Organizations

[Courtesy of Prisons Foundation] The year's most exciting stage presentation is now being rehearsed and finalized. Please mark your calendar for an evening of great theater featuring the work of prisoner and ex-prisoner playwrights: Sat. Aug 30, 8 pm, Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center. Free admission. Presented as part of the Kennedy Center's Page to Stage Festival. See below for a listing of the five plays that will be performed. Also, pick up the next (August) edition of Washingtonian Magazine for more preview information. From Prison to the Stage: Six Felons, Five Plays Road 2 Redempshun by Shelton Land Laws Of The STREET by Lamont Carey This is Serious by Ramone Ringo Fernandez Stitch in Time by Lee Amiralt and Dennis Sobin The Monkey Trap by 1 Wise African aka Joseph Briggs Producer: Lloyd S. Rubin Directors: Jahi Foster-Bey and Anita Winston Music Director: Kevin Horrocks Stage Manager: Christopher Bryant

[Courtesy of ACLU] A decade ago the United Nations (U.N.) issued a declaration outlining its 10-year global strategy to “eliminate or significantly reduce” all illicit coca, marijuana, and opium plants from the earth under the motto, “A drug free world – we can do it!” This week, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will measure progress in this global “war on drugs” at a meeting in Vienna, Austria. The American Civil Liberties Union will join a diverse coalition of civil and human rights organizations participating in the “Beyond 2008 Forum,” an unprecedented opportunity to review the past decade of international drug policy and to shape its future course. The U.N. convened this forum to provide the non-governmental organization community the opportunity to contribute to the development of future policy, practice, and strategy. For the first time, the international drug strategy will be informed by outside voices – a sensible approach that is commonplace for other issues, but has long been taboo on issues of drug policy. The ACLU seeks an end to punitive drug policies that cause widespread constitutional and human rights violations, as well as unprecedented levels of incarceration. U.S. government insistence on incarceration as a catch-all solution to the misuse of illicit drugs has failed to reduce drug-related harm both at home and abroad, while defying the basic tenets of the U.N.’s Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The global experience of the past 10 years demonstrates that current drug policies have exacerbated – not abated – violence, health epidemics, and civil and human rights violations: * The U.N.’s 2008 World Drug Report announced that illicit coca and opium production are at an all time high. * A 2008 World Health Organization study found that America has higher rates of both cocaine and marijuana use than countries with less punitive drug laws. * The U.S. imprisons 10 times as many people for drug offenses as does the European Union, which has 200 million more inhabitants. * In the U.S., the world’s wealthiest nation, drug overdose rates have tripled since 1990, and drug treatment remains unavailable to over 20 million people in need. * The Centers for Disease Control estimates that in the U.S. injection drug use accounts for 60% of all new cases of hepatitis C, and approximately one-fourth of all new HIV/AIDS cases. * Worldwide, drugs remain the largest source of income for organized crime, and drug-related violence is visibly spiraling out of control in Mexico, Afghanistan, West Africa, and elsewhere. The time has come for the U.S. and the international community to come to terms with the clear limitations of a drug policy principally devoted to supply-side enforcement and incarceration. Some members of the international community have long acknowledged the failure of U.S.-style drug prohibition as a model for global drug policy and have turned toward health-based approaches more in line with the U.N.’s health and human rights mandates. Beyond decriminalizing some adult drug use, several nations like Canada and the Netherlands have begun to experiment with a range of promising harm reduction approaches, such as providing people with drug addictions clean needles and counseling rather than imposing lengthy prison sentences. Such policies recognize that a drug free world is presently beyond reach and focus on minimizing the dangers faced by at risk individuals and society at large. This approach has proven both effective and better aligned with international human rights and public safety mandates. Even within the U.S., support for the global “war on drugs” is waning. The foundational American values of liberty, privacy and limited government power have been severely undermined by drug war tactics. One in 100 adults in the U.S. are behind bars, largely due to drug laws, giving the U.S. the dubious distinction as the world’s leading jailer. With drug use, production and availability remaining steady, the American public is waking up to the reality that over-reliance on enforcement and incarceration is neither good for public safety nor economically sustainable. National public opinion polls bear this out, finding a sizable majority of Americans favor treatment over incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. With this week’s meeting, the U.N. has the opportunity to move away from the counterproductive policies that have dominated U.S. and, in turn, international drug policy for the past decade. U.N. drug policy has been left to operate in a lonely silo, apparently exempt from the tenets of transparency and accountability that guide other U.N. policy-making bodies. Sadly, where the international drug control regime has conflicted with human rights, systematic discrimination, abusive law enforcement practices, mass incarceration and easily avoidable health epidemics have prevailed. The U.N., and specifically the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), have the power to