Category Archives: War On Drugs

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. Saratoga Jewish Community Arts is presenting a virtual panel discussion on the film 13th.

This award-winning 2016 documentary by director Ava DuVernay explores the confluence of race, justice and mass incarceration in the United States.

In the film, titled after the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which abolished slavery throughout the U.S., DuVernay contends that slavery has been perpetuated since the end of the Civil War through criminalizing behavior and enabling police to arrest poor freedmen and force them to work for the state under convict leasing; suppression of African Americans by disenfranchisement, lynching and Jim Crow; politicians declaring a war on drugs that weights more heavily on minority communities and, by the late 20th Century, mass incarceration of people of color.

This documentary provides an opportunity for meaningful conversation about things that matter, program coordinator Phyllis Wang said in a press release. As Jews we are challenged with expressions of anti-Semitism whether through word or violence. Yet there are others, including a segment of Jews, who are challenged as soon as they show their face merely by the color of their skin.

Participants are encouraged to watch 13th on their own at a time of their choosing, then log in at 7 p.m. on Sunday, July 26 for a Zoom discussion forum in which panelists will focus on questions regarding the 13th Amendment, media and popular culture representations of Black Americans and mass incarceration.

Panelists will include Daniel Nathan (Skidmore College); Reverend Michael Bell; Pastor Mark Kehrer; Timothy Harper (Skidmore College); Kenneth Evans (Financial and Business Services); Song Lee (UVM) and Tanesha Ingram (community organizer, activist).

Individual panelist biographies will be included in the program that will be provided to registrants prior to the event.

The documentary is available through Netflix, HBO, YouTube, Amazon, Amazon Prime and other outlets.

The event format is a bit different from the SJCAs usual practice. As we all are experiencing the need to find alternative ways to deliver our education, entertainment etc., this film program will be an on your own viewing opportunity, Wang said in the release.

Nevertheless, Wang encourages participation. She added, If you want to talk about things that matter with people that matter, then join the discussion!

Advance registration is required and can be completed online at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdO-rrjkiE9YFVMBBiqOXt2j9DNHORxfF.

After registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Zoom session.

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Saratoga Jewish Community Arts to present virtual panel discussion on the film '13th' - The Saratogian

PROGRAMMES by the United States Agency for International Development that are geared toward decreasing the quantity of opium poppy crops in Afghanistan have, in actuality, fostered growth in production of the narcotic, states a quarterly report from the special inspector seneral for Afghanistan reconstruction that was presented to the US Congress. In addition, the document refutes proclamations made by American officials that opium poppy is chiefly grown in areas under control by the Taliban movement [an organisation that is forbidden in the Russian Federation]. According to experts, by turning a blind eye to drug trafficking American military service personnel can buy loyalty from the local elite.

And that does correspond to reality. Otherwise, how can it be explained that a report from the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, which is a US government agency, states that from 2002 to March 2017 the US wasted $8.5 billion on efforts to eradicate the narcotics threat in Afghanistan, yet never managed to fulfil the objective that was set, and Afghanistan remains the largest opium producer in the world and one that is more and more actively filling demand not only in European markets for drugs, but in the American one. Heroin is a multi-billion dollar business, backed by the interests of powerful circles in the United States. From this it becomes evident that one of the goals for the occupation of Afghanistan was to restore the drug trafficking that was under their control back to its former level, and to assume complete control over drug delivery routes. In 2001, under the Taliban, 185 tonnes of opium was produced, whereas now, even given incomplete data, opium production has risen to 13,000 tonnes!

It would be beneficial to remember the history of drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle, which is closely connected to operations conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency in the area when the limited contingent of Soviet forces was brought into Afghanistan. Back then, the production of opium in Afghanistan and Pakistan was oriented toward minor regional markets and heroin was not produced there at all. The Afghan narco-economy then became a project that was meticulously developed by the CIA as a component of US foreign policy. Just as before, during the Iran-Contra affair, supporting both the Afghan mujahedeen and other forces friendly to Washington was financed specifically by these narco-dollars. This dirty money was converted into clandestine money through banks in the Middle East and CIA shell companies, and was used to support criminal groups led by American instructors that fought against Soviet soldiers, and then successfully fragmented Afghanistan. Since the United States wanted to deliver Stinger missiles and other armaments to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan, they needed help from Pakistan. By the middle of the 1980s, the CIA field office in Islamabad was one of the largest in the world The US turned a blind eye to drug trafficking in Pakistan, and especially in Afghanistan, writes Time magazine.

Afghan history researcher Alfred McCoy affirms that soon after the start of the CIA operation in Afghanistan the area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border became the largest heroin producer in the world, and from there 60 per cent of the demand in the United States was met. In Pakistan itself, the number of drug addicts grew from almost zero in 1979 to 1.5 million, which is faster growth than in any other country.

The drug trade, as obvious facts can attest to, was completely controlled by CIA officers. When the mujahedeen captured an area of land in Afghanistan, they made peasants plant opium poppy as a tax for the revolution. On the other side of the border, in Pakistan, Afghan leaders and local syndicates sponsored by both the Pakistani intelligence services and the CIA controlled hundreds of laboratories that produced heroin. Over decades of active drug business in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Drug Enforcement Agency regional office has never seized one large shipment of heroin, nor has is made a single arrest!

According to McCoy, officials with the latest administration in Washington refused to investigate the accusations of drug trafficking levelled at their Afghan allies, since US drug policy in Afghanistan was always subordinate to the interests of fighting against Soviet, and now Russian, influence. Charles Cogan, a former CIA operations leader in Afghanistan, quite truthfully and cynically told the world about this when he admitted that the CIA sacrificed the war on drugs in favour of winning the Cold War. He says that the main objective was to inflict as much damage as possible on the Soviet Union. The role played by the CIA, even though it is expressed in many documents, is not mentioned in materials from the United Nations, which place an emphasis on internal factors. Laundered narco-dollars were used by Washington to finance the mujahedeen, and terrorists in Central Asia and the Balkans.

According to an assessment done by the UN, the global drug trade reaches several, if not dozens of, billions of dollars. The opium sold from Afghanistan amounts to a considerable portion of this trade. It is evident that the lions share of the proceeds from drug trafficking cannot be taken in by terrorist groups, as the UN affirms. Major business and financial interests back those narcotics. In that regard, geopolitical and military control over those channels of distribution for the drugs holds as much significance as control over oilfields and oil pipelines.

