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Unitarian
Drug
Stand
Draws
Favorable
Response
from
West
Virginia
Paper
7/5/02
Last week, DRCNet reported
on the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly vote to make ending the
war on drugs part of church policy (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/243.html#statementofconscience).
In their newly adopted platform, the UUs call for a legal, regulated marijuana
market; an end to criminal penalties for simple drug possession; and the
provision of hard drugs through a legal prescription regime.
Their stand has resonated
in at least one unexpected place. On Tuesday, a leading West Virginia
newspaper noted with approval the UU's new drug policy platform and called
drug prohibition "a colossal flop." In its editorial, the Charleston
Gazette wrote: "Believe it or not, an American religious denomination has
called for legalizing all narcotics, which would halt the billion-dollar
national 'war on drugs' and free hundreds of thousands of prison inmates."
The Gazette, with a circulation
of 52,000 in Charleston, West Virginia's Kanawha Valley, and nearby areas
of Ohio and Pennsylvania, quoted from the UU platform and remarks made
by UU leaders before noting: "Of course, conservative politicians
will denounce this proposal and call instead for locking up more Americans.
But we think the church stand reflects a lot of wisdom. Prohibition,
America's historic attempt to ban alcohol, was a colossal flop. And
the 'war on drugs' is virtually a carbon copy of it."
Chalk one up for the Unitarians.
Who will be the next?
-- END --
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Issue #244, 7/5/02
Bolivian Voters Tell US to Butt Out: Coca Grower Leader Morales Emerges as Presidential Kingmaker | Unitarian Drug Stand Draws Favorable Response from West Virginia Paper | British Columbia Marijuana Activists Celebrate 4th of July by Burning US Flag in Protest of Local DEA office | Newsbrief: Kids Are Consuming More Alcohol, Cigarettes, Cocaine, but Are Less Reckless, Says CDC | Newsbrief: Eighty Marines and Sailors Convicted of Using, Selling Drugs | Newsbrief: No Honor Among Thieves -- Informant Sues FBI for His Cut of Forfeitures | Newsbrief: More Complications in Epis Case | Newsbrief: Drug Czar Declares War on Kingpins, Casual Users | Newsbrief: US to Resume Airplane Shootdown Program | Newsbrief: Report Says Post September 11 Security Not Stopping Drugs | Will Foster Free Again | The Reformer's Calendar
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