by Brian Ballard Quass, the Drug War Philosopher
September 10, 2021
George Mohler is the computer geek behind event prediction software that is currently 'helping' Santa Clara police (but minorities not so much). I sent the following email to George today in an attempt to persuade him to find a more worthy client for his software than police forces in the age of the Drug War.
Hi, George.
I just watched the documentary 'Eye on You' and I wanted to share with you my concern about your 'event prediction' program. Such an algorithm-based police tactic might make sense in a world where laws were fair, but we live in the age of a Christian Science Drug War, in which it is illegal to even study certain medicines of which politicians disapprove. Sigmund Freud considered cocaine to be a godsend for his depression, but your program helps police track down cocaine users like dogs and treat them like scumbags before tossing them in overcrowded prisons. Opium enthusiasts have included Marco Polo, Marcus Aurelius and Benjamin Franklin, and yet your program helps police track down such people like dogs as well -- especially those who dare SELL plant medicine. Do you realize that Founding Father Thomas Jefferson grew the opium poppy at Monticello? But now those who deal in opium are treated like Adolf Hitler -- this despite the fact that entire religions have been inspired by psychoactive plant medicine. The entire Vedic religion was founded to worship the cosmic insights of the Soma plant. The psychedelic-fueled Eleusinian Mysteries gave cosmic insights for 2,000 consecutive years to a who's who of western luminaries, including Plato, Plutarch and Cicero. The Mesoamericans had plant-based religious rituals until Columbus and the Conquistadores showed up and demanded that they become Christians and drink liquor instead -- those that they did not kill, that is.
Your algorithms may stop the occasional old lady from being mugged, but if shows like 'Cops' mean anything, you can bet that what you're really doing is helping police to harass and crack down on minorities, throwing them into overcrowded prisons and removing them from the voting rolls by charging them with felonies -- thereby stealing American elections for racist conservatives.
If you study the Drug War, you will find that it causes all of the problems that it claims to be solving and then some. My mother suffers from dementia because the Drug War has outlawed all the drugs that show such great promise in treating it -- like ayahuasca that grows new neural pathways in the brain. Meanwhile, 1 in 4 American women are addicted to Big Pharma meds because the Drug War outlaws all the less addictive plant medicine that could help the depressed immeasurably. Cocaine, opium, and even heroin are less addictive than Big Pharma meds, because the latter change brain chemistry, which takes a long time (if ever) to revert to the normal baseline once Big Pharma 'meds' are withdrawn.
In short, the Drug War is hypocritical, anti-science, anti-nature, anti-minority, anti-patient, the establishment of the Christian Science religion, and a violation of Natural Law. Just ask the ghost of Thomas Jefferson that was spinning in its grave when the DEA stomped onto Monticello in 1987 and confiscated the Founding Father's poppy plants.
In light of these facts, I urge you to consider withdrawing your product from use by police forces, at least until such time as America decides to start learning about plant medicine rather than demonizing it.
The Drug War represents a wrong way of thinking about the world, one that causes a civil war in Mexico and impowers a self-proclaimed Drug War Hitler in the Philippines.
Please don't be a party to this ongoing injustice. Find a more worthy client for your algorithms than law enforcement in the Age of the Drug War.
Abolishthedea.com
PS The 'Eye on You' documentary showed the Santa Clara Police following up on one of your algorithm 'leads.' Of course, the evildoer they encountered wasn't robbing a store or mugging an orphan or getting ready to take hostages -- No, they were, AS PER USUAL, merely possessing substances of which beer-swilling Christian Drug Warrior politicians disapprove. But then the Drug War is just a make-work program for law enforcement. Imagine what police would do without a Drug War: they would just have to sit back and wait for people to actually do something wrong. Hmm. Then there would be no Cops and Detective shows for folks to watch after they got home from a nice day of being drug tested, no movies about the US marching into Latin American countries to shoot Latinos because they use or sell plant medicine that has been used responsibly for millennia by non-western countries, no movies about the DEA running roughshod over the US Constitution, torturing suspects and then shooting them at point-blank range in the age of our unprecedented war on substances.
