Drug Czar Attacks Prop. 5

[DdC222]

Drug Czar Attacks Prop. 5
President Bushâ??s Drug Czar and the powerful California prison guards' union are both turning their guns on the biggest U.S. drug policy reform since alcohol Prohibition was repealed 75 years ago.

Donâ??t let them get away with it. Tell everyone you know in California to vote YES on Prop. 5!

Proposition 5 on the California ballot would dramatically reduce the role of prison in dealing with drug offenders.

Itâ??s also the only measure on the ballot in California that will save taxpayers billions. (Thatâ??s not just our opinion. Itâ??s the conclusion of the California Legislative Analystâ??s Office.)

But the Drug Czar and the prison guards' union donâ??t give a damn about soaking taxpayers to pay for a failed drug war. And they could care less about giving people with drug problems a chance to get treatment and rehabilitation instead of a prison cell.

Now we just found out that the â??lock â??em all upâ?� lobby is raising big bucks to defeat Prop. 5 from the casinos, beer distributors and drug war fanatics.

All that money is going for TV ads using the same old scare tactics that fueled the war on drugs in the first place. But on Election Day, we can show them how wrong they are -- if we get voters to the polls in support of Prop. 5.

No matter where you live, we bet you know at least a few Californians (or at least someone who does)! Will you help get out the vote for Prop. 5? Do it the easy way -- email this message!

Check out our TV ads and then share the link with your friends in California so they hear the truth about Prop. 5. Coming from you, the message will carry a lot of weight. You can help us counter the millions of dollars the prison guardsâ?? union and their friends are spending on dishonest and scare tactic ads.

Youâ??ll be in good company. Everyone from the League of Women Voters of California to the California Nurses Association to the California Federation of Teachers to the Consumer Federation of California supports Prop. 5. So does former Secretary of State George Shultz. They all know Prop. 5 will save money and save lives.

Sincerely,

Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Drug Policy Alliance Network

P.S. Even if you donâ??t live in California, you can help put ads on TV! Check them out here and support the Prop. 5 ad campaign with a donation!



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The California Prison Disaster

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DdC222 Reviewed by DdC222 on 10-29-2008. Drug Czar Attacks Prop. 5 Drug Czar Attacks Prop. 5 President Bushâ??s Drug Czar and the powerful California prison guards' union are both turning their guns on the biggest U.S. drug policy reform since alcohol Prohibition was repealed 75 years ago. Donâ??t let them get away with it. Tell everyone you know in California to vote YES on Prop. 5! Proposition 5 on the California ballot would dramatically reduce the role of prison in dealing with drug offenders. Itâ??s also the only measure on the ballot in Rating: 5

[killerweed420]

I hope we can start this in Washington too. Its time to decriminalize ALL drug possession laws.

[flyingimam]

[YOUTUBE]J_J0zlx-McQ[/YOUTUBE]

NICE AD, right to the point. finally someone said it!

[DdC222]

Whoâ??s Getting Rich Off Prohibition?

Just Look Who Opposes Prop. 5
October 30th, 2008 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

You can learn a lot about the merits of a proposal by taking a good, hard look at whoâ??s lobbying against it.

Take Californiaâ??s Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, which would require the diversion of certain non-violent offenders to drug treatment and increase funding for state-sponsored rehabilitation programs. The measure seeks to expand upon the alternative sentencing programs initially enacted by Proposition 36, which is estimated to have saved taxpayers some $1.7 billion dollars and reduced the number of people incarcerated for simple drug possession by one-third. So who would oppose this proposal?

If you guessed: the folks who make their living arresting non-violent drug offenders, youâ??d be right! According to the â??No on 5′ website, the California State Sheriffâ??s Association, the California Narcotics Officers Association, the California Peace Officers Association, the Police Chiefs of California, and the California District Attorneys Association all oppose Prop. 5.

