Drug%20War:%20How%20We%20Got%20Into%20This%20Mess%20and%20the%20Vested%20Interests%20That%20Keep%20Us%20Here

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Drug War How We Got Into This Mess and the
Vested Interests That Keep Us Here

• Suzanne Wills
• Drug Policy Forum of Texas
• Email - suzy_at_dpft.org

Slides created by Nathan Kohler
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Mission  To provide scientific information and
expert opinion about drugs and to suggest a path
to better policies. 
http//www.dpft.org/
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1906 Pure Food Drugs Act
U. S. Postal Service commemorative stamp
issued January 15, 1998.
7
George Washington reportedly used laudanum to
ease the pain caused by his ill fitting
dentures. It was easily available until 1914.
45 alcohol with 2.964 grams of opium per fluid
ounce 
http//wings.buffalo.edu/aru/preprohibition.htm
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• Dr. Hamilton Wright
• Set out to eradicate opium use
• Harrison Narcotics Act
• The creation of addict as a
• criminal
• Was a severe alcoholic
• - Supported by temperance movement
• Financially supported by wife,
• Elizabeth Washburn Wright

9
In 1910 there were 12,000 temperance leagues with
248,343 members. By 1920 membership had risen to
345,949.
Source Norton Mezvinsky, "The White Ribbon
Reform, 1874-1920
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Alcohol still, circa 1925
Virginia Tech Palmer Collection
http//imagebase.lib.vt.edu/browse.php?folio_ID/p
almer/kn/moon
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Harry J. Anslinger, Commissioner of Federal
Bureau of Narcotics, 1930-1962
"... the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is
its effect on the degenerate races." 1937
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http//www.conquestdesign.com/uncler/index.html
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http//www.wclynx.com/burntofferings/adsfootball.h
tml?
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Reefer Madness, was produced in 1936 with the
close collaboration of the Bureau of Narcotics.

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Dr. William C. Woodward represented the American
Medical Association in hearings on the taxation
of marihuana before the House of
RepresentativesCommittee on Ways and Means in
1937.
http//luirig.altervista.org/naturaitaliana/viewpi
cs.php?titleWm.C.Woodward
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- Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 to levy a token
tax of approx. 1 on all buyers, sellers,
importers, growers, physicians, veterinarians,
and any others who deal in marijuana
commercially, prescribe it professionally, or
possess it. - 5 years prison and/or
2000 fine -
Doctors had to report to Bureau of Narcotics on
patients or both would be fined/ jailed -
Made marijuana unprofitable as a pharmaceutical
product
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http//www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/06/11/opini
on/11blow_graphic.html?refopinion
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Arrests in Texas-2011 in 1,000s
127
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http//www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-
u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table_69_ar
rest_by_state_2011.xls
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The Budgetary Implications of Drug Prohibition
February, 2010 Jeffrey A. Miron Department of
Economics, Harvard University
http//www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/miron/fil
es/budget20201020Final.pdf
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American Scientist, May-June 2006, The Toxicity
of Recreational Drugs, by Robert S. Gable.
Graphic by David Schneider
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Use by high school seniors in the past 30 days
Marijuana 23
Tobacco 18
Monitoring the Future, results of June, 2012
survey
27
Fumigated food crops in Colombia. Photo by Sanho
Tree, Institute for Policy Studies.
Tobacco kills over 400,000 people in the U.S.
every year and millions more worldwide.
28
Murder rate, Dallas, TX 2010- 12.4 per 100,000

Bureau of Justice Statistics
Bureau of Justice Statistics
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Http//www.hero.ac.uk/uk/studying/archives/2002/
no_politics__please1376.cfm
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Inscribed To Governor Ray Shafer ...from his
devoted friend Richard M. Nixon
http//shafer.allegheny.edu/figures.html
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• Washington, DC - A Presidential
• commission's report recommends
• that marijuana be legalized. The
• Commission concluded that
• marijuana users "are essentially
• indistinguishable from their
• nonmarijuana using peers by any
• fundamental criterion other than their marijuana
  use." They found that, "Neither the marijuana
  user nor the drug itself can be said to
  constitute a danger to public safety." The
  Commission recommended "Decriminalization of
  possession of marijuana for personal use on both
  the state and federal levels."

