{news} Resolution on the Drug War, endorsed by the DC Statehood Green Party

[Clifford Thornton]

Friday, September 07, 2007 12:25 AM
Subject: Resolution on the Drug War, endorsed by the DC Statehood Green Party


The following resolution was passed unanimously
by the DC Statehood Green Party during our
monthly meeting, Thursday evening, September 6. 
DC Statehood Green delegates are now authorized
to sponsor the resolution and help place it
before the Green Party's National Committee. --
Scott


*A RESOLUTION TO INVESTIGATE THE REAL COST OF THE
WAR ON DRUGS*

WHEREAS, the "war on drugs" has failed: every
community in the U.S. contends with the harmful
effects of drug misuse and related problems, and
while states have continually increased their
expenditures to wage the war on drugs, policies
which rely heavily on arrest and incarceration
have proved costly and ineffective at addressing
these issues; and

WHEREAS, the war on drugs is a major force
driving the incarceration of over 2.1 million
people in the United States, with African
Americans disproportionately represented in our
country's overflowing jails and prisons; and

WHEREAS, the war on drugs perpetuates mandatory
minimums, felony disfranchisement,
disproportionate over-incarceration, poor access
to healthcare, under funded public education,
widespread unemployment, and the general
criminalization of communities of color in the
U.S.; and

WHEREAS, paying for the war on drugs means
spending limited tax dollars on failed policies
instead of proven solutions. Americans spend
approximately $140 billion annually on prisons
and jails including $24 billion spent on
incarcerating over 1.2 million non-violent
offenders. In many states, such as New York and
California, spending on prisons far surpasses
spending on education; and

WHEREAS, harm reduction strategies, including
access to affordable community-based drug
treatment, along with educational and economic
opportunities, have shown to be successful at
reducing the harms of drug misuse, yet more than
half of those Americans in need of drug treatment
do not have access to it; and

WHEREAS, African Americans are less likely to
sell or misuse illicit drugs than Caucasian
Americans, yet African Americans experience
highly disproportionate levels of death, disease,
crime and suffering due both to drug misuse and
to misguided drug policies. African Americans
comprise only 12.2 percent of the population and
13 percent of drug users, yet they make up 38
percent of those arrested for drug offenses and
59 percent of those convicted of drug offenses;
and

WHEREAS, our common goal is to advocate those
policies which increase the health and welfare of
our communities, and to reduce the unacceptable
racial disparities both in criminal justice and
in access to drug treatment and other services;
and

WHEREAS, taking steps to reduce the incarceration
of non-violent offenders and increasing the
availability of treatment not only makes fiscal
sense, but is sound public policy that is being
implemented in states throughout the country,
such as Maryland and California; and

WHEREAS, we believe that nonviolent substance
abusers are not menaces to our communities but
rather a troubled yet integral part of our
community who need to be reclaimed;

Thereford be it resolved, Cannabis and Hemp,
should be regulated and controlled like
cigarettes and alcohol. Heroin, Cocaine, Ecstasy,
Methamphetamine, should be medicalized and come
under the supervision of medical personnel. All
the rest of the illegal should be decriminalized
for future debate and true and honest medicinal
study.

Therebefore be it resolved, Taxes derived from
the sale of Cannabis and hemp will go back into
the communities as reparations to rebuild the
infra structure such as public education, health
care for those that have been ravished by drug
war maladies, treatment programs for addicted
people.


Efficacy
PO Box 1234
860 657 8438
Hartford, CT 06143
efficacy at msn.com<mailto:efficacy at msn.com>
www.Efficacy-online.org<http://www.efficacy-online.org/>
 
"THE DRUG WAR IS MEANT TO BE WAGED NOT WON"

Working to end race and class drug war injustice, Efficacy is a non profit
501 (c) 3 organization founded in 1997. Your gifts and donations are tax
deductible


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