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Legalization: A Homegrown Solution

Legalization: A Homegrown Solution 1. THE BENEFITS In 2002 the Report of the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs recommended legalization and regulation of cannabis. According to the Oct.1, 2002 edition of the Sooke News Mirror (CN BC), "Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue," said Senator Nolin, who chaired the Senate Special Committee. Canadians should be allowed to "choose whether to consume or not in security." This report, according to Craig Jones, Ph.D., a Research Associate at Queen's Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, is "comprehensive in its command of the current international epidemiological, pharmacokinetic and sociological literature on drug use, thoroughly documented, honest about what we still do not know, clear in its mandate, decisive in its findings, and vastly informative. It replicates the conclusions of every other major study of its kind: that prohibition of cannabis is more harmful, both individually and socially, than the use of it and that the criminal prosecution of users ought to be abandoned."
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Seminar on Addiction: Thinking Outside the Box

Getting Beyond Drugs, Getting Beyond the DTES, Getting Beyond the Four Pillars: Images of the DTES tell us little about addiction problems in other areas of the city and suburbs and other parts of the world. Facilitator Bruce Alexander shares stories about how all four pillars were used throughout the 20th Century. Our existing solutions are helping many individuals but they're not stopping the tidal wave. It's time to start thinking about addiction 'outside the box'. Joining Bruce are Savannah Walling, Vancouver Moving Theatre, Donald MacPherson and Gabor Mate, doctor, newspaper columnist and author. Your ideas are important, bring them along. Free.
In The Trenches
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The Sentencing Project executive director Marc Mauer appearing at Prisons Gallery of Art

The Prisons Foundation is pleased to announce that Marc Mauer will appear at this week's Justice Sundays event at the Prisons Gallery of Art, 1600 K Street NW, Suite 501, Washington, DC. Marc Mauer is executive director of The Sentencing Project and the author of some of the most widely cited reports in the field of criminal justice, including Young Black Men and the Criminal Justice System and the Americans Behind Bars series.
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FAMM founder Julie Stewart appearing at Prisons Gallery of Art

The Prisons Foundation is pleased to announce that Julie Stewart will appear at this week's Justice Sundays event at the Prisons Gallery of Art, 1600 K Street NW, Suite 501, Washington, DC. Julie Stewart is the founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), a national nonprofit organization established in 1991 to challenge inflexible and excessive penalties required by mandatory sentencing laws.
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NORML founder Keith Stroup appearing at Prisons Gallery of Art

The Prisons Foundation is pleased to announce that Keith Stroup will appear at this week's Justice Sundays event at the Prisons Gallery of Art, 1600 K Street NW, Suite 501, Washington, DC. Keith Stroup is the founder of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and current NORML legal counsel. A graduate of Georgetown Law School, he has advocated for alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders (on behalf the National Center for Institutions and Alternatives) and for several years served as executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). Live music will precede and follow Mr. Stroup's presentation at 3 PM.
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In The Trenches
In The Trenches

Proposition 215 Ten Years Later: New Report Examines Impact of California's Landmark Medical Marijuana Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : OCTOBER 26, 2006

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Medical Marijuana Panel: Amendment 44 and Low-Income Patients

“Medical Marijuana Panel: Amendment 44 and Low-income Patients,” featuring Sensible Colorado’s Brian Vicente, renowned I-100 “Test Case” defendant Damien LaGoy and other patients. This free event is at noon on Wednesday, November 1 at the University of Denver Law School, room 125.
Chronicle

Web Scan

Legalization, prison overcrowding, forfeiture, initiatives, more...
In The Trenches
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THE 20-YEAR LEGACY of CRACK & POWDER COCAINE SENTENCING: Senate Staff Briefing

Senate Staff Briefing Sponsored by the Justice Roundtable Friday, October 27, 2006 12:00 – 1:00 226 Dirksen (Bring your brown bag lunch) On October 27, 1986 President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. The law’s mandatory penalties for crack cocaine offenses are the toughest ever adopted for low-level drug offenses. A defendant convicted with five grams of crack cocaine (the weight of less than two sugar packets) is subject to a five-year mandatory minimum sentence. The same five-year penalty is triggered for powder cocaine only when the offense involves 500 grams, 100 times the minimum quantity for crack. Twenty years later it is time to re- evaluate the implications of this law and determine whether the law’s application reflects Congress’s intent in 1986 when the legislation was enacted. Panelists will discuss the effects of the legislation on drug abuse and public safety, as well as a range of proposals for reform.
Chronicle

Editorial: A Grim Anniversary

Today marks a grim anniversary in US drug policy, the enactment 20 years ago of unjust federal mandatory minimum sentences.
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