Author's Follow-up: August 19, 2022
Looking back almost a year later, I ask myself if I wasn't a bit rough on George. After all, you catch more flies with honey, right? Of course, the irony is that I would be a much more patient fellow were I free to occasionally avail myself of opium, coca, psilocybin and especially the empathogenic Ecstasy -- the very drugs that George's algorithms will help get me arrested for using. So if I'm the monster here, then George is the Dr. Frankenstein who made me.
Author's Follow-up: March 6, 2025
I wish we had some computer code that would predict when racist politicians are going to create new laws designed to target minorities.
if ($suspect=='black' AND $location=='inner_city' AND $time_of_day=='night')
{
run $harassment_routine;
}
elseif ($suspect=='rich' AND $location=='suburbs' AND $average_salary>$100,000)
{
run $public_service_routine;
}
Open Letters
Check out the conversations that I have had so far with the movers and shakers in the drug-war game -- or rather that I have TRIED to have. Actually, most of these people have failed to respond to my calls to parlay, but that need not stop you from reading MY side of these would-be chats.
I don't know what's worse, being ignored entirely or being answered with a simple "Thank you" or "I'll think about it." One writes thousands of words to raise questions that no one else is discussing and they are received and dismissed with a "Thank you." So much for discussion, so much for give-and-take. It's just plain considered bad manners these days to talk honestly about drugs. Academia is living in a fantasy world in which drugs are ignored and/or demonized -- and they are in no hurry to face reality. And so I am considered a troublemaker. This is understandable, of course. One can support gay rights, feminism, and LGBTQ+ today without raising collegiate hackles, but should one dare to talk honestly about drugs, they are exiled from the public commons.
Somebody needs to keep pointing out the sad truth about today's censored academia and how this self-censorship is but one of the many unacknowledged consequences of the drug war ideology of substance demonization.
America's Blind Spot: Open Letter to Jospeh KoterskiCanadian Drug Warrior, I said Get Away: an open letter to Cory Morgan, columnist for the Western StandardCommon Sense Drug Withdrawal: an open letter to Austin of the Huachuma ProjectDrug War Murderers: an open letter to People magazineDrugs are not the problem: no, not even in nursing homesEnd the Drug War Now: an open letter to American Senators in Washington, D.C.Feedback on my first legal psilocybin session in Oregon: an open letter to the Psilocybin Advisory Board of the Oregon Health AuthorityFinally, a drug war opponent who checks all my boxes: an open letter to Julian BuchananFreedom of Religion and the War on Drugs: an open letter to Ligare, a Christian Psychedelic SocietyGetting off antidepressants in the age of the drug war: an open letter to Charley Wininger, author of 'Listening to Ecstasy'God and Drugs: why I am not (entirely) a ChristianHello? MDMA works, already!: An open letter to Dr. Jessica Maples-Keller, principal investigator for the 'MDMA Plus Exposure Therapy for PTSD' at Emory UniversityHow Addiction Scientists Reckon without the Drug War: an open letter to Professor Thad PolkHow National Geographic slanders the Inca people and their use of coca: an open letter to the National Geographic SocietyHow Scientific American reckons without the drug war: in response to 'A Talking Cure for Psychosis' by Matthew M. KurtzHow the Drug War is Threatening Intellectual Freedom in England: an open letter to British PhilosophersHow the Drug War Outlaws Criticism of Immanuel Kant: an open letter to Professor Daniel A. Bonevac of the University of PittsburghHow the Monticello Foundation betrayed Jefferson's Legacy in 1987: open letter to the 'Sites of Conscience' websiteHow the US Preventive Services Task Force Drums Up Business for Big Pharma: an open letter to Task Force member David Chelmow MDI'll See Your Antidepressants and Raise You One Huachuma Cactus: an open letter to Austin from the Huachuma ProjectIgnorance is the enemy, not Fentanyl: open letter to Lynn Walker of the Wichita Falls Times Record NewsIllusions with Professor Arthur Shapiro: a philosophical discussion of the fascinating series on Curiosity StreamIn Defense of Religious Drug Use: an open letter to Samuel Bendeck SotillosIntroduction to the Drug War Philosopher Website at AbolishTheDEA.comKeep Laughing Gas Legal: Open letter to Niamh Eastwood (Executive Director of Release) and Dr. David Nicholl (NHS neurologist), in response to their recent interview about laughing gas on Channel 5, UKMDMA for Psychotherapy: open letter to researcher Michael