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• The Report of the National Commission
• on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
• Marihuana A Signal of Misunderstanding
• Commissioned by President Richard M. Nixon,
  March, 1972

"...the creation of ever-larger bureaucracies,
ever-increasing expenditure of monies and an
outpouring of publicity so that the public will
know that 'something' is being done. Perhaps the
major consequence of this ... has been the
creation of a vested interest in the perpetuation
of the problem among those dispensing and
receiving funds ... In the course of well-meaning
efforts to do something about drug use, this
society may have inadvertently institutionalized
it as a never-ending project." 
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http//www.amsterdam.info
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http//www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mg18524
921.300
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Percentage who have ever used certain drugsWorld
Heath Organization surveys, published 2007
42.4
19.8
16.2
1.9
1.4
0.4
http//medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request
get-documentdoi10.1371/journal.pmed.0050141 htt
p//www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm
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Dallas Morning News July 8, 2007 Editorial
At the End of the Line
U S A
U S A
U S A
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In 1960, only four million Americans had ever
tried drugs. Currently, that number has risen to
over 74 million.
President Nixon receiving a certificate of
special honor for supporting narcotic law
enforcement.
http//www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/history/1970-1975.ht
ml
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Lifetime Marijuana Use among Persons Aged 12 to
25, by Age Group 19652002 National Survey on
Drug Use and Health
http//www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda/2k2nsduh/results/2
k2Results.htm
http//www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda/2k2nsduh/results/2
k2Results.htm
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http//www.justice.gov/dea/agency/staffing.htm
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George McMahon Nail Patella Syndrome
Irvin Rosenfeld-Bone disorder
Elvy Musikka Glaucoma patient
Corrine Millet-glaucoma patient Barb
Douglass-multiple sclerosis
patient Two patients maintain anonymity.
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Conant vs. McCaffrey (later vs.
Walters) established physicians right to discuss
Cannabis with their patients.
Dr. Marcus Conant Lead plaintiff
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Gonzales v. Raich, June 6, 2005
despite a congressional finding to the
contrary, marijuana does have valid therapeutic
purposes."
In the early days of the Republic, it would
have been unthinkable that Congress could
prohibit the local cultivation, possession, and
consumption of marijuana. Justice Clarence
Thomas
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Dispensary http//tucsonmedicalmarijuana.org/calif
ornia-pot-dispensaries-targeted-by-u-s/
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 IRS, DEA and U.S. Marshals take over Oakland
cannabis school NBC Bay Area, April 3, 2012
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June, 2012
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• The undertreatment of pain in hospitals
• is absolutely medieval.

Dr. Russell Portnoy Pain Center at Sloan
Kettering Memorial Hospital
"I would like to treat chronic-pain patients.
But it's Too dangerous. It's suicidal. Dr.
Frank Fisher, a general practitioner in Shasta
County, California
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Return on Investment in Needle Exchange and
Syringe Programs for the decade of the 1990s
Financial return Investment US 71.8
million Savings US 1.3-4.1 billion
Cases of disease avoided HIV
25,000 Hepatitis C 21,000
NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAMS SENDING THE RIGHT
MESSAGE http//www.bakerinstitute.org/Pubs/wp_need
les.pdf
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Senator Bob Deuell R-Greenville
"I have seen extensive research that shows
programs like this reduce the spread of hepatitis
and HIV, and do not encourage or increase the use
of illegal drugs. The cost of treating a single
HIV case runs into the hundreds of thousands of
dollars making this program cost-effective as
well."
Lead author SB 188 2009 Legislature
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• Table 2. Changes in the patients' status in the
  Swiss heroin study (n 237)

http//www.ccbh.nl/rapport_engels_html/chapter1/16
.htm
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The clinic in Bern, Switzerland is in this
building
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"Yes, thanks to the treatment our son could get
out of drugs. Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday,
Nov. 27, 2008.
http//comments.breitbart.com/d94o1b980/
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"I know of no other crime prevention program
with such a big reduction in theft and other
serious crimes."
Martin Killias, Institute of Police Science and
Criminology
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Seeds of Terror How heroin is bankrolling the
Taliban and al Qaeda By Jason Zasky, failure
magazine 
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Joep Oomen, European Coalition for Just and
Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD)
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Decriminalization has enabled the Portuguese
government to manage and control the drug problem
far better than virtually every other Western
country does."
http//www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id10080
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http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Places_that_have_decr
iminalized_non-medical_cannabis_in_the_United_Stat
es
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Vested interests

