Moms United to End the War on Drugs
July 29, 2010 Rally and Vigil
To Call Attention
To the Devastation of Drug Prohibition
Los Angeles – Mothers, family members, healthcare professionals and individuals in recovery will gather at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse on July 29th at 12:15 p.m. to bring focus to our country’s failed drug policies and the havoc they have wreaked on our families. The rally is the second in a statewide campaign to stop the violence, mass incarceration and overdose deaths that are the result of current punitive and discriminatory drug policies.
A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing) and other advocates for therapeutic drug policies will hold a vigil to remember and acknowledge those who have lost their lives, health or liberty to the failed war on drugs.
WHAT:
Moms United to End the War on Drugs Rally & Vigil
WHEN:
July 29, 2010
at 12:15 p.m.
Thursday
WHERE:
Los Angeles Superior Courthouse (Near the Grand Street Entrance) 110 Grand Ave. (Corner of Grand and 1st, at;
The Abraham Lincoln sculpture)
WHO:
Mothers, Family Members,
& Therapeutic Drug Policy Advocates
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WHY:
Current drug policies are doing more harm than good.
1. Overdose: In the US , men aged 35-54 are more likely to die of a drug overdose than a car accident. In 2006, the latest figures published by the Centers on Disease Control, 26,400 people died of an unintentional drug overdose in the US .
2. Arrests: Over 1.8 million people in the US were arrested for a drug offense in 2008, 1.4 million of them for drug possession – not sales or trafficking.
3. Incarceration: The U.S. represents 5% of the world’s population but 25% of its prisoners. One in 100 American adults – 2.3 million people – is incarcerated; one in every 32 adults is either incarcerated, on parole or probation or under some other form of state or local supervision. Over 30,000 people are in prison in California for a drug offense; two-thirds of them for a possession offense.
4. Life-long exclusion: Consequences of a drug conviction, or even an arrest, may include the permanent loss of educational and employment opportunities, as well as public housing, food stamps and, in many states, the right to vote.
5. Violence: In 2009, 79 American citizens were killed in Mexico . Experts attribute the violence to Mexico ’s ongoing battle with drug cartels, which may generate 60% of their profits from marijuana alone.
6. Wasted dollars: the US spends $40 billion a year on the drug war.
7. Better alternatives: Taxing and regulating marijuana in California could raise $1.4 billion in tax revenues, cut law enforcement and prison costs, and take income out of the hands of drug cartels.
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A New PATH is partnering with Families ACT!, Broken No More, and FACTS, as well as individuals across the state have joined in a massive collaborative effort to change our current punitive policies of arrest and imprisonment to health-oriented and therapeutic strategies. Other supporters include the Drug Policy Alliance and Clergy Against Prohibition.
Mothers are leading the charge to stop the pointless and punitive criminalization of people for drug use, and to end the needless deaths caused by the illegal drug trade.
This event is the second in a series of rallies, vigils and protests that started in San Diego in June and will continue up the state, moving to Orange County , Los Angeles , Santa Barbara , San Francisco and Sacramento . A large rally is being planned at the State Capitol in Sacramento building in Fall 2010.
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For Additional Information, contact:
A New PATH, at;
anewpath@cox.net
Or Call;
(619) 670-1184.
Other Contacts, Send Email to;
Gretchen Burns Bergmanm, at;
gretanewpath@cox.net
Or Call; (619) 670-1184
Julia Negron, at;
Julia@negron.com
Or Call; (818) 679-3156
& Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, at;
mdooley@drugpolicy.org |
