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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.

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.

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Legalization, prison overcrowding, forfeiture, initiatives, more...

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.

Editorial: A Grim Anniversary

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