take a step in the right direction by adopting resolutions acknowledging the Universal Declaration on Human Rights’ centrality to all of the U.N.’s work, and mandating that the U.N.’s drug control bodies adopt a human rights-based approach in accordance with U.N. human rights law. For this step to be effective, however, member states must also make specific resolutions mandating that U.N. drug control policy be conducted in accordance with human rights law. Directives from the U.N. General Assembly to conduct drug control efforts in compliance with human rights norms have been ignored in the past. The CND – the U.N.’s inter-state body that directs international drug policy – has never adopted a resolution with any operational human rights obligations. Meanwhile, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the monitoring body for the U.N. drug control conventions, has openly stated that it will not address human rights. Application of international human rights laws can address many of the flaws and inequalities of the current drug control system. As mandated in the U.N.’s Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and several other treaties, human rights standards hold a greater position of legal authority than drug control treaties. For the U.N.’s drug control system to be consistent with the requirements of its own Charter, human rights must be the starting point, not an after-thought. A human rights-based approach to global drug policy would principally (1) prioritize prevention and treatment of negative health consequences of drug misuse over criminal justice responses and supply-side reduction measures, and (2) require that U.N. bodies measure effectiveness by assessing indicators of drug-related harm, rather than relying solely on drug use and interdiction statistics. Drug-related “harm” includes overdose rates, disease transmission rates, negative drug enforcement consequences as well as individual and communal criminal justice system-related consequences. To succeed, U.N. drug policy bodies must work closely with the World Health Organization and UNAIDS, a joint program of the U.N., to adopt effective strategies for reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases. The following specific policy proposals should be implemented in order to align U.N. drug policy with its health and human rights mandates: 1) Reform of the International Narcotics Control Board • Regular, independent evaluations of the INCB must be administered to guarantee accountability. • The INCB must clarify its position on harm reduction and human rights in relation to the U.N.’s overall goals. • The INCB must acknowledge the authority of less rigid interpretations of the drug control treaties. • The INCB must function more openly, and involve civil society in its operations. • The INCB must improve the availability of treatment for chemical dependence, and develop greater expertise on HIV, public health, and human rights. 2) Emphasis on Human Rights from the Committee on Narcotic Drugs • The CND should adopt a resolution acknowledging the Universal Declaration of Human Right’s relevance to all of its work. • Member states must make specific resolutions mandating the U.N. drug control policy be conducted in accordance with human rights law and with the aim of furthering human rights protections. • The CND should adopt a resolution that mandates that all drug control arms of the U.N. adopt a human rights-based approach to their work in accordance with the aims of the U.N. Charter and human rights treaties. 3) Focus on Drug Control-Related Human Rights Violations from U.N. Human Rights Bodies • The U.N. Human Rights Council and other human rights treaty bodies should emphasize in their work greater focus on human rights violations caused by drug control efforts. People and governments throughout the world are increasingly recognizing that the global “war on drugs” does more harm than good. The U.N. must acknowledge this reality and set a new direction in drug policy that respects and upholds the health and human rights of all people. In 1998, at the last U.N. General Assembly Special Session on Drugs then-ACLU executive director Ira Glasser joined former U.N. Chief Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru, Nobel Laureate and ex-Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, economist Milton Friedman, current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and over 500 prominent academics, scientists, and political leaders, in a letter to then-U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan stating: “We believe that the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug abuse itself. Every decade the United Nations adopts new international conventions, focused largely on criminalization and punishment, that restrict the ability of individual nations to devise effective solutions to local drug problems. Every year governments enact more punitive and costly drug control measures… Secretary General, we appeal to you to initiate a truly open and honest dialogue regarding the future of global drug control policies – one in which fear, prejudice and punitive prohibitions yield to common sense, science, public health and human rights.” Ten years later, following the pleas of diverse segments of civil society, that “open and honest dialogue” is finally beginning. But without the U.N.’s adoption of the preceding recommendations, common sense, public health and safety, and, above all, human rights will remain hostage to ineffective and counterproductive drug policies. Universal human rights and global safety from drug-related harm are not mutually exclusive. An honest examination by the U.N. of the past 10 years, informed by diverse voices, and, most importantly, by its own voice within its Charter and human rights mandates, can yield an evolved international strategy recognizing human freedom and dignity as the ultimate goals – not enemies – of global drug policy.