Mithoefer, MDMy Realistic Plan for Getting off of Big Pharma Drugs and why it's so hard to implement: an open letter to Mad in AmericaNo drugs are bad in and of themselves: an open letter to Steven Urquhart, founder of the Divine AssemblyOpen Letter to Addiction Specialist Gabor Mate: ending the torture-friendly 12-step programsOpen Letter to Anthony Gottlieb: author of The Dream of EnlightenmentOpen Letter to Congressman Ben Cline, asking him to abolish the criminal DEAOpen Letter to Diane O'Leary: author of 'Medicine's Bad Philosophy Threatens Your Health'Open Letter to Erica Zelfand: or at least to her gatekeeperOpen Letter to Francis Fukuyama: author of Liberalism and its DiscontentsOpen letter to Kenneth Sewell: author of Red Star RogueOpen Letter to Lisa Ling: whose documentary about Chicago violence does not even mention the Drug War!!!Open letter to Professor Troy Glover at Waterloo University: in response to his paper at Academia.edu entitled 'Regulating the Rave Scene'Open Letter to Richard Hammersley: about addictionOpen Letter to Rick Doblin and Roland Griffiths: the downsides of 'working within the system'Open Letter to Roy Benaroch MDOpen Letter to the United Nations Office on Drugs and CrimeOpen Letter to the Virginia Legislature: on behalf of my 92-year-old motherOpen Letter to Variety Critic Owen Glieberman: regarding his Drug War-biased review of the movie 'Four Good Days'Open Letter to Vincent Hurley, Lecturer: at Maquarie University, Department of Security Studies and CriminologyOpen Letter to Vincent Rado: agreeing to disagree?Open letter to Wolfgang Smith: author of 'The Quantum Enigma'Predictive Policing in the Age of the Drug War: open letter to computer scientist George MohlerProhibitionists Never Learn: an open letter to San Francisco DA Brooke JenkinsRegulate and Educate: an open letter to Oregon Governor Tina KotekReplacing antidepressants with entheogens: new hope for the millions who are dependent on SSRIs and SNRIsReview of When Plants DreamScience News Continues to Ignore the Drug War: open letter to Laura SandersScience News magazine continues to pretend that there is no war on drugs: an open letter to freelance writer Cassandra Willyard, author of 'A next-gen pain drug shows promise, but chronic sufferers need more options'Solquinox sounded great, until I found out I wasn't invited: an open letter to the Psychedelic Society of VermontSpeaking Truth to Big Pharma: an open letter to the Heffter Research InstituteTeenagers and Cannabis: an open letter to Clinical Professor Bobby Smyth at the School of Medicine, Trinity College DublinThe common sense way to get off of antidepressants: an open letter to Frederick S. Barrett, Ph.D., cognitive neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins UniversityThe Criminalization of Nitrous Oxide is No Laughing Matter: an open letter to the Drug Policy AllianceThe Depressing Truth About SSRIs: why psychedelic therapy must REPLACE modern psychiatry rather than simply complement itThe Invisible Mass Shootings: open letter to Criminologist James Alan FoxThe Menace of the Drug War: open letter to Arab Naz, author of The Menace of OpiateThe problem with Modern Drug Reform Efforts: an open letter to Professors Peter Reuter and Alex StevensThe Pseudoscience of Mental Health Treatment: an open letter to Dr. Jonathan SteaThe Right to LIVE FULLY is more important than the Right to DIE: open letter to Gino Kenny, People Before ProfitThere is nothing to debate: the drug war is wrong, root and branch: an open letter to Nathan of TheDEA.orgTime for News Outlets to stop promoting drug war lies: an open letter to WTOP NewsTop 10 Problems with the Drug War: and how we respond to it -- an open letter to Professor Nathan NobisUnscientific American: How the authors at Scientific American self-censor their articles in deference to America's Drug WarUsing plants and fungi to get off of antidepressants: an open letter to the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant MedicinesVancouver Police Seek to Eradicate Safe Use: open letter to the Vancouver Police DepartmentWeed Bashing at WTOP.COM: an open letter to station manager Joel OxleyWhitehead and Psychedelics: an open letter to Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes at the University of ExeterWhy DARE should stop telling kids to say no: open letter to the Christian Science propaganda organization called DAREWhy Rick Doblin is Ghosting Me: An open letter to apologists for the psychiatric pill millWhy the Drug War is Worse than you can Imagine: an open letter to Damon BarrettWhy the FDA is not qualified to judge psychoactive medicineWhy the Holocaust Museum must denounce the Drug War: an open letter to the UHMM in Washington, DC
People
about whom and to whom I've written over the years...
