCY

US Surgeon General says cannabis is 3x stronger now than in the 90s.

"This ain't your mother's marijuana. Not enough people know that today's marijuana is far more potent than in days' past."

-US Surgeon General Dr Jerome Adams. 2. Sounds like the weed they smoked back in the 1990s must have been pretty weak. Let's see what they were saying about marijuana potency at the time.

In 1995, US "Drug Czar" Lee Brown told media that "Marijuana is 40 times more potent today than 10, 15, 20 years ago."

THREAD:

The BC NDP has the power to stop arrests for possession and to create a safe drug supply.

Here's just some of the groups calling for decriminalization of drug users in BC. 2/X

"Decriminalization of all drug possession is now seen as a critical component of a comprehensive response to the overdose crisis."

- BC Centre for Disease Control

THREAD:

THE WAR ON DRUG USERS IS A GENOCIDE

The Genocidal Chain of Destruction:

1. Identification
2. Ostracism
3. Confiscation
4. Concentration
5. Annihilation

In Canada we are at step 5: Annihilation, through withholding of medical care.

youtube.com/watch?v=c8N0TD… 2/X THE WAR ON DRUG USERS IS A GENOCIDE

When an identifiable group of people is dying in large numbers from a preventable health emergency, and the government actively blocks access to medical care which would prevent deaths, that is called "genocide."

straight.com/news/1233356/p…

As April 20 approaches, questions about "high costs" of 4/20 are coming up again. I have been looking into issue of @VancouverPD policing costs for public events in @CityofVancouver, and I've discovered there's a much bigger story here which needs to be discussed. 1/X #vanpoli Soaring @VancouverPD bills have been forcing @CityofVancouver's public events into bankruptcy for years. For instance, St Patrick's Day Parade was forced to cancel in 2016 & '17 because they couldn't afford city's high bills, mainly for policing. 2/X news1130.com/2017/12/07/van…