What sets drugs apart from legal products is that drug trafficking is an important source of income not only for organised crime groups, but for the US intelligence services, which are becoming an even more important player in banks and financial institutions. This means that the American intelligence services and large syndicates that have ties to organised crime compete for strategic control over drug distribution channels. The multi-billion dollar income from drug trafficking is invested into Western banking systems, and above all else into American banks. Most large transnational banks, via their offshore branches, launder a substantial amount of drug money. This trade can flourish only if the main players have highly-placed political patrons in the West and in Afghanistan itself.

There are many specific examples that bear witness, and quite vividly, to the fact that at present a considerable number of Americans in the US itself, and military service personnel in Afghanistan, are not interested in the war on drugs, but in supporting the drug trade. Even though a major portion of American chemical weapons programmes remain classified, it is apparent that much attention has been given to doing research on drug supplements that can boost the performance of military personnel. For example, in the US air force pilots were given dextroamphetamines before long missions to increase their ability to concentrate and reduce fatigue. And out of the American pilots that participated in operation Desert Storm in the war against Iraq in 2003, 65 per cent used narcotic stimulants. An investigation of the exercises held in the Tarnak Farms training camp in Afghanistan, during which four Canadian soldiers were killed by friendly fire and another eight were wounded, found that the American F-16 pilots were permitted to use Dexedrine. And there are many more of these kinds of examples. In addition, medicinal products delivered by the Pentagon that contain narcotic substances are now actively being taken by the Saudi pilots that are bombing mostly cities, villages, and inhabited settlements in Yemen.

In the beginning of this year, the Afghan government announced with grandeur that it had arrested five high-level police official complicit in drug trafficking in Kabul and neighbouring countries. Nasrat Rahimi, a representative from the ministry of internal affairs, declared that Ahmad Ahmadi who was in charge of the war on drugs in the countrys capital was arrested while trying to flee the country. He told the press that Ahmadi was one of the countrys leading drug dealers and mafia ringleader who was also the director of a suspicious Afghan-Swiss business group that was, over the course of several years, involved in protecting, promoting the interests of, and receiving large bribes from drug dealers in a city with more than six million people. It is true that later on the Kabul press found out about this ultra-high level of their governments activity. It turned out that the Afghan group was operating independently of the CIA, which completely controls drug trafficking in the country, and refused to pay American officers their commissions.

That is exactly why Moscow accuses the US and NATO of not being capable of stopping the flow of Afghan drugs moving into Central Asia and Russia. Washington tries to implement a policy of reinforcing measures to conduct the war on drugs in the region without launching any operations against the insurgents. Over the past 10 years, Afghanistan has produced and exported more heroin than any other country. According to an evaluation done by the UN, about 10 per cent of the gross output from Afghanistan originates from growing opium poppy. About 13,000 tonnes of opium was produced in the country, which is estimated to be worth $2 billion. This creates a vicious circle: illegal drug trafficking finances the Taliban, the CIA controls that and takes action to undermine and hinder Afghan authorities attempts to stamp out opium cultivation and come up with a method to obtain alternative income.

Trying to shirk responsibility, Washington as is its usual practice publishes rosy reports about the active war against drugs, and at the same time falsely accuses Russia of allegedly cooperating with the Taliban. Zamir Kabulov, a Russian presidential special envoy, sharply refuted the false accusations from the CIA about collusion with the Taliban, underscoring that the US is the country that has joined with the Taliban to play a part in the flourishing drug traffic out of Afghanistan, adding that the US paid numerous bribes to implement several drug-related projects in Afghanistan. He also emphasised that American aircraft can fly out of Kandahar and Bagram to anywhere, including Germany and Romania, without going through an inspection. This means that the Americans, without any form of control, transport huge shipments of drugs into Europe, and then to the US, earning criminal money on the spilled blood of the Afghan people.

New Eastern Outlook, July 15. Victor Mikhin is a member-correspondent of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

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The US 'war' on drugs - newagebd.net

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last January that drug overdoses in 2018 declined by 4.1 percentfrom70,237in 2017 to 67,367in 2018many in the press took that as asign of possible progress in Americas longest war, the war on drugs. However, adeeper look at the data painted avery different picture.

The CDC report stated:

The ageadjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which include drugs such as fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and tramadol, increased from 0.3 per 100,000 standard population in 1999 to 1.0in 2013, 1.8in 2014, 3.1in 2015, 6.2in 2016, 9.0in 2017, and 9.9in 2018. The rate of drug overdose deaths involving heroin increased from 0.7in 1999 to 1.0in 2010, then increased to 4.9in 2016 and 2017. The rate in 2018 (4.7) was lower than in 2017. The rate of drug overdose deaths involving natural and semisynthetic opioids, which include drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, increased from 1.0in 1999 to 3.1in 2009, then increased to 4.4in 2016 and 2017. The rate in 2018 (3.8) was lower than in 2017 The ageadjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving cocaine increased from 1.4 per 100,000 standard population in 1999 to 2.5in 2006, then decreased to 1.3in 2010 and 1.5in 2011. From 2012 through 2018, the rate increased on average by 27% per year to arate of 4.5in 2018. The ageadjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving psychostimulants with abuse potential, which include drugs such as methamphetamine, amphetamine, and methylphenidate, increased from 0.2in 1999 to 0.8in 2012. From 2012 through 2018, the rate increased on average by 30% per year to arate of 3.9in 2018.

While deaths attributed to prescription opioids continued to decline, deaths attributed to heroin overdoses levelled off and those attributed to fentanyl and its analogs continued to increase. Also making abig comeback were deaths related to psychostimulants, such as cocaine and methamphetamine. These data should have been enough evidence to prevent policymakers from cracking open the champagne bottles.

The CDC recently issued its preliminary report on 2019 overdose deaths and the news isnt good. There were roughly 71,000 overdose deaths, anew record. These data predate the COVID-19 crisis, so we can expect matters to get even worse.

Speaking to reporters about the preliminary report, Robert Anderson, who oversees the mortality data for the CDC said, We got it to stall out abit. Now we need to grab on again and not let this get away from us.

This should come as no surprise. A2018 study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found overdose deaths have been growing exponentially since at least the late 1970s and show no sign of deviating from the trend line. The particular drug predominating as the cause of death has changed from time to time, but the death rate marches on relentlessly. Therefore, even if the aggregate overdose data stalled abit in 2018, the underlying forces fueled by dangerous black market drugs that result fromdrug prohibition continue unabated.