However, even more disturbing is whoâ??s bankrolling the â??No on 5′ campaign. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, Californiaâ??s powerful prison guards union has spent close to $2 million dollars to lobby against the passage of Prop. 5. After all, overcrowded prisons â?? In 2007, California declared a â??state of emergencyâ?? in the prison system because of the lack of bed space â?? and more prison construction (in lieu of building additional public high schools and state colleges) are a financial windfall for prison guards, even if they spell disaster for everyone else.

In addition to expanding drug treatment in California, Prop. 5 would also reduce minor marijuana possession penalties from a misdemeanor (punishable by a $100 criminal fine with a criminal record) to a non-criminal infraction (punishable by a $100 civil fine with no criminal record). Now who would be against that?

If you answered: the folks who make their living by possessing a monopoly on the sale of legal intoxicants, youâ??d be correct! According to the DPA, the California Beer and Beverage Distributors have donated $100,000 to the â??No on 5′ campaign. Could it be that the alcohol lobby is fearful of the day when they will have to legally compete with a natural product that is remarkably safe, non-toxic, and wonâ??t leave you with a hangover? Do we even have to ask?

So now that you know whoâ??s against Prop. 5, why not examine who is lobbying for it. That list would include the California Nurses Association, California Society of Addiction Medicine, the California League of Women Voters, and the California Academy of Family Physicians.

In short, those who have dedicated their lives to helping others in need are backing Prop. 5, while those who have dedicated their careers to destroying peopleâ??s lives (or who promote a product that does) vehemently oppose it. You do the math.



The Battle Over CA Prop 5:
Special Interests Overwhelming the Public Interest

Here is a picture that sums up much that is wrong with American politics. Five governors of California, Democrats and Republicans, joining forces to oppose something that is indisputably in the public interest.

This is an image that could be repeated, with different faces, in region after region of our country, involving issue after issue. Public officials standing against the public good, with the disastrous results on display from Detroit to Wall Street. All suffering from the same destructive force: the power of entrenched special interests to cloud the vision of our leaders, causing them to thwart good sense, good legislation, and the will of the people.



In today's version, we have Jerry Brown, Pete Wilson, Gray Davis, George Deukmejian, and Arnold Schwarzenegger coming together to oppose Prop 5, a common sense ballot initiative that seeks to effectively and intelligently tackle the chronic problems facing California's deeply flawed criminal justice system.

California's prisons are a budget-busting debacle. There are currently more than 170,000 inmates crammed into prisons designed to hold 100,000 people. Around 70,000 of these prisoners are nonviolent offenders, with over half of them incarcerated for a drug offense.
continued...

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A new study released yesterday by the widely known human rights watchdog group Human Rights Watch promises to generate great interest among the mass media and other interested parties. "Punishment and Prejudice: Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs" charges that the war on drugs has been waged overwhelmingly against black Americans, and includes the first state-by-state analysis of the role of race and drugs in prison admissions. All of the 37 states Human Rights Watch studied send black drug offenders to prison at far higher rates than whites.



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Prisons: America's Newest Growth Industry
Private prison companies have some powerful allies in the fight for stiffer sentences and more prison spending. For example, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which has grown from 4,000 to 23,000 in the last decade, gave more than $1 million to various California state politicians in 1996. The prison lobby is also supported by the National Rifle Association. Armed with an agenda of deflecting public fear away from guns and toward people, the NRA successfully lobbies for prison construction and three-strikes-and-you're-out laws.

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Top Law Enforcers Call For 'No' Vote on Marijuana By Milton J. Valencia
CN Source: Boston Globe October 31, 2008 Boston, MA

Local law enforcement officials began a final assault yesterday on Tuesday's ballot question to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, saying a "yes" vote would only empower drug dealers who resort to guns and violence in their trade.

"Drug use, drug abuse, and drug sales are synonymous with other types of criminal activity," Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said yesterday, pointing to a table of guns and bags of marijuana that, he said, are found in tandem in Boston's street crime.
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Overcrowding = Overtime U2b

[DdC222]

Prison Industrial Complex Attacks Prop. 5