Too hot to handle: Every first Wednesday of the month I have breakfast at the Leadership Institute which features prominent conservative speakers. Mass transit failed me & I arrived late to a packed room of 100. Nonetheless, the speaker, Grover Nordquist (author of Leave Us Alone) noted conservative thinker called on the ‘guy with the good looking hat.’ ‘Reference leave us alone, some 30 million people would like the government to leave them alone, the most famous of whom is Mr. Willie Nelson who smokes marijuana on his back porch. I am referring of course to people who use drugs other than alcohol, tobacco, Prozac and valium. Why do so many conservatives support the War on Drugs/Modern Prohibition which is a liberal policy? When will conservatives wake up and reject this nanny-state liberal policy of sending police into private homes to arrest otherwise law-abiding citizens?’ I asked. The speaker paused and replied something like, ‘That is a good question and reminds of the Gordian knot. Can we talk after the program?’ Me thinks the lad did not want to reduce his book sales by answering the question. We DID chat afterwards for 15 minutes. He has invited me to speak to his weekly, conservative round-table group. This guy has influence. This is a medium step on the road to ending modern prohibition. I am thrilled. PS: Two days later Karen & I attended the group’s 4th of July barbecue & picnic. We spent all afternoon answering the question, “Why do moms and cops want to legalize drugs?” Besides being my better half and wife, Karen has become an articulate member of the anti-prohibition movement. We need more Members of Congress (MOC) like this one: I was on the Hill every working day this week, taking advantage of the recess to pack in 25 visits & drop off current materials to 50 offices I had recently been to. One office was especially refreshing in the unique slogan that guides the office’s decisions. Congressman and Doctor Paul Broun uses these criteria to make decisions: Is it Moral/Right? Is it Constitutional? Is it necessary? Is it affordable? What a breath of fresh air! What a philosophy!

The following message was sent by one of our supporters on July 4, 2008, to Adrian Fenty, DC Mayor ([email protected]) Vincent Gray, City Council Chairperson ([email protected]) Chief of staff, Jack Evans, City Councilmember ([email protected]) and Phil Mendelson, Chair of Judciary Committee, [email protected] MESSAGE TO CITY HALL: Dear City Hall Officials, On this day that America celebrates its freedom and independence, I respectfully add my voice to those of people who have contacted you on behalf of Dennis Sobin, asking that you make the necessary personnel adjustments so that he may enter City Hall--freely, without risk of arrest--in order to continue his vital work as Director of Prisons Foundation. I realize that all of you have been put in an awkward situation not of your choosing, but I am confident that you will do your best to resolve it to the benefit of all involved. I thank you for your time and attention to this. Grateful to live in a country where citizens can speak out freely, C.P. (Full name and contact information provided in emails sent by C.P.) ************************************************************* Below is the original email that the Prisons Foundation sent with details of the arrest of our director Dennis Sobin at a public hearing at city hall in Washington, DC Dennis Sobin, Director of the Prisons Foundation, went to City Hall to testify at a budget hearing on the priorities of the Attorney General's Office. This is routine for our director as these hearings represent important opportunities to advocate for alternatives to incarceration and the need for prosecutors to focus on serious crimes rather than non-violent offenses. One of those prosecutors happens to be Dennis Sobin's son, Darrin Sobin. He and his father have not seen eye to eye for some time. Last year the younger Sobin, Darrin, flexed his muscle as a government attorney by getting a stay away order to keep his father a set number of feet from him. Now he has gone the next step by having his father arrested for stepping foot in City Hall because Darrin has moved into an office in that building. When Dennis arrived for the hearing, his son knew of his presence because Dennis was on the witness list to testify. Dennis never got to testify because his son had him whisked out of