• All federal agencies
• Law enforcement and the courts
• The defense industry
• The pharmaceutical industry
• The advertising industry and the media
• The court system
• The prison industry
• The banking industry
• The tobacco and liquor industries
• The drug testing industry
• The drug treatment industry
• The home security industry
• The timber industry
• Gun dealers
• The drug trafficking organizations

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International banks
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http//www.latintelligence.com/tag/nafta/
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Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation is one
of the worlds largest banks.
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The pharmaceutical industry
The pharmaceutical industry
The pharmaceutical industry
Medical marijuana
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Drugmakers go furthest to sway Congress Jim
Drinkard, USA TODAY, 26 April 2005
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PhRMA, this lobby has a death grip on
Congress. Summer, 2002
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Drugmakers go furthest to sway Congress Jim
Drinkard, USA TODAY, 26 April 2005
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Recent Research on Medical Marijuana
Emerging Clinical Applications For Cannabis
CannabinoidsA Review of the Recent Scientific
Literature, 2000 2011
Paul ArmentanoDeputy Director NORML NORML
FoundationWashington, DCJanuary 7, 2011
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Yes, for medical purposes-69
May, 2010
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After 19 major surgeries and hundreds of
pharmaceutical drugs, George McMahon now uses
only Cannabis to control his Nail Patella
Syndrome.
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The patent (6,630,507) awarded in 2003, states
unequivocally that cannabinoids are
neuroprotectants and anti-inflammatory, and as
such are useful in the prevention and treatment
of a wide variety of diseases including stroke,
trauma, auto-immune disorders, Parkinson's,
Alzheimer's and HIV dementia.
83
http//www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabi
s/healthprofessional
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Cesamet
"The global cannabis-based drugs market could be
worth 6 billion." Geert Woerlee, CEO Echo
Pharmaceuticals
85
Prof. Lyle Craker, Department of Plant, Soil
Insect Sciences at the University of
Massachusetts received very favorable ruling
from DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen
Bittner regarding his application for a license
to produce marijuana for medical research. The
DEA did not accepted the ruling.
http//maps.org/
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The defense industry
The Defense Industry

• Plan Colombia
• (Andean Counterdrug Initiative)
• and
• The Mérida Initiative

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2003 prices Coca base-360/lb. Whsl
cocaine-17,000/lb. Retail cocaine-48,000/lb.
A farmer dries his cocaine base in the sun in
Monserrate. Photograph by Carlos Villalón
http//magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0407/feat
ure2/zoom4.html The Oregonian, 24 Feb. 2005
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2000 Plan Colombia bill-1.3 billion
1.1 billion to buy helicopters
200 million to spray crops with glyphosate
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Bells Huey II
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Sikorskys Black Hawk
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The Dallas Morning News March 12, 2007 Bush
targets drugs during trip By TODD J. GILLMAN
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Each year the coca crop and the
fumigation campaign move further into the Amazon
jungle with disastrous results to its ecosystem.
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Destroyed peanut crop in Colombia.
94
http//www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/colo
mbia/presspack
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Congressional Research Service Reports for
Congress
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Dallas Morning News March 11, 2007 Cocaine
confounds eradication By Todd J. Gillman
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A peasant farmers house overlooks his coca field
in Putumayo. Photo Gary M. Leech
www.pbs.org/.../images/slideshow/02a.jpg
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONTRACTING OVERSIGHT
Prepared for Chairman Claire McCaskill June 7,
2011
99
DynCorp, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, ITT, and
ARINC collectively received contracts worth over
1.8 billion from 2005 to 2009.
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONTRACTING OVERSIGHT
Prepared for Chairman Sen. Claire McCaskill June
7, 2011
100
Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and Mexican Sec. of
Public SecurityGenaro Garcia Luna stand in front
of a UTC Black Hawk helicopter.
Photo Reuters Pictures.
101
The Washington Post, Mexico at War, 2009
102
http//blog.puppetgov.com/2008/06/26/mexican-army-
carrying-out-assassinations-in-us/
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Tomas Munita for The New York TimesAn American
task force member refueling a Black Hawk
helicopter in Puerto Castilla. May 6, 2012
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http//www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/international/euro
pe.html
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Office of National Drug Control Policy 2012
National Drug Control Strategy
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Police union lobbyist John Lovell from Republic
Report
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Fort Worth SWAT team members conduct a training
exercise. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
for Texas Motor Speedway
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FBI Crime in the United States 2010
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From Policing for Profit Institute for
Justice March, 2010
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The prison industry
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http//www.aca.org/Conferences/
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 Cromwell Architects Engineers Val Verde County
Jail FacilityDel Rio, Texas
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Penal-Ware
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http//www.corrections.com/
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Wackenhut Corrections Corporation