Alexander, Lamar
Letter to Lamar Alexander
Barrett, Frederick S.
The common sense way to get off of antidepressants
Why the Drug War is Worse than you can Imagine
Benaroch MD, Roy
Open Letter to Roy Benaroch MD
Bloom, Josh
Science is not free in the age of the drug war
Buchanan, Julian
Finally, a drug war opponent who checks all my boxes
Chalmers, David
David Chalmers and the Drug War
Chelmow MD, David
How the US Preventive Services Task Force Drums Up Business for Big Pharma
Chomsky, Noam
Chomsky is Right
Chomsky's Revenge
Noam Chomsky on Drugs
Cline, Ben
Open Letter to Congressman Ben Cline, asking him to abolish the criminal DEA
Close, Glenn
Glenn Close but no cigar
Cossin, Daniel
How AI turned William James into a Drug Warrior
De Quincey, Thomas
The Therapeutic Value of Anticipation
Dick, Philip K.
Drug Laws as the Punishment of 'Pre-Crime'
Doblin, Rick
Constructive criticism of the MAPS strategy for re-legalizing MDMA
Is Rick Doblin Running with the Devil?
Why Rick Doblin is Ghosting Me
Ellsberg, Daniel
Drug Warriors Fiddle while Rome Gets Nuked
Falcon, Joshua
Drugs are not the enemy, hatred is the enemy
Floyd, George
The Racist Drug War killed George Floyd
Fort, Charles
The Book of the Damned
Fox, James Alan
The Invisible Mass Shootings
Friedman, Milton
How Milton Friedman Completely Misunderstood the War on Drugs
Fukuyama, Francis
Open Letter to Francis Fukuyama
Gibb, Andy
How The Drug War Killed Andy Gibb
Gimbel, Steven
Heroin versus Alcohol
Glaser, Gabrielle
Open Letter to Gabrielle Glaser
Glieberman, Owen
Open Letter to Variety Critic Owen Glieberman
Glover, Troy
Open letter to Professor Troy Glover at Waterloo University
Goswami, Amit
Alternative Medicine as a Drug War Creation
Gottlieb, Anthony
Open Letter to Anthony Gottlieb
Grandmaster Flash, musician
Grandmaster Flash: Drug War Collaborator
Griffiths, Roland
Depressed? Here's why you can't get the medicines that you need
Open Letter to Rick Doblin and Roland Griffiths
Gupta, Sujata
The Mother of all Western Biases
Hammersley, Richard
Open Letter to Richard Hammersley
Handwerk, Brian
How National Geographic slanders the Inca people and their use of coca
Harris, Kamala
Why I Support Kamala Harris
Harrison, Francis Burton
Screw You, Francis Burton Harrison
Hart, Carl
Open Letter to Dr. Carl L. Hart
What Carl Hart Missed
Harvey, Dennis
How Variety and its film critics support drug war fascism
Heidegger, Martin
Heidegger on Drugs
Hogshire, Jim
I've got a bone to pick with Jim Hogshire
Opium for the Masses by Jim Hogshire
What Jim Hogshire Got Wrong about Drugs
Hurley, Vincent
Open Letter to Vincent Hurley, Lecturer
Hutton, Ronald
Drug Dealers as Modern Witches
James, William
How the Drug War is Threatening Intellectual Freedom in England
Keep Laughing Gas Legal
The Criminalization of Nitrous Oxide is No Laughing Matter
William James rolls over in his grave as England bans Laughing Gas
Jefferson, Thomas
A Misguided Tour of Monticello
How the Jefferson Foundation Betrayed Thomas Jefferson
How the Monticello Foundation betrayed Jefferson's Legacy in 1987
Jefferson
The Dark Side of the Monticello Foundation
Jenkins, Philip
'Synthetic Panics' by Philip Jenkins
Jenkins DA, Brooke
Prohibitionists Never Learn
Kant, Immanuel
How the Drug War limits our understanding of Immanuel Kant
How the Drug War Outlaws Criticism of Immanuel Kant
Kastrup, Bernardo
How Bernardo Kastrup reckons without the drug war
Kenny, Gino
The Right to LIVE FULLY is more important than the Right to DIE
Kirsch, Irving
Brahms is NOT the best antidepressant
Klang, Jessica
All these Sons
Kotek, Tina
Regulate and Educate
Koterski, Jospeh
America's Blind Spot
Kurtz, Matthew M.
