Co-authored by Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
40 years ago today, President Richard Milhous Nixon declared America's "War on Drugs." This failed war continues even today to have a devastating and debilitating impact on the lives of millions of Americans. We add our voices to the growing number of people of good conscience to demand a resolute end to this awful destructive and nonproductive war.
The "War on Drugs" has not only wasted more than a trillion dollars over the last four decades, but this misguided war has also caused millions of families and communities to be injured and decimated. Instead of a "War on Drugs," President Nixon should have declared a "War on Poverty," because we all know the bitter truth that the prolonged social disillusionment and self-destructive consequence of the petulant mire of decades of poverty for millions of Americans actually sets the stage for the persistence of drug abuse, violence and hopelessness.
It's most regrettable that the majority of voters in November of 68 underestimated Richard Nixon's repressive policy intentions. How did Nixon manage to become president of the United States in the first place? The answer to this question is important in 2011 as the nation prepares for the 2012 elections.
The current sentiments of the so-called Tea Party are very similar to the regressive views of Nixon and Agnew back in the late 1960s. Nixon and Agnew ran a divisive but successful "law and order" campaign and were elected in 1968 in direct counter action to the profound social and political change in the consciousness of the majority of people who wanted real change in their lives. Thus, President Nixon was elected during a reactionary period in American history. It was a period of repression, and the so-called "law and order" theme really was a code phrase for solidifying the "status quo" on the right to prevent further progressive social change that had become characteristic of the early and mid 1960s.
We should be mindful not to let history to repeat itself today as we approach the 2012 elections. President Obama has to continue to strive both to put an end to the failed drug policies of the past and to promote more treatment for drug-related illnesses, rather than to build more prisons. We applaud him for the crack/powder disparities being brought down; however, we all know that America needs more public policy rehabilitation from the punitive and careless drug policies that have led to the United States to have highest incarceration rate in the world, while expanding the ranks of the poor and destitute. We will proudly work with this administration to further fix these decades-old problems.
The consolation is that we have won some victories, even in the face of the failed War on Drugs. We recalled that in the aftermath of Nixon's declaration, the state of New York passed one of the most draconian drug laws ever enacted by a state: The Rockefeller Drug Laws in 1973. The results, in particular for African Americans and Latino Americans, were horrible and thousands were unjustly imprisoned for long prison terms, even for first-time, nonviolent offenders. But we thank the hip-hop community for helping to lead the way to successfully challenge and end the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
Let us all on this day re-dedicate ourselves to the struggle to end poverty and to further dismantle the drug policies of the past that have had such a negative impact on the soul, spirit and life of our nation. Let us on this day prepare ourselves to push for more reforms and effective strategies and policies that will enable more people to become self-empowered and compassionate for the whole of humanity. And finally, on this day let's work harder to end the madness of ineffective drug policies. We should learn from the past without repeating it.
Follow Russell Simmons on Twitter: www.twitter.com/unclerush
Jesse Levine: Has the Movement Opposing America's Drug War Broken Through to the Mainstream?
David Haseltine: In the War on Drugs, Youths Are Educators
Locke Bowman: Mass Incarceration Undoes California (And the Rest of Us Too)
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
Does he not realize, if there would be a shift of cultural thinking towards education, drugs would not be the massive problem they are today. People raised around poverty tend not to value education the way middle class does and often make fun of people who try to better their life through education (this goes for EVERYONE, including whites).
"America needs more public policy rehabilitation from the punitive and careless drug policies that have led to the United States to have highest incarceration rate in the world"
People also need to realize that there are consequences for their actions. Rehab is great, but if you don't punish people for their actions, most likely they'll continue to make the same mistake over and over and over and over. I can't get behind the idea that rehab policies will change the world. Drugs and crime typically go hand in hand.
For everyone in prision on a drug charge, was it their first time doing drugs? typically not. was it their first time committing a crime? typically not. was it their first time getting caught? who knows.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/22-shot-in-mexico-as-fifa-tournament-opens-20110620-1gamz.html?amp&&&
Here's your War on Drugs in action, Uncle Scam.
Party ON, Dude! ;-))
So, in all seriousness, I'd like to hear your take.
People choose to do drugs (MOST of the time, pain killers different story). I do not feel horrible bad for addicts since their initial decision put the needle in their arm or pipe to their mouth.
The biggest culprits here are education and poverty. We keep cutting back on schools until there's very little left of our archaic system. And government dole out programs encourage people to stagnate.
We need to put the money we have into education. Better schools, updated technology, pay teachers what they deserve, cut out most of the administration which only drains the budget. Teach kids the basics, and add how to communicate, overcome problems & stress, values, arts, and building relationships. Also have vocational classes as a requirement.
Change govt programs to provide needed care, but require that recipients actively attend school or work. Have mandatory workshops, GED and parenting classes, drug and gang intervention, etc. That way help is available to anyone as long as they are moving toward a better way of life.
Soverign Citizens would never allow a corporate owned government.
Soverign Citizens would never allow a monetary system that penalizes them while rewarding a few elites.
Soverign Citizens would never allow the government to control 30% of the land mass of the United States while forbidding them to use any of it to form free & self sustaining eco-villages for the unemployed, elderly & homeless.
Soverign Citizens would never allow people to be only considered valuable as long as they support the corporate Profits- WageSlave paradigm and criminal if they do not.
Guardians of the Environment would not allow the suppression of free energy inventions to protect the interests of Corporate Profits.
Guardians of the Environment would not support vast, sprawling suburban McMansion settlements that exhaust the resources of the planet while promoting a planet wide culture of spend, then waste, then spend again on the limited resources of the planet.
Guardians of the Environment would demand that people live in self sustaining, shared resource eco-villages which minimise the need for materials and the destructive harvesting of Earth's gifts.
In order to solve the abuse of drugs by people, I think that we should look at Maharishi Mahesh Yogis past comment on solveing problems. We should ignore the problem and insert the second element. For example, if we walk into a dark room and we want light, we turn on the light.
We need to have a program where we can teach TM to all those people in jail for drug violations. We need to make available TM for anyone who wishes to learn.
Ignore the drug issue and teach TM.
Drugs work, they do what they claim on thier labels both legal and illegal. If they did not work, so many people would not be useing them. TM is also proven to work.
There are sinister agents at work that keep the prohabition industry going. Any one who has studied the war on drugs ( war against the ruled ) know that its a medical, mental issue and that makeing it criminal is in itself a crime.
When the railroads were complete in the west, they had to find a way to move the mexicans back to mexico. The mexican workers, many of them carried with them a bag a marijuana, so the lawmakers made it illegal to have marijuana. Drug policy is a social controll tactic used by those who rule, to make laws to protect thier interests.
That would work IF the people who could actually do something about the problems we face (i.e. the rich and powerful) actually wanted to help the country. They don't. They want to help themselves which is precisely what they are doing and quite successfully I might add. The rest of us can all fight amongst ourselves until we kill each other. Notice how combative most of the people who post here are? We point fingers all around, blaming "Liberals" and "Conservatives" which does nothing to solve our problems.
The master plan of the plutocracy is already working. Brace yourself for the next act and get a helmet.