Reform Drug Policy to Decrease Harm and Increase Public Safety..

Submitted by Bill Crosier on February 28, 2006 - 2:36pm. :: |

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WHEREAS it has become increasingly apparent that policies seeking to redress the negative consequences of drug use and abuse via have failed; and

WHEREAS, drug abuse is principally a health and social issue best addressed through a combination of education, prevention and treatment, and

WHEREAS, the criminalization of all aspects of production, distribution, sale and use for certain classes of drugs is the proximate cause of a criminal justice system strained by nonviolent offenders, and

WHEREAS, current drug laws, including mandatory minimum sentences, tend to disproportionately affect people with few financial resources, leading to selective enforcement and disparities in sentencing, and

WHEREAS, the drug war ensures billions of dollars annually for our terrorist enemies willing to grow prohibited flowers, enriches dangerous cartels for distributing prohibited weeds and allows violent gangs to thrive from selling contaminated drugs to our children, and

WHEREAS, the Federal Higher Education Act prevents students with drug convictions from obtaining student loans forcing many students to quit college, and

WHEREAS, current laws prevent physicians from prescribing some drugs with medically proven uses for the alleviation of pain and suffering, and

WHEREAS, consistent with the principles of personal responsibility and liberty, the possession and use of regulated intoxicants should not be criminalized in the absence of a compelling public health concern, thus freeing the criminal justice system to focus on violent criminal activity, and

WHEREAS, providing unbiased, scientific information about the health, economic, and social consequences attributable to the use and potential abuse of currently illegal drugs will provide a rational basis for responsible decision making by individuals and public policy officials, therefore, be it

RESOLVED that illegal drugs become regulated as intoxicants as are alcohol and tobacco, and be it further

RESOLVED that revenue from taxes on such substances as well as funds diverted from the "drug war" and incarceration costs be transferred to research and treatment of addiction.

Draft Submitted by Tami Halphen, Feb. 12, 2006, rev. by Kris & Ron Graham Mar. 2, 2006, rev. Feb. 2008 by Dean Becker


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