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August 3, 2011
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NAACP Moves to End to War on Drugs
Calling for equity, justice and
effective law enforcement
The NAACP passed a historic
resolution calling for an end to the
war on drugs at their 102nd annual
convention in Los Angeles Thurs
day.
“Today the NAACP has taken a
major step towards equity, justice
and effective law enforcement,”
stated Benjamin Todd Jealous,
NAACP president and chief execu
tive officer. “These flawed drug
policies that have been mostly en
forced in African American commu
nities must be stopped and replaced
with evidenced-based practices that
address the root causes of drug use
and abuse in America.”
The resolution outlines the facts
about the failed drug war, highlight
ing that the U.S. spends over $40
billion annually on the war on drugs,
locking up low-level drug offenders
Instead of sending drug offend
ers to prison, the resolution calls for
the creation and expansion of reha
bilitation and treatment programs,
methadone clinics, and other treat
ment protocols that have been
proven effective.
“We know that the war on drugs
has been a complete failure because
in the 40 years that we’ve been
waging this war, drug use and abuse
has not gone down,” stated Robert
Rooks, director of the NAACP Crimi
nal Justice Program. “The only thing
w e’ve accomplished is becoming
the w orld’s largest incarcerator,
sending people with mental health
and addiction issues to prison, and
creating a system of racial dispari
ties that rivals Jim Crow policies of
the 1960s.”
The resolution will encourage the
more than 1,200 active NAACP units
across the country to organize cam
paigns to advocate for the end of
the war on drugs.
- mostly from communities of color.
African Americans are in fact 13
times more likely to go to jail for the
same drug-related offense than their
white counterparts.
“Studies show that all racial
groups abuse drugs at sim ilar
rates, but the numbers also show
that African Am ericans, H ispan
ics and other people of color are
s to p p e d , s e a rc h e d , a rre s te d ,
charged, convicted, and sent to
prison for drug-related charges at
a much higher rate,” said Alice
Huffman, president of the Califor
n ia S tate C o n fe re n c e o f the
NAACP. “This dual system of
drug law enforcem ent that serves
to keep A frican-A m ericans and
other m inorities under lock and
key and in prison must be exposed
and eradiated.”
The FBI and police hunt down suspected drug dealers
gang East Side White Pride handed
out racist leaflets at Pioneer Court
house Square. They left a beer party
(A P) — A Portland man convicted age 45.
early the next morning and spotted
of murder in a notorious 1988 hate
Mieske was sentenced to life in Seraw on a southeast Portland street
crime has died from complications prison after his conviction for using comer talking to two countrymen.
of hepatitis C.
a baseball bat to fatally beat an
Mieske and his friends drove up
The Oregon Department of Cor Ethiopian student, Mulugeta Seraw, and ordered the men to move. After
rections says Kenneth Mieske fell on a Portland street comer.
the two groups of men exchanged
ill at the Oregon State Penitentiary
On Nov. 12, 1988, Mieske and angry words, the skinheads jumped
and died July 26 at Salem Hospital at two companions with the skinhead out and attacked the Ethiopians.
Hate Crime Killer Dies
¡S u b sc rib e
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