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[Sea Mac]

Wow.  Because of your hard work, Congress is on the verge of ending two disastrous drug war policies that we've been fighting for years.

In the next few weeks, Congress will likely repeal restrictions preventing Washington, DC from implementing a medical marijuana law that we helped pass.  Legislators are also close to eliminating the federal syringe funding ban, a policy responsible for tens of thousands of Americans contracting HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C.

Let's keep up this momentum and call for an end to more failed policies: http://dpa.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=ExitStrategyFundingPetition&autologin=true&s_src=20091209exit3

These changes come at a time when President Obama's drug czar is finishing his blueprint for U.S. drug policy.  You've endorsed our first two recommendations for drug czar Gil Kerlikowske to create an exit strategy for the war on drugs.

Join me in sharing one last big idea with the drug czar:

Eliminate drug policies that are proven failures: http://dpa.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=ExitStrategyFundingPetition&autologin=true&s_src=20091209exit3

You know the ones.  Those stupid government anti-marijuana ads. DARE drug education built on scare tactics. Crop spraying in Colombia that hurts farmers and harms the environment but does nothing to reduce cocaine exports.

It's clear from your overwhelming endorsement of the first two recommendations that you and I agree: We need to get the federal government out of the way so states can try new policies, and we need to stop using the criminal justice system to deal with drug issues.

By adding your signature to this third recommendation, you can make sure the drug czar has the information he needs to create smarter, more effective drug policies: http://dpa.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=ExitStrategyFundingPetition&autologin=true&s_src=20091209exit3

Sincerely,

Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Drug Policy Alliance Network

 

Dear Director Kerlikowske,

    We write to urge you to make your 2010 Drug Control Strategy an exit strategy for the war on drugs.

    An enormous amount of taxpayer money has been spent on enforcing punitive drug laws with very little to show for it except over-flowing prisons, sky-rocketing overdoses, and cheaper, more potent drugs that are readily available. A core part of an exit strategy from the war on drugs should be eliminating programs and practices that have proven time and time again to be ineffective.

    A few programs stand out for their fiscal irresponsibility, including the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, random student drug testing, D.A.R.E., and supply-side efforts in Latin America. Numerous studies show that these programs are not just ineffective but actually excaberate problems associated with both drug use and drug prohibition. It’s time to stop funding them and either shift the money to programs that work, such as syringe exchange programs and distribution of naloxone, or give the money back to the taxpayers.

    We were inspired by promises President Obama made on the campaign trail to “go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely” and “eliminate programs that do not work.”  U.S. drug policy should be no exception. Where scientific studies show a particular drug policy program or practice does not work, it should be eliminated. It is time to put science over politics.