One bright spot in the preliminary data: overdoses declined in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, and Rhode Islandstates where harm reduction strategies have gained some traction.

Until drug prohibition ends expect overdoses to continue following the tragic trendline.

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As the War on Drugs Relentlessly Grinds On, Overdose Deaths Relentlessly Mount - Cato Institute

Why won't the U.S. ever win the war on drugs? Here's why America is complicit, according to the Netflix documentary series The Business of Drugs.

The United Stateswill never win the war on drugs because, according toThe Business of Drugs, a Netflixdocumentary series hosted by Amaryllis Fox, America is complicit in a distribution operationthat most people don't fully understand. The Business of Drugs doesn't identifyone specific reason why the U.S. drug war will fail, butdoes explain various factors that make it almost impossible to stop the worldwide distribution of drugs like cocaine, heroin, and meth, along with synthetics and opioids.

The Business of Drugs isn't focused solely on the U.S. drug war, and that thematic choiceconnects to America'sinability to prevent narcotics trafficking. Divided into six episodes, all of which prioritizesocietalrealitiesover societalcliches, the Netflix documentary series aims to educate streamers about the relationship between Digital Age economics andculture shifts. The Business of Drugs opens with Fox explaining her backstory, as she was raised by an economist and lived in various international locations before ultimately working as a CIA analyst for 10 years. She's the wife ofRobert F. Kennedy III and the inspiration for the upcoming Apple TV+ series starring Brie Larson.In The Business of Drugs, Fox travels the world and attempts to understand the motivating factors for drug producers and distributors.

Related:How To Fix A Drug Scandal: Biggest Reveals From Netflix's Documentary

In the first episode of The Business of Drugs on Netflix, appropriately titled "Cocaine," Fox pieces together a narrative that ultimately connects to the United States drug war. She visits the Colombian port town Buenaventura, and learns thatthe only viable way to survive, at least for many locals, is to participate in cocaine production and distribution. The problem, however, is that a pyramid structure allows the most powerful figures to control rates that never really seem to change.Now, in 2020,the "value chain" allows Mexican drug cartels to sustain power through violence, with Sinaloa being the "gold standard" for the operation. Essentially, risk equals profitability, and cocaine demand from the United States means that many drug-hungry Americans inadvertently fund"a chain of human suffering," according to Fox. The Business of Drugs host also states that "Legalization may seem pretty extreme to most Americans, but as long as thedemand continues to climb, and the prices remain astronomically high became of no legal competition, I can't help wonder whether legalization and regulation is the only real option."

Fox digs deeper in The Business of Drugs episode about heroin, as she details how Kenya has become the new hub for international distribution. The host, who once lived in Africaas a child, admits that she doesn't correlate acity like Mombasa with heroin, andtherein lies the problem for the U.S. drug war. Methods of distribution continue to rapidly change in different parts of the world, andnarco-traffickers find new ways to exploit people working for them. According to Fox, "the real story lies in distribution." She states that the drug war involves fighting "darkness" and "evil," and that the war on drugs "has not made a dent." Overall, the Netflix documentary serieslinks American complicity to American naivete.

The Business of Drugs features a revelatory episode about meth production and distribution in Myanmar, with Fox reinforcing the idea thatTruly understanding the way things connect is the only we we can hope to change them." To her, it's seemingly impossible to prevent meth distribution if people don't know that Myanmar produces pills like McDonald's produces hamburgers. That's not a joke either, as one intervieweeconfirms.

As for synthetic drugs like MDMA, otherwise known as "Molly" or "Ecstasy," The Business of Drugs shows that America mostly correlates the drugs with clubs kids rather than with itstherapeutic potential, especiallyfor people suffering from PTSD. InThe Business of Drugs series finale on Netflix, Fox sums up the U.S. drug war problem by referencing "a terrible collision of circumstances." Regulations affects big business, big business affects politicians. Meanwhile, innovative drug distributors find new ways to deliver their product while manipulating rates and employees whoneed drug money to survive. The war on drugs isn't necessarily about good vs. bad, it's about information and power (among many other sociopolitical and economic factors).

More:Ecstasy May Be The Answer To PTSD Reveals Netflix's Business of Drugs

James McAvoy Declares He WILL Play Young Picard (Even If He Has To Film It Himself)

Q.V. Hough is a Screen Rant staff writer. He's also the founding editor at Vague Visages, and has contributed to RogerEbert.com and Fandor.

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The Business of Drugs: Why The US Drug War Can NEVER Be Won - Screen Rant

LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) Another 20 people have been charged with drug offenses as part of Laurel County Sheriff John Roots War on Drugs.

According to the sheriff, detectives, deputies, and the departments K-9 teams were part of the round up.

While conducting unrelated drug investigations, answering complaints and at traffic stops, investigators found subjects with meth, heroin, Xanax, hydrocodone, gabapentin, assorted pills, scales, hypodermic needles, glass pipes with white residue, cut straws with residue and other paraphernalia, and U.S. currency,. the sheriff said.