• In Lockhart, Texas, we operate work program
  facilities for the Texas Department of Criminal
  Justice-Parole Division. As there is an
  inverse relationship between marketable job
  skills and the incidence of incarceration, we
  have recruited private industry to establish
  factories within the facilities, train offenders
  in appropriate skills, and pay them for their
  labor under the Prison Industry Enhancement
  Certification Program (PIECP) program.

Source www.wcc-corrections.com
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65 Million Need Not Apply The Case for
Reforming Criminal Background Checks for
Employment by Michelle Natividad Rodriguez and
Maurice Emsellem
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Headquarters of the Texas prison system,
Huntsville 
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Prisoners in 2010
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Private prison operators
http//www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/privateprison
s
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Incarceration Rates
Represents about 2.2 Million in Prison or Jail
Modern Drug Prohibition Begins
Prohibition Ends
Crack Cocaine
1937 Marijuana Tax Act
1970
1983
1933
Slide by Michael Gilbert, University of Texas at
San Antonio
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2.7 million children have a parent behind bars1
in every 28. Two-thirds of these childrens
parents were incarcerated for non-violent
offenses. Collateral costs Incarcerations
effect on economic mobility The Pew Charitable
Trusts, 2010
136
21 Counties have 21 or more of their population
incarcerated
137
Of the 71,916 Texas prisoners returned to their
homes during fiscal 2011, 44 returned to just 4
counties.
19
11
7
7
138
5 of the worlds people 25 of the worlds
prisoners
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http//www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/illiteracy.shtm
l
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Serving three consecutive life sentences
without possibility of parole for introducing a
friend to a drug dealer.
Clarence Aaron
http//www.hr95.org/hr95faces.html
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Solitary confinement units, aka "Administrative
segregation"
Ohio Department of Corrections
Ohio's prison system is at the forefront of
improving conditions for mentally ill prisoners.
http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/asyl
ums/etc/synopsis.html
145
The Sentencing Project, TRENDS IN U.S.
CORRECTIONS, May 2012
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Serving 3 LIFE sentences 20 years
They didn't want me for anything they wanted
my husband I couldn't tell them what I did not
know."
Danielle Metz
http//www.hr95.org/hr95faces.html
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The Changing Racial Dynamics of the War on Drugs
Marc Mauer, April 2009
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Male inmates held in state or federal prison and
local jails June 30,2010
4347
1775
678
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http//carey2.blogspot.com/2008_07_27_archive.html

