You Can Make a Difference

Dear friends,

Wow.  Because of your hard work, Congress is on the verge of ending two disastrous drug war policies that we’ve been fighting for years.

In the next few weeks, Congress will likely repeal restrictions preventing Washington, DC from implementing a medical marijuana law that we helped pass.  Legislators are also close to eliminating the federal syringe funding ban, a policy responsible for tens of thousands of Americans contracting HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C.

Let’s keep up this momentum and call for an end to more failed policies!

These changes come at a time when President Obama’s drug czar is finishing his blueprint for U.S. drug policy.  You've endorsed our first two recommendations for drug czar Gil Kerlikowske to create an exit strategy for the war on drugs.

Join me in sharing one last big idea with the drug czar:

Eliminate drug policies that are proven failures.

You know the ones.  Those stupid government anti-marijuana ads. DARE drug education built on scare tactics. Crop spraying in Colombia that hurts farmers and harms the environment but does nothing to reduce cocaine exports.

It's clear from your overwhelming endorsement of the first two recommendations that you and I agree: We need to get the federal government out of the way so states can try new policies, and we need to stop using the criminal justice system to deal with drug issues.

By adding your signature to this third recommendation, you can make sure the drug czar has the information he needs to create smarter, more effective drug policies.

Sincerely,

 

 

Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Drug Policy Alliance Network