Some subjects were also found with outstanding warrants and outstanding warrants for failure to appear on drug charges.According to the departments Facebook page, those arrested and the charges against them are:1. Lee Merritt Sr., Age 55 arrested off Hawk Creek Road charged with possession of a controlled substance first-degree first offense methamphetamine; possession of drug paraphernalia; public intoxication controlled substances.2. Justin Mullins age 27 of Old County Road, McKee, Ky arrested on Hal Rogers Parkway in London charged with trafficking in a controlled substance first-degree first offense; trafficking in a controlled substance third-degree first offense; possession of a controlled substance third-degree; prescription controlled substances not in proper container first offense; resisting arrest.3. Destiny Hobbs age 19 of Mildred Road, McKee, Ky arrested off Wendell Way in London charged with possession of a controlled substance first-degree first offense methamphetamine.4. Steven Wayne Helton age 35 of Hanes Baker Rd., Corbin arrested off West Cumberland Gap Pkwy. charged with possession of a controlled substance first-degree first offense methamphetamine; possession of a controlled substance second-degree; prescription controlled substances not in proper container first offense; possession of drug paraphernalia.5. Kenny Blake Wagers, Jr age 21 of McWhorter Road, London arrested off McWhorter Road charged with possession of a controlled substance first-degree first offense methamphetamine; possession of a controlled substance first-degree first offense heroin; possession of drug paraphernalia.6. Charles Nantz age 30 of Clancy Ln., Lily arrested off Clancy Lane charged with trafficking in a controlled substance first-degree first offense methamphetamine; wanton endangerment degree; three counts of possession of a controlled substance third-degree; possession of drug paraphernalia.7. Ricky Lee Miracle age 33 of Cecil Wyatt Rd., Corbin arrested off West Cumberland Gap Pkwy. charged on a Whitley Circuit Court bench warrant of arrest charging court order violation regarding charges of possession of a controlled substance first-degree first offense methamphetamine; possession of drug paraphernalia.8. Kimberly Ann Hubbard age 33 of Blake Dr., London arrested off Miracle Lane in London charged with public intoxication controlled substances stated had been using meth; disorderly conduct second-degree; an outstanding Laurel District Court bench warrant charging failure to appear in court.9. Ashley R. Smith age 24 of Barr Creek Rd., Oneida, KY arrested off East Laurel Rd. charged with possession of a controlled substance first-degree first offense methamphetamine; possession of drug paraphernalia; possession of marijuana.10. Christopher Adam Cole age 32 of Runnels Branch Road, Littcarr, KY arrested on KY 490 charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence first offense; possession of drug paraphernalia with meth residue; operating on suspended or revoked operators license.11. Rebecca Caudill age 32 of Runnels Branch Road, Littcarr, KY arrested on KY 490 charged with public intoxication controlled substances; possession of drug paraphernalia with meth residue.12. Joseph Chad Curry age 45 of Curry Rd., London arrested off Curry Road charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.13. James Marcum age 46 of East Laurel Rd., London arrested off East Laurel Rd. charged on a failure to appear warrant.14. Mary Melissa Roark age 36 of Fire House Rd., East Bernstadt charged with possession of a controlled substance first-degree first offense methamphetamine.15. Landon Collins age 32 of Locust Grove Rd., London arrested off East 4th Street in London charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.16. Irvin Johnson age 34 of Taylor Subdivision Rd., London arrested off Tobacco Road in London charged with possession of drug paraphernalia; wanton endangerment second-degree police officer is victim.17. Angela Shepherd age 43 of Sallys Branch Rd., London arrested off Slate Lick Road charged with trafficking in a controlled substance first-degree second offense methamphetamine; trafficking in a controlled substance third-degree second offense.18. Linda Jane Wallace age 50 of Van Hollow Road, McKee, KY arrested off Slate Lick Road charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence second offense; driving on DUI suspended license first offense; trafficking in a controlled substance first-degree second offense methamphetamine; trafficking in a controlled substance third-degree second offense; prescription controlled substances not in proper container first offense; driving on DUI suspended license first offense.19. Johnny Gregory age 51 of Highway 472, Manchester arrested off Slate Lick Rd. charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.20. Marsha Denny age 41 of Sallys Branch Rd., London arrested off Slate Lick Rd. charged with public intoxication controlled substances; possession of drug paraphernalia.

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20 charged as part of sheriff's 'War on Drugs' - ABC 36 News - WTVQ

Breonna Taylor was a 36-year-old Black emergency medical worker who was killed in March while police in Louisville, Kentucky carried out a no-knock warrant as part of a narcotics investigation.

Breonna Taylor died as a result of the war on drugs, said Josh Alb as he shouted to demonstrators on the steps of Newark City Hall on Friday. The police went into her house for a no-knock warrant for drugs that were never there. This is one of the biggest pieces missing from the conversation surrounding her.

The war on drugs was a narcotics prohibition campaign that was created under former President Richard Nixon in the 1970s. Alb said the policy is still being used today to harm Black people like Taylor.

Alb, a William Paterson University student who lives in Newark and works in the cannabis industry, led about 30 demonstrators down Broad Street on Friday while shouting her name. They called for the legalization of marijuana to begin to end the war on drugs.

Legalization could happen soon - at least in New Jersey. Voters will decide if it should become legal on Nov. 3.

State lawmakers gave up on trying to legalize marijuana legislatively. And not every legislator supports legalization, like state Sen. Ron Rice. The former Newark police officer who leads the state Legislative Black Caucus says marijuana is still unsafe and is wary of who will actually profit from the legal recreational industry.

Demonstrators marched to Peter Francisco Park near Newark Penn Station and were joined by Ken Wolski, the executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana - New Jersey. Newarkers, he noted, were more likely to face harsher penalties when found in possession of marijuana than residents in suburbs.

Because of school zone laws, said Wolski, who set up a table in the park to register people to vote. You can hardly stand anywhere in the City of Newark and not be in a school zone. You get an enhanced penalty for any kind of marijuana violation and that is just unfair - unfair.

It has such a devastating effect on the minorities and the poor in our inner cities.

Ken Wolski, Executive Director for the Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey (CMMNJ), speaks to the crowd at Peter Francisco Park in Newark during the March Against the War on Drugs protest on Friday, July 17, 2020

An American Civil Liberties Union report released this year that examined 2018 arrest data showed that Black New Jerseyans were arrested for marijuana at a rate 3.45 times higher than white residents despite similar usage.

Gov. Phil Murphy last year signed a bill that would create automated expungement of past marijuana convictions. A bill to decriminalize marijuana passed in the state Assembly last month.

But Leo Bridgewater, Minorities 4 Medical Marijuanas veteran outreach director, said there are still issues with the industry. Medical dispensaries in New Jersey and elsewhere in the nation cant access federal coronavirus stimulus dollars.

They just wrote a $3 trillion check a couple of months ago and none of us get any of that money, said Bridgewater, who served in the Iraq War and now lives in Trenton. Nobody in this industry gets that money, thats not for us.

Leo Bridgewater, national director of veteran outreach at Minorities for Medical Marijuana (M4MM), speaks to the crowd at Peter Francisco Park in Newark during the March Against the War on Drugs protest on Friday, July 17, 2020

Alb, meanwhile, said the war on drugs has also been used to discredit other Black people like Geroge Floyd, a 46-year-old father who was killed in May by police in Minneapolis. His death sparked nationwide protests, including several in Newark.

Two autopsies were conducted on Floyd, one by the medical examiner in the county where he was killed and another that was commissioned by his family. Both ruled his death a homicide.

The familys autopsy said he died from asphyxiation. But the county medical examiner reportedly said Floyd experienced cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by the officer and noted Floyds other conditions, including heart disease, fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use.

Alb said listing what drugs may have been Floyds system at the time was a way that could ultimately clear the cops involved in his killing.