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Texas prisoners per 100,000 population
610
572
286
201
128
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Texas Tougher than Ever, But are we Safer? March
28, 2007
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Texas Tougher than Ever,
But are we Safer? ACLU of Texas, March 28, 2007
158
Texas prisoners by offense Texas Dept. of
Criminal Justice, August, 2011
51
17
17
15
159
Female prisoners by offense Texas Dept. of
Criminal Justice, August, 2011
35
27
24
14
160
Senate Criminal Justice Committee, Interim Report
to the 80th Legislature
http//www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/commit/c5
90/c590.InterimReport79.pdf
161
75 percent of male inmates and more than 95
percent of female inmates have a child younger
than 18. More than half have a child younger than
10 years old.
http//www.tifa.org/air/index.htm
162
General population July, 2011 per Texas Dept. of
State Prison population per Texas Dept of
Criminal Justice, August 2011
45
38
36
33
30
12
5
1
163
Inmates incarcerated for a drug offense Texas
Dept. of Criminal Justice, August 2011
43
30
26
1
164
Imprisonment per 100,000 population by
ethnicity, 2011
1829
523
418
64
Based on TDCJ reports and Texas Demographer
estimates .
165
65 Million Need Not Apply The Case for
Reforming Criminal Background Checks for
Employment by Michelle Natividad Rodriguez and
Maurice Emsellem
166
The Drug Policy Alliance Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition NORML Americans for Safe Access
Marijuana Policy Project Students for Sensible
Drug Policy Multidisciplinary Association for
Psychedelic Studies  International Drug Policy
Consortium Human Rights Campaign
167
Religious groups which endorse a variety of drug
policy reforms, including repealing mandatory
minimum sentencing National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America Presbyterian Church
(USA), the United Church of Christ Unitarian
Universalist Association of Congregations Progress
ive Jewish Alliance Rainbow/PUSH
Coalition Religious Society of Friends Progressive
National Baptist Convention The 700 Club
Religious groups that support legal access to
cannabis for patients who have obtained their
doctors' approval Episcopal Church United
Church of Christ Unitarian Universalist
Association Union for Reform Judaism United
Methodist Church Progressive National Baptist
Convention
168
Medical associations calling for removing
criminal penalties regarding cannabis in
medical practice. American Medical
Association American College of
Physicians American Psychiatric
Association American Nurses Association American
Public Health Association American Academy of
Family Physicians Texas Medical
Association Texas Nurses Association And many
more. See http//www.medicalcannab
is.com/Grouplist.htm
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ENDORSING THE VIENNA DECLARATION IN SUPPORT OF
COST EFFECTIVE AND EVIDENCE-BASED DRUG POLICY
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The United
States Conference of Mayors officially endorses
the Vienna Declaration, calling on governments
and international organizations, including the
United Nations, to Undertake a transparent
review of the effectiveness of current drug
policies Implement and evaluate a
science-based public health approach to address
the individual and community harms stemming from
illicit drug use Decriminalize drug users,
scale up evidence-based drug dependence treatment
options and abolish ineffective compulsory drug
treatment centers Unequivocally endorse
and scale up funding for the implementation of
the comprehensive package of HIV interventions
spelled out in the WHO, UNODC and UNAIDS Target
Setting Guide and Meaningfully involve
members of the affected community in developing,
monitoring and implementing services and policies
that affect their lives.
171
NAACP PASSES HISTORIC RESOLUTION CALLING FOR END
TO WAR ON DRUGS President and CEO Benjamin Todd
Jealous Major step towards equity, justice,
effective law enforcement (July 26, 2011, Los
Angeles, CA) Today the NAACP passed a historic
resolution calling for an end to the war on
drugs. The resolution was voted on by a majority
of delegates at the 102nd NAACP Annual Convention
in Los Angeles, CA. The overall message of the
resolution is captured by its title A Call to
End the War on Drugs, Allocate Funding to
Investigate Substance Abuse Treatment, Education,
and Opportunities in Communities of Color for A
Better Tomorrow .
172
Statement to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs
55th Session Published 20 March 2012
To conclude, the IFRC, on behalf of the most
vulnerable people affected by drug use, strongly
calls upon key stakeholders and donors to exert
all possible efforts to gather knowledge on the
scale of the drug use epidemic at country level
and decide on the proper response
accordingly. Criminalization, discrimination and
stigmatization are not such responses. 
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The Drug Policy Forum of Texas is an educational
organization with no legislative agenda. For
sources contact Suzanne Wills, suzy_at_dpft.org.