{news} A RESOLUTION TO INVESTIGATE AND MITIGATE THE REAL COST OF THE WAR

[Clifford Thornton]

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This resolution passed overwhelmingly by the Green Party of the United
States of America

Proposal ID: 367
Proposal: A RESOLUTION TO INVESTIGATE AND MITIGATE THE REAL COST OF THE WAR
ON DRUGS Floor Manager: Holly Hart,
holly-hart at uiowa.edu<mailto:holly-hart at uiowa.edu<mailto:holly-hart at uiowa.edu%3Cmailto:holly-hart at uiowa.edu>>
Voting Dates: 09/25/2008 - 10/01/2008 

Voting ended at Midnight Pacific Time

Background: one hundred years of drug prohibition and four decades of the
"war on drugs"

Proposal: A RESOLUTION TO INVESTIGATE AND MITIGATE 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
2.3 million people in the United States, with African Americans and Latinos
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 and Latinos 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;

WHEREAS, 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 drugs should be decriminalized for future debate and
true and honest medicinal study.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED  THE Green Party of the United States of America
calls for a complete and thorough investigation into the so called Drug War,
and its connections to the prison industry, and seeks to mitigate its
destructive effects through taxes derived from the sale of Cannabis and hemp
which will go back into the communities as reparations to rebuild infra
structure such as public education, health care and roads for those
communities that have been ravaged by drug war maladies, as well as
treatment programs made available for anyone addicted to drugs.

Resources: Efficacy, Drug Policy Alliance, Common Sense for Drug Policy,
Criminal Justice Foundation

Contact Clifford W. Thornton, Jr. Efficacy at msn.com<mailto:Efficacy at msn.com>  

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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