the building in handcuffs and put in jail before a judge could release Dennis. By then the hearing was over. The building security officers who arrested Dennis have acknowledged that they were pressured to take this action by Darrin. They even went so far to try to appease Darrin, short of arresting his father, by offering to accompany Dennis to the City Council Chambers where the hearing was taking place and stay with him throughout his testimony. But Darrin rejected this. Darrin has let it be known that if his father returns to city hall for any reason, the same fate awaits him. It is therefore URGENT that the following officials at city hall be called TODAY to let our outrage be known. Says Dennis, "I don't want my son fired. That would be too extreme and a particular hardship for his children, my grandsons Alexander and Tristan." We are requesting that Darrin Sobin be relocated to the Attorney General's headqurters a few blocks away. That way our director Dennis can conduct Prisons Foundation business at city hall. Here are the names and phone numbers of officials at city hall who can make this happen. Please call them TODAY to get their assurance that this will indeed occur without delay. Even if you are not a resident of Washington you can demand action as a visitor who is shocked that such a thing could happen in the nation's capital. Adrian Fenty, Mayor, 202-724-8876 (This is Adrian's private number so please be brief when talking to him and please do not retain this number for any other purpose. He has been a supporter of the Prisons Foundation ever since his childhood friend Donald Thomas ended up in prison and needed our help.) Vincent Gray, City Council Chairperson, 202-724-8032 (Next to the mayor, Vincent is the most powerful person in city hall and has a reputation as a no-nonsense official. Dennis worked for his campaign and helped get him elected in 2006.) Jack Evans, City Councilmember, 202-724-8058 (As chair pro temp, Jack is number three in power at city hall. He also happens to be the councilmember representing Dennis in Ward 2. Still, Dennis cannot visit him at city hall as long as Darrin Sobin is there.) Phil Mendelson, Chair of Judciary Committee, 202-724-8064 (Phil is an at-large councilmember who chaired the hearing at which Dennis was set to testify and is reportedly upset at what happened there. He can bring about Darrin Sobin's transfer in the interest of justice and democracy.) On a personal note, Dennis is in good spirits and continues to meet his responsibilities daily as our director.... Thank you for calling the above city hall officials and demanding that action be taken TODAY. Please call us at 202-393-1511 or email [email protected] if you need further information. Thank you for your help and support in this crisis.

This issue… Make the LEAP Volunteer of the Month Did you Know? LEAP on Capitol Hill State by State Campus Communities/ What People are Saying About LEAP Making Media International Overtures Make the LEAP Following the announcement that Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey had become available on DVD in the LEAP Store, many of our members rushed to order their copies. The DVDs are on their way… and a great, simple way to take action is to recommend the film to others. If you haven’t yet ordered a DVD and would like to, you can do so by visiting the LEAP Store. Volunteer of the Month Don’t Mess with Texas – Jim Kilpatrick has made a decision to bring change to his state. He began booking speaker Russ Jones around Austin, Texas and didn’t stop there. Jim managed to book gigs for Mike Gilbert and Dean Becker as well. This month he isn’t thinking only of Texas; he is also working to book Mike Gilbert in Alaska. Since coming on board as a LEAP volunteer, Jim has put speakers in front of an average of five audiences a month. Did you know? June 17, 2008 marked the 37th anniversary of the day former President Richard Nixon declared illegal drugs “public enemy number one” and announced his “War on Drugs”. Today, the War on Drugs metaphor continues to haunt us. As Laura Carlsen writes in her article “Militarizing Mexico: The New War on Drugs”, published July 12, 2007 in Foreign Policy in Focus, “with the metaphor of “war”, the president transferred responsibility from state and local governments, where the emphasis was on treatment of illegal drug use within the framework of a community or health problem, to