|
Richmond,
Virginia
Police
Chief
Calls
for
New
Drug
Policies
10/27/00
In a Sunday op-ed in the
Richmond Times Dispatch, Richmond Police Chief Jerry Oliver joined the
growing chorus of drug war critics in law enforcement.
His piece, entitled "Police
Pay Too: Nation's War on Drugs Exacts a Terrible Price," explored how attempts
to enforce laws against consensual activities, such as drug buying and
selling, are damaging law enforcement.
Oliver pointed out that law
enforcers put "our credibility at risk when police stoop to snooping on
fellow Americans over drugs."
Writing that current drug
policy "is failing and the trajectory continues downward," Oliver bemoaned
the billions spent on drug law enforcement. "These billions might
be better spent on demand reduction, prevention, treatment, education,
community-building, and supporting families," he wrote.
The Richmond police chief
also denounced the "business" of drug crime incarceration, and made a clarion
call for the adoption of a harm reduction approach to drug policy.
The op-ed is well worth reading
in its entirety, both as a well-written and heartfelt cry for change, and
as an article documenting the attitudinal shifts afoot in the land, now
reaching the upper ranks of law enforcement. Visit http://www.timesdispatch.com/editorial/oped/MGBLC2FGKEC.html
to read Chief Oliver's op-ed online.
-- END --
|
Issue #157, 10/27/00
War on Drugs: Coming to a Bookstore Near You | One Down, Who's Next? AP Bolivia Correspondent Resigns Following NarcoNews.com Exposé | In Britain, Seismic Shift Toward Cannabis Decrim Shakes Blair's Anti-Reform Policies | Drug War Oakland-Style: Rogue Cops Nailed, Car Seizures Okayed | Richmond, Virginia Police Chief Calls for New Drug Policies | Student HEA Reform Campaign Garners First Endorsements of Semester | New Proposition 36 Television Ad Now Viewable Online | Report Deems Oregon Medical Marijuana Patient Directory Successful | The Reformer's Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
