Announcement

Please join us for this seminal event, which starts Monday evening, March 31 and continues with an all-day program on Tuesday, April 1. The evening program is free of charge. The early bird rate for the all-day program including lunch is $125 if you register before March 17. If you are ready to register for the symposium, go to the online registration form at www.keepingthedooropen.com.

The Marijuana Policy Project is hosting a benefit to benefit seriously ill New Yorkers who need safe access to medical marijuana. All funds raised will be used to help MPP pass a medical marijuana bill in New York. More than 1,000 doctors in New York have spoken out in support of medical marijuana, in addition to the Albany, Buffalo, and New York city councils and most state medical organizations.

This event, co-hosted by the Brazilian Antidrug Secretariat, the Ministry of Justice’s National Public Security Secretariat, Directorate of the Federal Police and The Senlis Council, brings together international authorities, experts and policy makers to discuss the most pressing challenges facing public security, and will explore the relationship between global drug policy and public security policies.

Please join us for this important discussion! For Bolivia’s indigenous majority, the coca leaf has deep historical, religious and cultural value. Coca leaves are chewed or consumed as a tea – mate de coca – served widely throughout Bolivia and Peru. The Coca-Cola Company purchases Peruvian coca leaves, which are used as a flavoring agent in the world’s most popular soft drink. More recently developed coca-based products include baking flour, toothpaste, shampoo, wine and various medicinal products. Yet the coca leaf has often been vilified in international debates and treaties. Presently, there is an international campaign to remove the coca leaf from Schedule 1 of the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, where coca is listed as a dangerous drug along with cocaine and heroin. Bolivia and Peru have long protested the lack of differentiation between the coca leaf and cocaine in the 1961 Convention and Bolivia’s election of President Evo Morales has given new impetus to efforts to change the convention.

Please join us for this important and timely event featuring two of the nation's most progressive voices on criminal justice -- Silja J. A. Talvi and Norm Stamper. Silja J. A. Talvi is a Senior Editor of In These Times and has written for more than seventy-five publications nationwide. Her most recent book "Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System" takes a critical yet compassionate look at the rising rates of incarcerated women in the U.S. Talvi interviews inmates, correctional officers and administrators; creating a nuanced perspective on this critical issue. Silja is a member of the Real Change Advisory Board.

Please join Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) and partner organizations as we call for change on Capitol Hill! Ask Congress to support legislation eliminating the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity. In the 21 years that mandatory sentences for crack have been in effect, tens of thousands have suffered unjust, disproportionate, and excessive sentences because of the sentencing disparity. It's time for change.

Please join Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and friends for a special Capitol Hill reception to celebrate the lifting of the DC syringe exchange funding ban and thank the policymakers and advocates who made this victory possible.

Please join us for "An Evening with the Congressional Black Caucus," a briefing and Q on A on racial profiling and driving while black. Panelists include: Gregory Carr, PhD, Howard University Alexander Williams, Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Maryland

The purpose of the Emerald Empire Hempfest is to unite our citizens in calling for sweeping reforms in America's laws against cannabis and hemp.

Come to the Statehouse to take part in the VT Senate Judiciary Committee public hearing on two drug-related bills being considered. One is to decriminalize marijuana and the other to toughen penalties for trafficking of heroin and cocaine.