You cant tell me that someones co-morbidity is meth or fentanyl when a police officer is kneeling on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, Alb said. That aint meth at that point.

Protesters gather in front of City Hall in Newark during the March Against the War on Drugs on Friday, July 17, 2020

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Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com.

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Activists take to the streets to call for marijuana legalization in N.J. - NJ.com

What George Floyd and Breonna Taylor can teach us about the history of the War on Drugs and needed police reforms

The murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor ignited protests around the nation calling for major police reform. The calls for police reform include many layers, and one important question to rise is the role of policing drug use and the militarized way the War on Drugs has been fought in this country for over 40 years. Using armed police to deal with drug abuse has been one of the most ineffective and costly aspects of the War on Drugs costly in terms of resources and costly in terms of lives. Now is the time to finally change the way we envision our countrys War on Drugs and how we, as a society, handle the effects of drug use and abuse.

Using armed police to deal with drug abuse has been one of the most ineffective and costly aspects of the War on Drugs

The arrest, murder, and original autopsy report for George Floyd reminds us of the long history of deeply rooted stereotypes associating black men with drug use and drug crimes. During Floyds arrest when he was face down on the pavement on a south Minneapolis street corner, Officer Thomas Lane told Officer Derek Chauvin that he was worried about excited delirium. Chauvin responded with thats why we have him on his stomach. A few minutes later George Floyd was dead.

Excited delirium is a controversial diagnosis in which people can become aggressive, incoherent, and exhibit superhuman strength after taking stimulant drugs such as methamphetamine or cocaine. It is important to note that this condition is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association nor the World Health Organization. In fact, critics of this diagnosis often argue it is used to excuse death caused by use of force from police officers. Research shows that in cases of unexpected death associated with the controversial state of excited delirium, the deaths were associated with restraint, with the person in the prone position, and pressure on the neck.

Even more problematic is the fact that excited delirium is disproportionately cited as the cause of death in cases where black and Hispanic men die in the custody of police. There is also ample evidence to suggest that even without the concern of excited delirium, police use more force against people of color than against whites. For example, a recent study after the murder of George Floyd showed that in Minneapolis the police use force against black people 7 times more often than against white people. And recent research shows that at the national level black men are approximately 2.5 times more likely than white men to be killed by the police. Moreover, there is a substantial amount of research showing black people are more likely than white people to be pulled over and searched while driving, despite the fact that drugs are found more often on white people.

George Floyds death was not caused by excited delirium. Even though the police were not called for a drug-related crime in this case, we must take this opportunity to acknowledge the fear and stereotypes present during Floyds arrest, and be critical of how they may have contributed to his murder at the hands of police.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner autopsy report for George Floyd reported the presence of fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death. This prompted many media outlets to highlight this piece of the autopsy report, such as that published by celebrity website TMZ, suggesting somehow Floyd was to blame for his own death.

The mention of drugs in this case conjures an image of the black male drug user that is rooted in a long history of stereotyping black men as drug users who are threatening and criminal. This false narrative is dangerous and is often used to divert conversations from the real consequences of the abuse of power by police. It also works to erase how the War on Drugs has led to the over-policing of drug crimes in black and brown communities.

According to experts in this field and multiple autopsy reports, including the aforementioned report by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, Floyds death was not caused by drug use, and we need to be vigilant against letting the presence of drugs in Floyds system distract us from the fact that he was murdered by a police officer. Being a drug user should not be viewed as a justification for murder.

Associating black men with drug use and criminality is nothing new. For example, in 1914, the New York Times published an article by a prominent physician stating cocaine gave black men supernatural powers and made them impervious to bullets. The associations made between black men and drug use and crime contributes to the extreme racial bias in how the War on Drugs continues to play out, targeting poor communities of color.

In 1982 when the War on Drugs was announced, drug use rates were on the decline in the United States. Despite this fact, policing for drug crimes on the street increased substantially, especially in communities of color, and incarceration rates for drug crimes skyrocketed, especially among black men. This all occurred even though black and white people used drugs at essentially the same rates.

Research shows that even though black people represent 12.5% of illicit drug use in the United States, they represent 29% of those arrested for drug offenses and 33% of those incarcerated for drug offenses. Even in an era of states legalizing marijuana around the nation, black people are arrested at higher rates for marijuana possession in every single state despite data showing black people do not use more marijuana than white people. Simply put, the War on Drugs has negatively impacted black and brown lives far more than it has impacted white lives, and it is imperative that we, as a country, finally fight to end the War on Drugs.

We should all be wary of police treating United States citizens as enemies in a war like the one we have seen with the War on Drugs. This was recently demonstrated in the tragic death of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was killed by police during the execution of a no-knock warrant while she was sleeping in her home.

This case, along with George Floyds case, has fueled wide-spread protests around the world. A common demand within these protests has called for defunding the police, arguing that armed police are not the appropriate way to handle many of the reasons people call for help in the first place. Drug use and intoxication is a good example of this. Drug abuse is defined by the American Psychological Association as a mental health condition, and the criminality of drug use lies within the definitions of what drugs are legal to use based on laws that have changed throughout the history of our country and continue to change even today.

For example, all drug use used to be legal in this country, and during the time of prohibition, alcohol was once criminalized and made illegal. Laws related to drug use change as society changes. Police officers, the people charged with enforcing whatever drug laws are on the books at the time, are not experts in drug abuse and mental health. In fact, unlike mental health care providers and social workers who are educated about drugs and their effects and how to handle situations involving drug abuse and intoxication, police are trained to use a continuum of force and arrest authority to manage situations. This may result in the escalation of force, and sometimes deadly force, being used in situations that may have turned out differently if police were not the first to respond, especially considering police training inadequately prepares officers to de-escalate situations. This is an area of public safety that should be deferred to professionals with the expertise and sensitivity to handle these challenging situations, and we are starting to see more focus on this approach due to recent events.

The cost for the War on Drugs has not been shared equally. The increased militarization of police, which coincided with the implementation of the War on Drugs, has not made our communities safer. Instead, the militarized fight of the War on Drugs has been utilized disproportionaley on black and Latino citizens and has contributed to the mass incarceration of our citizens, mainly lower income people of color, and the unjust murders of many civilians, including Breonna Taylor.

The United States now incarcerates more people per capita than any other nation in the world. Research also shows that increased military equipment positively correlates with increased police killings of civilians. Furthermore, in the four decades after the declaration of the War on Drugs and subsequent police militarization, drug use among American citizens has increased.