How Scientific American reckons without the drug war
Langlitz, Nicolas
Why the FDA is not qualified to judge psychoactive medicine
Lee, Spike
Spike Lee is Bamboozled by the Drug War
Leshner, Alan I.
How the Drug War Screws the Depressed
Lewis, Edward
Psilocybin Mushrooms by Edward Lewis
Ling, Lisa
Open Letter to Lisa Ling
Locke, John
John Locke on Drugs
Maples-Keller, Jessica
Hello? MDMA works, already!
Margaritoff, Marco
In Defense of Opium
Open Letter to Margo Margaritoff
Marinacci, Mike
Psychedelic Cults and Outlaw Churches: LSD, Cannabis, and Spiritual Sacraments in Underground America
Martinez, Liz
Replacing antidepressants with entheogens
Mate, Gabor
In the Realm of Hungry Drug Warriors
Open Letter to Addiction Specialist Gabor Mate
Sherlock Holmes versus Gabor Maté
McAllister, Sean
How to Unite Drug War Opponents of all Ethnicities
Mithoefer, MD, Michael
MDMA for Psychotherapy
Mohler, George
Predictive Policing in the Age of the Drug War
Morgan, Cory
Canadian Drug Warrior, I said Get Away
Naz, Arab
The Menace of the Drug War
Newcombe, Russell
Intoxiphobia
Nietzsche, Friedrich
Nietzsche and the Drug War
Nixon, Richard
Why Hollywood Owes Richard Nixon an Oscar
Noakes, Jesse
Americans have the right to pursue happiness but not to attain it
Nobis, Nathan
Top 10 Problems with the Drug War
Nock, Matthew K.
How Harvard University Censored the Biography of William James
Nutt, David
Majoring in Drug War Philosophy
O'Leary, Diane
Open Letter to Diane O'Leary
Obama, Barack
What Obama got wrong about drugs
Offenhartz, Jake
Libertarians as Closet Christian Scientists
Pearson, Snoop
Snoop Pearson's muddle-headed take on drugs
Perry, Matthew
Drug War Murderers
Matthew Perry and the Drug War Ghouls
Pinchbeck, Daniel
Review of When Plants Dream
Polk, Thad
How Addiction Scientists Reckon without the Drug War
Pollan, Michael
Michael Pollan on Drugs
My Conversation with Michael Pollan
The Michael Pollan Fallacy
Rado, Vincent
Open Letter to Vincent Rado
Reuter, Peter
The problem with Modern Drug Reform Efforts
Rovelli, Carlo
Why Science is the Handmaiden of the Drug War
Rudgeley, Richard
Richard Rudgley condemns 'drugs' with faint praise
Sabet, Kevin
Why Kevin Sabet's approach to drugs is racist, anti-scientific and counterproductive
Sanders, Laura
Science News Continues to Ignore the Drug War
Santayana, George
If this be reason, let us make the least of it!
Schopenhauer, Arthur
Ego Transcendence Made Easy
What if Arthur Schopenhauer Had Used DMT?
Schultes, Richard Evans
The Drug War Imperialism of Richard Evans Schultes
Segall PhD, Matthew D.
Why Philosophers Need to Stop Dogmatically Ignoring Drugs
Sewell, Kenneth
Open letter to Kenneth Sewell
Shapiro, Arthur
Illusions with Professor Arthur Shapiro
Smith, Wolfgang
Open letter to Wolfgang Smith
Unscientific American
Smyth, Bobby
Teenagers and Cannabis
Sotillos, Samuel Bendeck
In Defense of Religious Drug Use
Stea, Jonathan
The Pseudoscience of Mental Health Treatment
Strassman, Rick
Five problems with The Psychedelic Handbook by Rick Strassman
What Rick Strassman Got Wrong
Szasz, Thomas
In Praise of Thomas Szasz
Tulfo, Ramon T.
