From the category archives:

Drug Policy Alliance

From Below And To The Not So Much Left

by The Editor on July 19, 2009

I am writing this from the highly sought-after hotel shared computer in Santiago, Chile where I have been living for the past week as a member of a delegation of SOA Watch activists from the United States. I was already beyond U.S. borders when it was declared that Obama won the election last week - I was, in fact, nervously watching states turn blue and red on the only television displaying CNN in the Toronto airport on election night.

Chile is not Colombia or Mexico or Bolivia, and therefore not, I think, a significant recipient of U.S. anti-narcotrafficking “aid.” But wherever we go and whoever we meet, we are soon asked about Obama, what we think of him, whether he will be a friend of Latin America. Certainly Obama could not be less of a friend than President Bush has been, our analysis has to go deeper than that, no? Drug war funds in Latin America are used - behind a thinning veil - as a means of military control, as I think can be said for our own country.

My flight left the U.S. before the election was over, so I can not speak to the mood in my community, but at least in the lead-up, there was more engagement, more political energy than I had ever seen. That is a good sign, and something that social movements for sensible drug policies and those working for human rights in Latin America need to build on. Maybe what we can learn from our compañeros in Chile is something about the incredible coalition building I have been witnessing in this past week. Obama is going to have a full plate as he takes office, with countless causes and organizations asking him to take progressive action. Let us find ways to work together and demand that action with a unified, powerful voice, for the future of our own communities and with those struggling to resist U.S. policies around the world.

Posted by Vera Leone

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Students Mobilize Against Random Drug Testing

by The Editor on July 19, 2009

Last month DPA launched a new group on the social networking site Facebook to oppose invasive and ineffective random student drug testing programs. Our goals are to raise awareness among high school and college students and provide more young people with the tools to take a stand against random student drug testing.

A tremendous amount of momentum has built up around this effort in a short time. The group already has 250 supporters, and is drawing attention both inside and outside the student community. Upon learning about the Facebook cause, school prevention expert Jeff Wolfsberg invited DPA’s Youth Policy Manager, Jennifer Kern, to discuss student drug testing on his student-targeted podcast, which is available online.

Let the students in your life know they can get involved by adding the Facebook Cause “Drug Testing Invades My Privacy” to their Facebook profiles.  To kick off the campaign, we are offering free stickers to all who participate.

These efforts to raise awareness about random student drug testing could bolster other challenges  to the practice in California. On August 5, the ACLU of Northern California sent a letter to the Shasta Union High School District warning that their student drug testing policy may be unconstitutional based on the higher privacy protections of the California state constitution.

If the challenge moves forward in court, DPA will support the effort. We played a role in last March’s victory in Washington where the state supreme court ruled that student drug testing violates students’ rights under their Washington State Constitution.

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Long Live Mark Leno

July 18, 2009

A majority of California’s 120 legislators understand the harms caused by excessive drug war policies. But voting one’s conscience can be difficult for even the most ardent advocates when weighing potentially significant negative political consequences that may arise in bids for re-election. Still, Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has stood firm on advancing some of [...]

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Report Calls For Fresh Approach To Latin America

July 15, 2009

With the election of Barack Obama, the United States has a fresh chance to reinvigorate its relations with Latin America, according to a new report that recommends Washington overhaul its drug policies at home and pursue a rapprochement with Cuba. The report, compiled by prominent former policy-makers from the United States and Latin America and [...]

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A Four Pillars Approach To Methamphetamine

July 14, 2009

This report lays out the fundamentals of an effective national strategy for reducing the problems associated with both methamphetamine misuse and misguided U.S. methamphetamine policies.

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The War On Drugs In Cartoon Form

July 14, 2009

Happy Labor day weekend everyone!
Remember, this is your last opportunity to wear white before you are ridiculed by the fashionistas.*
* I will send someone a drug war facts book if they can provide a picture of Czar Walters or talking head “Chief Scientist” David Murray wearing white after this Monday.

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Support Treatment On Demand Not Incarceration

July 14, 2009

Too many people suffering from addiction are being arrested and incarcerated before they can get help. No one should have to get arrested to get access to treatment.
Ask Governor Schwarzenegger to sign AB 1887, the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Bill!
The bill, sponsored by Assembly Member Jim Beall (D-San Jose), would require health insurance [...]

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2008 Election Results

July 14, 2009

DPA Network experts discuss how special interests defeated the biggest sentencing reform in U.S. history on Election Day in California, and why California is still going strong with treatment-instead-of-incarceration despite the loss of Proposition 5 at the ballot box.

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