federal coordination that addressed treatment but also established special enforcement agencies directly under the presidential mandate. The U.S. model not only served to bolster the presidency, it has also proven useful as a tool for geopolitical control abroad. By elevating drug trafficking to a matter of national security, the war on drugs model has led to U.S. intervention in the politics of both drug-producing and transit nations. It has been used to justify the militarization of whole regions of foreign nations (Colombia), invasions to oust inconvenient foreign leaders (Panama), and now the extension of the U.S. security agenda into a neighboring country (Mexico). LEAP on Capitol Hill Contributed by DC Education Specialist, Howard Wooldridge Washington, DC hosts many national and international conferences. Recently I attended three: GOAL (Gay Officers Action League), Break the Chains and the ACLU membership conference. Six years after LEAP’s foundation, I was gratified to see how many people already knew of our organization and its mission to end the Modern Prohibition. At the GOAL conference I was struck by the stories of gays who ‘came out’ and the similarities that LEAP members have ‘coming out’ against the War on Drugs. LEAP, of course, still allows for ‘stealth’ membership, since being openly against prohibition could hurt or perhaps even destroy a law enforcement career. As the French say, “Plus ca change, plus reste la même chose” (the more that changes, the more that stays the same). Perhaps a slight majority who heard my presentation agreed with the LEAP mission, many did not. Privacy issues are important to all adults, but many, too many, still cling to allowing the government to enter our homes and arrest us for putting something in our mouth the government does not approve of. Break the Chains conference featured two of our speakers, Matthew Fogg and Judge Billy Murphy. They spoke simply and forcefully for legalization. Few openly agreed with them, but all attendees agreed that the War on Drugs causes many problems. The pastor of a large Baltimore church and I had a long discussion. After 30 minutes of talking, he is not sure if he supports the War on Drugs anymore. One at a time. I proudly wore my LEAP t-shirt at the ACLU Conference which resulted in dozens of little chats of why and how to end modern prohibition. Naturally, the listeners agreed and enthusiastically supported the LEAP message. Wearing the shirt and cowboy hat helped me stick out like a sore thumb which meant the vast majority of the two thousand attendees at least read the message. Although our issue has not yet caught fire at the national level, we are all laying the foundation to turn it into a bonfire when it does. State by State When the director of the Hammer Museum, located in Los Angeles on the UCLA campus and founded by the famous Armand Hammer family, called to ask for speakers for a forum on the lost war on drugs, LEAP jumped at the chance to send two of its best, California Judge Jim Gray, author of “Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs” and retired Seattle Chief of Police Norm Stamper, author of “Breaking Rank: A Top Cop’s Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing”. The addition of Marc Mauer of the “The Sentencing Project” morphed the forum into a discussion of America’s Prison State and its roots in Prohibition. While in California, Norm made a number of appearances including an interview with the Reason Foundation TV outlet. Even if the presidential candidates aren’t talking about the War on Drugs, the people who comprise political parties have made it a priority. Terry Nelson spoke to a partisan group in Ft Worth, Texas about the tactics we are using to end prohibition; while Jack Cole spoke to a partisan group in Boston, Massachusetts and Tony Ryan addressed a local club in Sioux Falls, North Dakota. LEAP staff member Barb Humphrey was honored as Party Member of the Year for her home community of Syracuse, New York; she used the opportunity to introduce influential community members to LEAP. Mike Gilbert is making the rounds in the San Antonio, Texas area as he prepares for his big trip to Alaska in July. The Alaskan Drug Policy Forum is hosting a two week tour of the state that will include time in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Watch the LEAP events page online for details on all the LEAP events.

