Six Questions: Jeremy Bigwood Talks to the Alliance

Jeremy Bigwood, a freelance investigative reporter and photographer based in Washington, DC, is known for documenting the Drug War and civil wars of Latin America. He traveled alongside rebel groups and government soldiers there from 1984-1994, snapping photographs that appeared in Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, Der Spiegel, Der Stern, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe.

After discovering that the U.S. government had been surreptitiously snooping through the vast rolls of film he had been mailing to a top New York photo agency, Bigwood turned his investigative sights on the U.S. government. Since then, Bigwood has spent years acquiring previously classified documents from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Defense Information Agency (DIA), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of State, and numerous other government agencies.

Mr. Bigwood brings with him over three decades of experience as an academic researcher in the fields of biochemistry, ethnobotany, and social science. Mr. Bigwood, who recently appeared as a panelist at the Alliance’s biennial conference in New Jersey, is working with us to publish portions of his giant FOIA library at the Alliance website.
 
1. How did you get involved in drug-policy reform?

I was charged in 1968 for “being present” where a single joint of marijuana had been found, which wasn't even mine. I appealed, went on the lam for a couple of years and started to work for the Committee for a Sane Drug Policy (CSDP) in Boston and even testified at the Statehouse while still on the run. CSDP helped change the Massachusetts Cannabis laws and "being present" was no longer an offense, and the penalties for possession and use were greatly reduced. Even before that time I thought that the drug laws needed reforming, and continue to support the outright legalization of Cannabis for adults, coca leaf products, the self-exploratory and/or religio-shamanic use of entheogens, and “harm reduction” measures when it comes to the more habit-forming compounds.

2. What is your current role in the field?

I am doing two rather disparate things. I have been working on issues related to expanding the market for coca leaf products, especially coca tea in order to make that benign stimulant available to adults worldwide and alleviate some of the US-instigated pressure on the Indians who grow it throughout the Andes. Additionally, I use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain previously classified material on the drug war and many other topics from various federal agencies that has proved useful for academics and journalists. I also run a website, http://JeremyBigwood.net, which is devoted to shining a light on the issue of the US counter-drug spray operations in Colombia.

3. What has been the high point of your anti-drug war work?

Boy, there have been several, but the high point was helping to stop the devious plans of a few government officials and others to use toxic fungi called mycoherbicides against drug crops in Colombia and probably elsewhere after that. My research had shown that the fungi were not just toxic to coca and poppy, but to other plants and mammals, too – including humans – and these fungi had already been banned by one US state. The mycoherbicide plan was part of Plan Colombia which had chugged through Congress in 2000, and was eventually derailed by two unlikely mechanisms: through Clinton’s National Security Council, which came to believe that the fungi would be perceived as a unilateral US entry into biowar – and also through the Andean Community of Nations – Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela – who also banned its use within their borders. It was a simultaneous multi-tracked approach: finding people in government who were against the idea to speak up; applying subtle pressure on the Executive branch; and working with the Latin American governments where it was to be deployed to put a stop to it; and very important – having a website with unbiased information available for all. In this case, pressure on Congress proved useless.

4. What challenge would you most like to see the drug-policy reform movement overcome this year?

I have just come back into the fold after being outside for almost two decades. I haven’t seen the progression over the years. But I do see a need for everyone to listen to each other more and try to push for small concrete changes, rather than everything at once – and above all “do no harm”.  Making lasting change for the better is an extremely complex full-time undertaking requiring a symphony of strategies and several conductors. The greatest challenge I see for this movement is for all of us to pull together while working on different tracks and try to do so with less infighting and criticism of our own allies.

5. One sentence, please, that sums up your views on drug-policy reform.

At the present juncture, drug-policy reform represents the cutting edge of the civil and human rights movement because it deals with many aspects of the interplay between the individual and his or her society and government.

6. What is your advice to fellow reformers who want to be more active in the field?

Find out what you do best and apply it while continuing to hone the skills of the things that you don’t do so well. Work with the movement one step at a time, taking the time to learn new things and don’t become so absorbed that you don’t live life fully. Mix extremely dedicated intense periods of work with lighter ones.  History is on our side and we will make changes, and when we do, we will want to apply our skills to the next batch of issues that our societies present us with. This is a long haul, so pace yourselves...