Clearly, the use of SWAT teams and military weapons to battle drug-related crime has been wholly ineffective at reducing drug use and drug trafficking. Our communities should not be treated as warzones and the people of this country should not be treated as wartime enemies, especially when the militarized tactics do not work to reduce drug use and instead have been shown to be racially biased. Put simply, we should not be treating public health issues, such as drug use and abuse, with militant police responses.

The call for police reform has been around long before the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and recent polls show that nearly 70% of Americans believe the murder of George Floyd represents a broader problem within law enforcement rather than an isolated incident. Now is the time for us to finally take a critical look at law enforcement in our country and reimagine what policing and community safety could look like, including the way we police drug crimes and enforce drug laws. In so doing, we can finally ensure justice, safety, and human dignity are actual priorities in our society.

The demonization and conflation of drug use and blackness in this country has, for far too long, been rationale and justification for murder. Let this moment be an opportunity to change that narrative. The murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor should not turn into more cases where we blame black people for the circumstance in which they find themselves. To do so would strip George Floyd and Breonna Taylor of their humanity and betrays the complete and utter lack of humanity shown by the officers in these cases. This is a narrative we have seen play out far too often in our country. George Floyd did not die from drug use. He was murdered at the hands of a police officer who had taken an oath to protect and serve.

Breonna Taylor was not a casualty of war. She was a victim of a decades-long campaign that has proven to be ineffective and damages the fabric of our society by punishing low-income black and brown communities unequally. George Floyds six year-old daughter Gianna Floyd said daddy changed the world. May her words ring true for generations to come and may we finally end the War on Drugs.

Jessica Siegel and Jessica Hodge

Jessica A. Siegel is Associate Professor, Psychology & Neuroscience, at the University of St. Thomas. Her research examines the long-term effects of methamphetamine exposure on the brain and behavior using a mouse model. She is currently exploring the effects of adolescent methamphetamine exposure on brain function and behavior, specifically examining the dopamine transporters in the striatum and serum cortisol levels. She is also interested in how other drugs, such as nicotine, interact with the effects of methamphetamine in the adolescent brain. She teaches Brain & Human Behavior and Drugs & Behavior in the Psychology Department, and Principles of Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology in the Neuroscience Program.

Jessica Hodge is an Associate Professor in the Department of Justice & Society Studies and the Faculty Director with the Center for the Common Good at the University of St. Thomas. Prior to joining the faculty at UST, Dr. Hodge was an Assistant Professor at UMKC where she was also affiliated with the Womens and Gender Studies program. She received a doctorate in Criminology from the University of Delaware, and her primary research interests and publications are related to gender and crime issues, juvenile justice policies and practices, and the development and enforcement of hate crime laws.

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Police Murders and the War on Drugs - LA Progressive

Jos Garza is running for district attorney in Travis County, Texas. (Courtesy of Jos Garza campaign)

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On day one, we will end the prosecution of low-level drug offenses here in Travis County, announced district attorney candidate Jos Garza, at a February forum on criminal justice reform in Austin. We will end the prosecution of possession and sale offenses of a gram or less.Ad Policy

That may have sounded to some like a bold statement, but Garza argued it was the rational response to a broken system.

On Tuesday night, voters in the state capital of Texas and the surrounding county agreed. Garza, a former federal public defender, immigrant rights activist, and executive director of the Texas Workers Defense ProjectProyecto Defensa Laboral, swept to victory over Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore in a closely watched Democratic primary runoff election. And the successful challenger signaled that he is ready to act. We know that 60-percent of all people arrested and charged with drug possession through traffic stops are people of color, he told reporters. So, it is time to end the war on drugs in this community to begin to unwind the racial disparities in our criminal justice system.

Garza won 68 percent of the vote to 32 percent for Moore, who, as The Austin Chronicle noted earlier this year, had been under fire on many fronts for her perceived insufficient commitment to true justice, particularly for women survivors of sexual assault. The Chronicle endorsed Garza as a candidate who would bring to the office a demonstrable commitment to equity. MORE FROM John Nichols

With the party nomination secured in an overwhelmingly Democratic county, Garza is positioned to further demonstrate that commitment as one of the most high-profile members of the emerging class of county prosecutors who are prepared to upend old ways of thinking about law enforcement and the achievement of justice. Hell join Chicagos Kim Foxx, Philadelphias Larry Krasner, and San Franciscos Chesa Boudin as part of a movement to transform how cities and countries across the country address public safety issues. The movement is growing! observed Boudin, as he celebrated the victory by Garza, who ran with strong support from unions, Austin Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party, and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

The Texan summed up the thinking of the movement during the course of a campaign in which he told voters, Our system doesnt have to be broken. We have the power to fix this. And we have a right and a responsibility to demand that it be fixed.

What distinguished Garza is his determination to move quickly and decisively to take on the gravest injustices.Current Issue

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Take his response to questions about capital punishment. The Death Penalty is morally and ethically wrong, does not serve as a deterrent, has proven to be applied arbitrarily at best, and comes at tremendous financial costs, the candidates platform states. As District Attorney, I will not seek a death sentence. I will also review all post-conviction death penalty cases to ensure that there are no forensic, evidentiary, or legal issues that should cause the conviction to be called into question.

Or his response to questions about police violence. Prosecutors must play a key role in holding police accountable and ensuring that officers who commit misconduct are not allowed to continuously harm communities, asserts Garza, who began his list of commitments on the issue by promising, We will never take donations from police organizations. We deserve a DA unbought by those they are responsible for holding accountable.

Or his response to questions about prosecuting the powerfulincluding corporate CEOS. No one should be above the law, no matter how rich they are or just because of their job title. We will use our resources to investigate and prosecute the powerful actors in Travis County who have harmed the publiclandlords who exploit immigrants, police officers accused of misconduct, and corporate heads who take money from the poor will no longer have a free pass in Travis County, reads his platform. Instead, the Travis County District Attorney Office will actively investigate and prosecute powerful actors who have abused their positions.

Garzas vision of the DAs office as a platform for pursuing economic, social, and racial justice was especially profound when it came to stopping the damage done by a war on drugs that for too long has been facilitated by Democratic and Republican prosecutors.

In a set of commitments for how he would run the DAs office in a county where the population is nearing 1.3 million, Garza explained:

The revolving door of justice for people with substance abuse issues is a waste of time, money, and prosecution resources. The latest medical research on addiction suggests that treating drug use as a public health issue, as opposed to a criminal justice issue, is a more effective approach to reducing harm and promoting public safety. Nevertheless, our jails and prisons are filled with people who have done nothing more than suffer from addiction.