Michigan: Officials' Misunderstanding Leads to Misinformed, Nonvoting Citizens' Formerly incarcerated citizens often return to their communities "with the intention of addressing a system that unjustly led to their incarceration," according to a Detroit advocacy group, Helping Our Prisoners Elevate (H.O.P.E.). "Most people that go to prison gain a greater awareness," H.O.P.E.'s Kwasi Akwamu was quoted as saying in a recent Michigan Citizen article. "We encourage ex-prisoners to vote - to become part of that process and change those harsh policies." Although individuals who have served prison time regain their rights upon release, many are unaware of reenfranchisement laws in Michigan, and nationwide. In the article, The Sentencing Project's Executive Director Marc Mauer cites a 10-state survey in which 31% of local election officials misunderstood voting laws, thus misinforming formerly incarcerated individuals. "It's the lack of information," stated Mauer. "There's no systematic means by which they are informed of their right to vote." Tennessee: Lawsuit Aims to Strike Down "Poll Tax," Restore Rights A lawsuit brought by the Atlanta-based ACLU Voting Rights Project challenges the constitutionality of the state's law, which does not automatically restore rights after individuals complete their sentence. Furthermore, citizens charged with felony offenses are banned from voting if they owe child support or court-ordered restitution. Preliminary motions will be heard in Nashville later this month. One of the 90,000 citizens barred from voting in Tennessee is 20-year-old Louis Horton, who received three months in prison and two years of probation for burglary. After serving his time, Horton attempted to have his rights restored, but was denied because he owed about $4,000 in court-ordered restitution. "I been saying every vote counts," said Horton. "Now, I don't know that I would vote for Obama strictly because he's a black man. I like what he has to say. The only thing I can say for sure is this is a year where it would be nice to stick my vote in there, too." According to the Tennessean, Horton, who is one of three men named in the suit, is one of thousands of African Americans who are disproportionately arrested, charged and convicted of crimes, which are pushing to regain the right to vote. Between January 1 and June 24 of this year, 469 former felons requested and received a restoration of their voting rights. Others affected by the law include Alex Friedmann, who wasn't immediately interested in his voting rights after completing his sentence, but believed his vote should be counted. "When you get out, your priorities are to find a place to live, earn an income, and if you are like most people, get your personal life in order ... repair relationships with your family," said Friedmann, who is associate editor of Prison Legal News. "Voting rights generally don't figure in until you have reached a certain point of stability." For more coverage, read a blog post from Knoxville's WBIR.com. National: "Illogical System" in Florida in Need of "Complete Overhaul" A New York Times editorial advocating for automatic restoration in Florida, states that "the United States is uniquely unforgiving" in its disenfranchisement laws. Despite the state's disenfranchisement reform last year, the New York Times argues that restoring rights only to citizens convicted of nonviolent offenses is "short of what's needed," and suggests a "complete overhaul of a wildly illogical system." It also states that the extensive background checks are unnecessary and time consuming for a short-staffed Parole Commission. The editorial further states: "Quite apart from the fact that it is undemocratic to bar people from the voting booth because they owe money, the system is transparently counterproductive since it prevents people from landing the jobs they will need to make restitution. Denying ex-offenders a chance to make an honest living is a sure way to drive them back to jail." - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information -- e-mail: [email protected], web: http://www.sentencingproject.org

Hello all, First, please save the dates of October 17-19, 2008 and make plans to join us for NORML's 37th annual national conference in Berkeley, California. This year's theme is "It's Not Your Parents' Prohibition!" Below is the basic information to make your discounted room reservation. Second, please forward any speaker or panel topic suggestions for this year's conference to '[email protected]'. The NORML conference planning committee is seeking activists' and stakeholders' input on potential speakers and topics to help round out the current schedule. This year's conference program is shaping up similar to last year's format in Los Angeles: Ten or so plenary sessions, two or three featured speakers, three breakout sessions and an entire day focusing on medical marijuana and ever-evolving medical marijuana industry (Sunday, October 19). Please make your room reservations and travel arrangements ASAP to assure that you're in attendance at America's most popular pro-cannabis reform conference. Conference registration information and a listing of social events will be posted shortly. Thanks for your attention, help and support, -Allen St. Pierre Executive Director NORML/NORML Foundation Member, Board of Directors NORML/NORML Foundation 1600 K St., NW Suite 501 Washington, D.C. 20006 ***** Who: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) What: NORML's 37th National Conference Conference Theme: "It's Not Your Parents' Prohibition!" When: October 17-19, 2008 Where: Doubletree Berkeley Marina, Berkeley, CA Discounted room rates available ($159/night), call now as NORML's rooms always sell out! How: Reservation Line is 510-548-7920, use the code 'NOR' for the discount. Reserve online at: http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/JBKCADT-NOR-20081010/index.jhtml (use the code 'NOR' for the discount)

