Washing Powder

Since 1971, the criminalisation of certain plants has enriched cartels, banks and big pharma while ‘the war on drugs’ has empowered the military/police industrial complex.  According to the Open Society Foundation the war on plants costs the American government $100 billion a year whilst the illegal trade is estimated to turn over more than $330 billion annually. International bank HSBC was hit with a fine of over one billion dollars for enabling this international market. Furthermore, the transfer of plants from the global south to the global north for medical and recreational use is yet another mark of the continuing exploitation of the global south by the hegemonic powers of the north.