As a result, this office will seek to pursue policies that reduce the number of people in jails and prisons for drug-related offenses. We also have a responsibility to prevent deathssafe injection sites and harm reduction programs are key to keeping our most vulnerable alive.

Unless there is evidence that a person poses a danger to the community, I will not prosecute sale or possession of a gram or less of narcotics. For possession or sale of larger amounts of narcotics, my office will consider all appropriate diversion programs so that person may avoid a conviction if they are not a danger to the community.

For decades, politicians of both parties and their amen corners in the media fostered the fantasy that filling prisons would make communities safe. Elected prosecutors mounted reelection campaigns that highlighted their conviction rates and their willingness to pursue the harshest sentences.

Even as evidence of policing abuses, prosecutorial misconduct, systemic racism, and the absolute failure of mass incarceration mounted, too many prosecutors in too many places responded with incremental reforms that changed little.

Too many prosecutors refused to change course and recognize that the system is not working.

Garza knows there is something wrong with a system in which the majority of our resources are spent locking-up people struggling with substance abuse and our DAs office has not reduced the number of people we send to prison. And he knows there are smart alternatives. The research is clear: prisons do not reduce recidivism, says the candidate Travis County voters has just nominated. In fact, rehabilitation programs run outside of prisons consistently outperform those run in prison when it comes to keeping people out of jail.

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Austin, Texas, Just Voted to End the Drug War - The Nation

Good vibrations

Guitar is my life, yknow? That was Adam Granduciel speaking to Guitar Magazine in 2017, following the release of The War On Drugs fourth album. Coming from one of modern rock musics great restless perfectionists, its no empty hyperbole. A Deeper Understanding is Granduciels magnum opus, a luminescent epic and stunning example of obsessive studio craft that betters its predecessor Lost In The Dream a record which itself drove him to the brink of insanity. Granduciel re-recorded the whole of that 2014 album, his attention to microscopic detail almost destroying the entire project as he disappeared so far down the rabbit hole at one point he was reportedly measuring minute speaker vibrations.

A Deeper Understanding, too, involved hundreds of hours of studio time, revealed in its intricate layers of vintage guitars, organs and synths, meandering multi-part solos and dreamy sonics.

While the Philadelphia band is essentially Granduciels project, hes surrounded by an evolving cast of stellar musicians and their major label debut started to emerge while they toured Lost In The Dream. Returning from the tour, the now 41-year-old moved to Los Angeles. The cross-country relocation brought a laser-guided focus to the sessions, the band flying in from the East Coast for a week at a time. Granduciel told Guitar Magazine in 2017: I knew I only had em for a week and I wanted to squeeze everything into that week rehearsal, writing, friendship, barbecues so we did it all at the studio we barbecued at the studio!

The songs themselves are exhilarating widescreen American road trip anthems, indebted to Springsteen, Dylan and Petty and the modulated sonics of the 80s, canyon-deep reverb soaking Granduciels soaring guitar solos. In the hands of a lesser musician, they could drift into the realms of cloying AOR, but Granduciels visionary attention to detail wins out. I spend six, seven, eight months on the same song, he explained to Guitar Magazine. I have all these different melodies going on in the song, and you want to highlight each of them, so its trying to sculpt this thing where, if you put everything in, it would just be a wash, so youre trying to paint this picture, but keep all your favourite elements in.

Of the many guitar highlights on A Deeper Understanding, perhaps the most thrilling arrives as early as the second track, Pain. The song is built around a simple C-E-D progression, which Granduciel plays with a capo at the third fret. It unfurls steadily from a lilting arpeggio, the singer recalling wistfully, I met a man with a broken back/ he had a fear in his eyes that I could understand before he winds up for an epic two-part pentatonic solo that epitomises the War On Drugs celestial appeal. Do yourself a favour and look up one of the online lessons, its a joy to play.

Strangest Thing, Granduciel gazing up at a sky painted in a wash of indigo, houses equally hair-raising guitar moments, including a huge solo and wailing Bigbsy bends that flirt continuously with toppling over the edge into untamed feedback. Granduciels playing never resorts to nebulous, self-fellating noodling, though. The solos on A Deeper Understanding are emotive thunderbolts executed tastefully. Nor is he just an old-fashioned guitar hero.

Granduciels Dylan-like lyricism is poetically evocative throughout A Deeper Understanding. On the more sedate Knocked Down, shrouded in great angular shards of guitar noise and waves of tremolo, he sings enigmatically: Sometimes I can make it rain, diamonds in the night sky/ Im like a child. The albums first single, Nothing To Find, is a freewheeling cousin of Lost In The Dreams supreme lead single Red Eyes, its wailing harmonica and chiming Johnny Marr-like arpeggios propelling a glorious, lovelorn anthem.

Image: Mark Horton / Getty Images

Thinking Of A Place, meanwhile, stretches from its lilting slide guitar opening to 11 minutes, none of them excessive, images of the Missouri river and moonlit beaches flickering in and out of focus. At its mid-point the song breaks down to Granduciel speak-singing hazily, Once I had a dream I was falling from the sky/ Comin down like running water/ Passing by myself alight. Its a sumptuous piece of writing.

The vast, layered sound that cloaks A Deeper Understandings dreamy evocations of endless desert skies and vanishing-point roads is powered by a suitably tasteful array of guitars. Alongside Prophet 6 and Arp Odyssey synths, a Baldwin organ and Wurlitzer electric piano, Granduciel uses a 72 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, a 1980s Japanese Squier Strat, a stunning Gretsch White Falcon, a 66 Gibson SG, a 66 non reverse Firebird and his current live favourite, the most expressive guitar Ive ever played, an American Vintage 65 sunburst Fender Jazzmaster. In the middle position that Jazzmaster, with a chorus pedal its like the brightest, most crystalline thing, Granduciel told us back in 2017.

Trusted effects include an Electro-Harmonix Stereo Memory Man, a Mu-Tron phaser, DigiTech HardWire delay and reverb, a Strymon Flint tremolo and reverb and a Fulltone OCD.

David Hartley of The War On Drugs. Image: Anthony Pidgeon / Redferns

It all amounts to one of the best live guitar sounds youll hear anywhere, and A Deeper Understanding is a scintillating distillation, painstakingly constructed by one of the modern eras most proficient craftsmen. Its a record Granduciel says is about watching yourself move between different versions of yourself and trying to either hold onto or figure out which one youre more comfortable being.