[Courtesy of IDPC] The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) is a global network of NGOs and professional networks that specialise in issues related to illegal drug production and use. The Consortium aims to promote objective and open debate on the effectiveness, direction and content of drug policies at national and international level, and supports evidence-based policies that are effective in reducing drug-related harm. It disseminates the reports of its member organisations about particular drug-related matters, and offers expert consultancy services to policymakers and officials around the world. IDPC ADVOCACY NOTES ON THE UNGASS REVIEW As the process of reviewing the 10-year achievements of the global drug control system continues, the IDPC has been synthesising the wide range of publications and analysis from its members into brief advocacy notes that summarise our positions on the key issues in this review. Currently, four of these notes have been produced - three of them correspond directly to the work of three of the UNGASS Working Groups, and the fourth covers more general principles that are not the responsibility of any particular working group. SUPPLY REDUCTION WORKING GROUP ENGLISH http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/IDPC_AdvocacyNote_SupplyReduc_EN.pdf SPANISH http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/IDPC_AdvocacyNote_SupplyReduc_ES.pdf DEMAND REDUCTION WORKING GROUP ENGLISH http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/IDPC_AdvocacyNote_DRWG_EN.pdf SPANISH http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/IDPC_AdvocacyNote_DRWG_ES.pdf CROP ERADICATION AND ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT WORKING GROUP ENGLISH http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/IDPC_Advo_CEADWG_June08_EN.pdf SPANISH http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/IDPC_Advo_CEADWG_June08_ES.pdf ISSUES NOT SPECIFICALLY COVERED BY WORKING GROUPS ENGLISH http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/IDPC_Advo_Other_Issues_June08_EN.pdf SPANISH http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/IDPC_Advo_Other_Issues_June08_ES.pdf UNGASS NEWS’ FIRST EDITION To provide our network and partners with concise information on the background to the UNGASS 10-year review, the IDPC has produced an Advocacy Guide that explains the structures, processes and issues involved. This guide can be downloaded from the IDPC website http://www.idpc.info/ or http://www.es.idpc.info/. As the process accelerates, we are supplementing this guide with a monthly update on the latest news and debates relevant to the review. The first of these updates is now available on the IDPC website, and another one will be distributed at the end of July. http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/IDPC_UngassNews_June08_EN.pdf IDPC BRIEFING MEETING AND RECEPTION - 7th JULY. The latest in this series of briefing meetings will be held in the margins of the "Beyond 2008" Global NGO Forum in Vienna. This meeting will update participants on the IDPC contribution to the UNGASS review process, and consider the next steps. Informal presentations will be followed by a drinks reception to allow the maximum opportunity for networking. The global forum runs from 7th to 9th July, and the IDPC briefing and reception will take place at 7.30pm on Monday 7th July at the NH Danube City Hotel, Wagramer Strasse 21, A-1220 Vienna. This hotel is located adjacent to the UN building in Vienna, so delegates to the forum can gain easy access to the IDPC event. If you are a delegate to the NGO Forum , and wish to attend the IDPC briefing, please contact Geni Horwood at [email protected]. GLOBAL SIGN-ON LETTER TO BAN KI MOON Following the call at the AIDS High Level Meeting in New York for more effective HIV prevention amongst injecting drug users, a group of NGOs initiated a sign on letter to senior UN officials pointing out the contradictions between the drive to tackle this problem, and the stigmatisation and marginalisation of drug users that is often part of UN-supported drug control activities. The letter, that is released to coincide with the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, calls for greater cohesion between these two areas of UN activity. http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/GlobalSignonLetterBanKiMoon_June08_EN.pdf WOLA TESTIMONY TO US CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE On June 19, 2008, WOLA Senior Associate John Walsh testified before Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress (chaired by Senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia) on U.S. drug policy. Walsh stated that decades of forced eradication of coca crops in Latin America has had little impact on cocaine production and trafficking, while leaving “a trail of social conflict, political unrest, violence and human rights violations across the region. In his prepared statement, Walsh said that U.S. drug policies should focus more on harm reduction, which refers not just to reducing the harm caused by drugs to users and their families and communities, but also reduction of the damage caused by misguided, counterproductive policies meant to control drug production and transit. The complete congressional testimony can be found at: http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/WOLA_JohnWalsh_TestimonyJEC_08_EN.pdf Please feel free to pass this alert on to any contacts who may be interested in drug policy issues. If you have received this alert in error, or do not wish to continue receiving our alerts, you can unsubscribe yourself by emailing to [email protected]