RE: The Latin American Report # 219

"Presumed diagnosis of self-induced deep coma provoked by the ingestion of anxiolytic, antidepressant and sedative medication," a police report quoted by a local period would read, but the penitentiary authority is saying that "it was determined that [Glas] suffered a possible decompensation due to his refusal to consume the food provided by this State Service, during the last 24 hours."

Access to potentially fatal doses of drugs should not be available to captives completely at the mercy of their captors, and ingestion of such doses of drugs is properly laid at the feet of those that presume to deny free people independent agency and thereby assume responsibility and liability for their health and safety.

Similarly, there is no reduction or limitation of liability of the captors if the captive suffers 'decompensation' (whatever that is) from lack of food. Again, the captor assumes all responsibility and liability for the health and safety of the captive when denying their free agency. Further, it is ridiculous that any adverse health effect can be laid at the feet of one day without food, other than slight hunger. I have gone 30 days without solid food without significant health impacts (negative health impacts. I did lose considerable weight), so it is preposterous that only one day without food would cause life threatening health impacts on anyone not already at death's door.

"Last February, in less than 2 kilometers the Carabineros Police destroyed 11 illegal refineries, all credited to the ELN. "These unauthorized facilities were dedicated to the processing of coca leaf and the illegal commercialization of hydrocarbons," said a senior police commander."

While theft of gasoline from pipelines is not all committed for this application, all of the illegal coca processing, the environmental damage, and the funding of political opposition, is due to prohibition. Such bandits could not compete economically with a professionally run coca refinery, and all of the downstream peripheral crimes, human trafficking, violence, and thefts to pay for black market drugs, would also be eliminated by professional, pharmaceutical production of cocaine. It is difficult to understand how people justify maintaining such a scourge when confronted with such probative evidence of such horrific harms as result from prohibition.

Not least is the oppressive imposition on human sovereignty the very presumption of power to mandate prohibition entails.

Thanks!