Uncut editor Michael Bonner described A Deeper Understanding as some of the richest, most compelling and least lonely-sounding music of Granduciels career. Laura Snapes wrote in The Guardian of an arcing, shivery slow dance that seems to swirl around a disco ball the size of the moon, while NME described a vision of 80s pop-rock warped through the prism of second-wave shoegaze.

The album topped many critics end-of-year lists and landed the coveted Best Rock Album award at the 2017 Grammys. Adam Granduciels torturous perfectionism had been rewarded. A Deeper Understanding is a masterpiece.

Image: Rich Fury / Getty Images for Coachella

The War On Drugs, A Deeper Understanding (Atlantic, August 2017)

More information about The War On Drugs here. For more features, clickhere.

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The Genius Of The War On Drugs A Deeper Understanding - Guitar.com

Under current law, certain drug offenses in California carry with them mandatory jail and prison sentences. On Monday, Senator Scott Wiener along with co-sponsor Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo announced SB 378, which would grant judges more discretion by repealing laws that were established during the height of the War on Drugs era in 1986which enacted these mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.

For a lot of people in progressive California it is surprising to hear that in 2020, with all of the reforms that weve been working on for years, that there are still mandatory jail or prison sentences for non-violent drug offenses, Senator Wiener explained.

The current law denies judges the discretion to sentence drug offenders to more appropriate terms such as probation or diversion.

But here we are in California, in 2020, with mandatory prison or jail sentences for non-violent drug sentences, he said.

SB 378 would give the judge the ability to decide whether to incarcerate or whether to put someone on probation or diversion.

In California, we tragically were pioneers in the 70s and 80s and 90s in mass incarceration, Senator Wiener said. California led the way in mass incarceration, finding ways to sentence people to longer periods of time for more and more crimes.

Courts eventually found that prison conditions were so overcrowded that they were unconstitutionaland it was unconstitutional despite the fact that we built dozens of new prisons.

We have seen the damage that mass incarceration has caused tearing communities apart, tearing families apart, he said.

Senator Wiener argued that mass incarceration is a public health issue in California, and in the short and long term, he said, we must work to offer non-incarceration options to drug offendersparticularly those struggling with substance use disorderinstead of defaulting to prison or jail time.

Not only is mass incarceration bad for public health, Senator Wiener said, its also a giant expense for California in a time when we face massive budget cuts and a potentially catastrophic recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic shutdown. Mass incarceration costs our state unnecessary billions that should be going to things like schools, healthcare, and infrastructure.

Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo and Senator Nancy Skinner have introduced previous versions of this bill in past years, and will co-author SB 378. It is sponsored by the Drug Policy Alliance.

Incarcerating non-violent drug offenders is the wrong direction for California, and its time repeal these jail and prison mandates,saidSenator Scott Wiener.

Mass incarceration is deeply harmful to our state part of the structural racism afflicting our entire criminal justice system and we must end it.It makes no sense to force judges to sentence non-violent drug offenders to jail or prison, he said. Californias addiction to over-incarceration tears families and communities apart, doesnt make us safer, and costs taxpayers dearly. California needs to reduce our jail and prison population and begin closing down prisons. Now is the time to take this step toward decarceration.

Assemblymember Carrillo noted, This legislation is important especially as we address issues of institutionalized systemic racism that plagues our communities.

She noted that, under the current law, judges are prohibited from evaluating all of the circumstances and applying their own discretion in sentencing. Instead, judges are forced to incarcerate people who would better be treated and evaluated in their own community.

These minimums disproportionately impact and affect minority communities, she said. Every year mass incarceration impacts our families across our state and consumes billions that California should be investing in education, health and mental health programs.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin said, Mandatory minimums for far too long have disproportionately impacted people of color in poor working communities.

He said it is unusual for him to advocate for a law that would strip power away from his office.

Mandatory minimums have been a tremendous power grab by district attorneys from judges, he said. (The) power has been abusedit has led to spiraling incarceration, its led to disproportionate sentencing for people of color.

At the same time, Boudin said, The war on drugs has continued to cost the state of California over $47 billion a year even though we know it is a failureit does not work.

He said it is not an effective or empirically founded response to the very real challenges that our communities face.

Senator Wiener noted that this law would not eliminate maximum punishment in cases where judges deemed it warranted, it simply takes away the mandate.

San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju called this clearly a step in the right direction.

He noted that a lot of the amount that people go to prison for are really tiny amounts that are being sold.

Many of these people are attempting to support addiction or have mental health issues or are housing insecure.

He noted the case of a 40-year-old Black woman, with a documented history of mental health problems. She was in possession of .04 grams of crack4/100ths of a Sweet N Low packet. She sold to an undercover officer who was willing to pay $20 for a crumb that she had just bought for $5.

It is not uncommon for someone in that situation in courtrooms across the state to be sentenced to prison and then to be ineligible for housing or other benefits, he said.

This is expensive injustice, he said. The racial inequalities [exist] because of where law enforcement is choosing to use their resources [to] start.

Nick Stewart-Oaten, speaking for the California Public Defender Association, noted that the bill attempts to address an inequity created from a bill passed in 1986during the heart of the drug war.

The current mandatory minimums that this bill is trying to address are incredibly disproportionate, he explained. Right now if I sell a small amount of drugs Im ineligible for proobation. But if I assault somebody I am eligible for probation.

This kind of discrepancy in the law between nonviolent and violent offenders really needs to be addressed, he said, noting that, with the cost of incarceration at over $80,000 per year and the length of these sentences which often extends to ten years or more, the costs figure to be nearly $1 million for many of these cases.

Mandatory minimums are a remnant of the failed, costly and racist War on Drugs, said Glenn Backes, policy consultant for Drug Policy Alliance. Current law ties the hands of judges, they are powerless. This bill gives the judge the authority to order probation services and supervision, when it makes sense, given local norms and local resources.

In a release from Senator Wieners office, they said, As our country reckons with the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and begins a massive rethinking of our criminal justice system, we must take seriously the ways we can begin to end our system of mass incarceration. The War on Drugs and its disproportionate criminalization of Black and brown communities must end, and SB 378 would repeal one of the eras worst leftover laws.

David M. Greenwald reporting

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Legislation Introduced That Would End Mandatory Incarceration for Nonviolent Drug Offenders - The Peoples Vanguard of Davis