Why the Drug War is far worse than a failure
Urquhart, Steven
No drugs are bad in and of themselves
Vance, Laurence
In Response to Laurence Vance
Walker, Lynn
Ignorance is the enemy, not Fentanyl
Walsh, Bryan
The Drug War and Armageddon
The End Times by Bryan Walsh
Warner, Mark
Another Cry in the Wilderness
Watson, JB
Behaviorism and the War on Drugs
Weil, Andrew
What Andrew Weil Got Wrong
Wells, HG
HG Wells and Drugs
Whitaker, Robert
Mad at Mad in America
Whitehead, Alfred North
Whitehead and Psychedelics
Willyard, Cassandra
Science News magazine continues to pretend that there is no war on drugs
Winehouse, Amy
How the Drug War Killed Amy Winehouse
Wininger, Charley
Getting off antidepressants in the age of the drug war
Wuthnow, Robert
Clodhoppers on Drugs
Zelfand, Erica
Open Letter to Erica Zelfand
Zinn, Howard
Even Howard Zinn Reckons without the Drug War
Zuboff, Shoshana
Tune In, Turn On, Opt Out
More Essays Here
Some Tweets against the hateful war on drugs
Scientists are censored as to what they can study thanks to drug law. Instead of protesting that outrage, they lend a false scientific veneer to those laws via their materialist obsession with reductionism, which blinds them to the obvious godsend effects of outlawed substances.
A law proposed in Colorado in February 2024 would have criminalized positive talk about drugs online. What? The world is on the brink of nuclear war because of hate-driven politics, and I can be arrested for singing the praises of empathogens?
Billboards reading "Fentanyl kills" are horrible because they encourage the creation of racist legislation that outlaws all godsend uses of opiates. Kids in hospice in India go without morphine because of America's superstitious fear of opiates.
There's a run of addiction movies out there, like "Craving!" wherein they actually personify addiction as a screaming skeleton. Funny, drug warriors never call for a Manhattan Project to end addiction. Addiction is their golden goose.
Pundits have been sniffing about the "smell" of Detroit lately. Sounds racist -- especially since such comments tend to come from drug warriors, the guys who ruined Detroit in the first place (you know, with drug laws that incentivized profit-seeking violence as a means of escaping poverty).
Everyone's biggest concern is the economy? Is nobody concerned that Trump has promised to pardon insurrectionists and get revenge on critics? Is no one concerned that Trump taught Americans to doubt democracy by questioning our election fairness before one single vote was cast?
If we encourage folks to use antidepressants daily, there is nothing wrong with them using heroin daily. A founder of Johns Hopkins used morphine daily and he not only survived, but he thrived.
Lying billboards in Philadelphia say that "Fentanyl Kills." NONSENSE! If Fentanyl kills, then so do cars, horses and alcohol. PROHIBITION IS THE REAL KILLLER.
After over a hundred years of prohibition, America has developed a kind of faux science in which despised substances are completely ignored. This is why Sci Am is making a new argument for shock therapy in 2023, because they ignore all the stuff that OBVIOUSLY cheers one up.
When Americans "obtain their majority" and wish to partake of drugs safely, they should be paired with older adults who have done just that. Instead, we introduce them to "drug abusers" in prerecorded morality plays to reinforce our biased notions that drug use is wrong.
More Tweets
The latest hits from Drug War Records, featuring Freddie and the Fearmongers!
Buy the Drug War Comic Book by the Drug War Philosopher Brian Quass, featuring 150 hilarious op-ed pics about America's disgraceful war on Americans
You have been reading an article entitled, Predictive Policing in the Age of the Drug War: open letter to computer scientist George Mohler, published on September 10, 2021 on AbolishTheDEA.com. For more information about America's disgraceful drug war, which is anti-patient, anti-minority, anti-scientific, anti-mother nature, imperialistic, the establishment of the Christian Science religion, a violation of the natural law upon which America was founded, and a childish and counterproductive way of looking at the world, one which causes all of the problems that it purports to solve, and then some, visit the drug war philosopher, at abolishTheDEA.com. (philosopher's bio; go to top of this page)
