Elected Officials, VIPs and Grassroots Slam Drug War on 40th Anniversary

June 17 will mark forty years since President Richard Nixon, citing drug abuse as "public enemy No. 1," officially declared a "war on drugs." A trillion dollars and millions of ruined lives later, the war on drugs has proven to be a catastrophic failure.

The Drug Policy Alliance, the nation's leading organization promoting drug policies grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights, will host a press conference at 1pm on Thursday, June 16 at the Newseum in Washington D.C.

Elected officials such as Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin and Congressmembers John Conyers of Michigan, Jared Polis of Colorado and Maxine Waters of California, along with celebrities like Sonja Sohn (The Wire), will speak at the event and call for an exit strategy from the failed war on drugs.

The event is free to the public and you can RSVP on our facebook page. If you can't make it to the event you can watch it live at the Newseum website.

This meeting will set the stage for the following national day of action. Dozens of events will be held throughout the country, including major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and New Orleans.

These events come on the heels of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which released a groundbreaking report on June 2 calling for a paradigm shift in how our society deals with drugs, including decriminalization and allowing countries to experiment with models of legal regulation. The commission is comprised of international dignitaries including Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations; Richard Branson, entrepreneur, founder of the Virgin Group; and the former presidents of Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Switzerland. George P. Shultz and Paul Volcker are U.S. commissioners.

Day of Action events include:

• Washington, DC: Leaders from African American and religious communities, including Rev. Jesse Jackson and Dr. Ron Daniels, will hold a forum at the National Press Club on June 17th to denounce current drug war policies. Leaders will call for a new direction in drug policy that reduces the role of the criminal justice system and that addresses the devastating impact of drug policies on black communities.

• Chicago: Hundreds of Chicagoans will gather at the James R Thompson Center to rally against the drug policies that have led to injustices such as the extreme racial disparities in Illinois's prisons and jails.

• Los Angeles: Grassroots organizations and students, including Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Pico Youth and Family Center, Moms United to End the War on Drugs, All of Us or None, Homies Unidos and other criminal justice organizations, will stage a Day of Action to call for an end to the war on drugs and mass incarceration. Also, the William C. Velasquez Institute will host a forum in Los Angeles with top Latino leaders to discuss the impact of the drug war on Latino communities. The forum will be broadcast live on public radio.

• New York City: Advocates, community leaders and elected officials will attend a forum and silent vigil at the Harlem State Office Building to highlight the impacts of the drug war on NY communities. The event is being organized by Women on the Rise Telling HerStory (WORTH)

• New Orleans: Local criminal justice organizations will commemorate the 40th anniversary of President Nixon's declaration of the war on drugs with a Second Line March that is a "Funeral for the failed war on drugs."

• Students for Sensible Drug Policy is coordinating candlelight vigils in more than 20 cities in North America, including one in Mexico City. The vigils will be held in remembrance of the victims of the war on drugs, and will highlight the message that the war on drugs is a war on all of us.

"Some anniversaries provide an occasion for celebration, others a time for reflection, still others a time for action," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Forty years after President Nixon declared his war on drugs, we're seizing upon this anniversary to prompt both reflection and action. And we're asking everyone who harbors reservations about the war on drugs -- to join us in this enterprise.

Tony Newman is the director of media relations at the Drug Policy Alliance (www.drugpolicy.org)

 

Follow Tony Newman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TonyNewmanDPA

Comments

[MalcolmKyle]

10:22 AM on 06/21/2011

When we legally regulate (as opposes to prohibit) the use of something we do NOT automatically condone it's use; the legal regulations concerning the sale and manufacture of alcohol and tobacco are there to protect us from the vast increase in criminality and mayhem that would otherwise surely exist if we were foolish enough to prohibit them.

Nicotine is the biggest killer of all known drugs, but it's sale is legally regulated. Now why is that? Alcohol Prohibition made cigarette smoking a national habit. High on the evangelicals' hit list, second only to alcohol as a substance that had to be prohibited. In 1921, cigarettes were illegal in fourteen states, and anti-cigarette bills were pending in twenty-eight others. The prohibition of cigarettes, promoted by the very people who gave us the prohibition of alcohol, made cigarette smoking almost irresistible. As the experiment of Prohibition failed, the anti-cigarette laws fell. By 1930, they were legal almost everywhere; during Prohibition, the consumption of tobacco had nearly tripled.

[Gart Valenc]

05:45 AM on 06/15/2011

This is an opportunity any sensible, rational person should take to let their politicians know that Prohibition and the so-called War on Drugs is not only irrational and ineffective, it is barbaric, inhumane and a crime against humanity. So, wherever you are in the world, take any step, no matter how small it may seem, to let those who are supposed to represent your interests know that is time to pursue more enlightened drug policies. So for those in the UK, for instance, you can join Release campaign Drugs - Time For Better Laws here: http://www.release.org.uk/

Prohibition is not, and has never been, the solution to the so-called drug problem; on the contrary, it has only made things worse. And remember, it is Prohibition itself which must be ended. It should not be confined to a particular drug or to one side of the drug trade. It concerns not just marijuana, but all drugs; not just the decriminalisation of the demand but perhaps more importantly, the legalisation and regulation of the production, too.

Gart Valenc
http://www.stopthewarondrugs.org

[seabourne]

01:05 AM on 06/15/2011

Tell your Congressional Representatives -
It is time to "Change the Schedule of Cannabis, Cannabis Laws, and Drug Czar Laws"
Read and Sign the petition at

http://www.change.org/petitions/change-the-schedule-of-cannabis-cannabis-laws-and-drug-czar-laws

After you sign the petition, email your friendlies, share on facebook, or twitter from the petition page. If you have a website grab the widget so your vistitors can sign it without leaving your website.

Though the petition is a babystep to ending the war on cannabis, with each step the baby gets further down the road. Since the start (May11th) of the petition, 3 new Bills were introduced in the House. While the DPA worked with the Legislators to draw up the Bills, this petition gave them the timing to introduce the Bills. Help get them passed by signing the petition. Each signature sends an email to the Congressional Representatives of the signer. Let Congress know It is time to end the war!