|
|
|
|
|
Pam
Lichty and Don Topping
attended the 13th annual
conference of the Drug Policy Foundation
in Washington, D.C., where they both gave presentations. Pam was a panelist
on "State Legislative Reform" and Don talked about "Growing Your Organization."
Both presentations were based on our Hawai'i experiences.
The big news presented at the conference
is that the Drug Policy Foundation and The Lindesmith Center will form
a new organization, yet to be named, that will be the flagship drug reform
organization in the nation. The effective date of this new entity is July
1, 2000.
According to Ira Glasser, Chairman
of the DPF Board of Directors, the new organization will be membership
based and will start with a committed core of major funders. The grant
program |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(from
which DPFH has benefited) will continue, and the thrust of the new organization
will be education and public advocacy programs.
While the DPF has been based in Washington,
D.C. since it was founded, the new organization will begin in four cities:
New York, Washington, San Francisco and Albequerque. The idea behind this
is to decentralize and develop a higher profile in different parts of the
country. Other sites will be added as the organization develops.
Conference participants were excited
by this new development in the reform movement. There is general agreement
that the DPF played a critical role in getting the national movement started,
but it now needs new direction and energy. It was felt that the new organization
- whatever it will be called - will provide both.
Ethan Nadelmann, one of the key players
in the proposed merger, inspired the audience with his message that the
drug reform movement will be THE movement of the decade, comparing it with
the civil rights, women's and gay rights movements of recent decades. He
emphasized that four types of groups are needed to make the movement a
success: 1) state-based groups in every state; 2) interest-based groups
(e.g. needle exchange, methadone, medical marijuana); 3) constituency-based
groups, such as the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers; and 4) connecting groups.
The main thrust of the new organization will be to help these groups develop.
The five-year goal, according to Nadelmann,
should be to bring U.S. drug policy to where it is now in the Netherlands,
Switzerland and Australia. This can be accomplished through state level
changes and forcefully bringing the drug war agenda to the democrat and
republican party conventions, and making them talk about it.
There were many plenary and breakout
sessions at the conference ranging from Federal Legislation Reform (not
very promising) to Models |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
for
Community Organizing (which DPFH needs to learn more about) to Parents,
Teens and Drug Education, which stressed that programs need to show their
effectiveness. (DARE to show effectiveness?) A very strong message from
the drug education plenary was that deterrent policies have been shown
to be counter productive.
Dr. David Duncan, of the Council on
Illicit Drugs, presented some interesting data on baby-boomer parents from
an extensive survey. Some of the data he presented included the following:
A. 35.8% of baby-boomers have used illicit drugs at some point; B. 11.7%
have used during the past year; C. 6.4% have used during the past month.
Conclusion: most baby-boomers who used illicit drugs stopped using, but
some still do. Of those still using, they are generally well educated,
computer literate, enjoy an above average income and normal mental health
status. However, most parents in this latter category don't admit their
use to their kids. This, according to Dr. Duncan, is a mistake.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) gave the
keynote luncheon address. His message to drug policy reformers was to "communicate
with policy makers." He stressed that the amount of energy that goes into
the communication is what matters most. In other words, a hand-written
letter or telephone call is worth a lot more than a computer-generated
fax or e-mail.
Although the prospects of significant
change in the stance of the federal government are not exactly promising
during this election period, there is reason to hope. Some progress has
been made in congress with the assets forfeiture laws and racial profiling.
Much work needs to be done at the state and local level. With the leadership
and support of the new organization, we should be motivated to keep getting
the message out to our neighbors, friends, churches, clubs--to one and
all--that the current policies have failed and need to be changed.
That will be our job during the coming
year. -Pau
to page
6
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
they
are unable to patent a product that was widely available before prohibition,
they encourage its illegality so that they can come up with a new analogue,
give it a new name, and turn it into millions in profit.
While European countries are using
GHB in a sensible and humane manner, in America, millions of insomniacs,
thousands with narcolepsy, and hundreds of thousands of drug and alcohol
addicts are deprived of this proven therapeutic substance while the DEA,
the media, politicians and the pharmaceutical giants carry out their conspiracy,
driven by power and profits.
(For further information about GHB
see GHB: The Natural Mood Enhancer, by Ward Dean, MD, John Morgenthaler
and Steven Wm. Fowkes. Smart PublicationsTM, Petaluma, CA, 1997.) -Pau |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|