The Drug Policy Foundation an independent forum for drug policy alternatives * Do you think we've won the war against drugs? * Do you think that current strategies are winning the war against drugs ? * Do you think that doing more of the same will ever win the war against drugs? If you can't answer "Yes" to at least one of these three questions, then you must consider peaceful alternatives to the war on drugs. President George Bush spent $45 billion on the drug war, more than Presidents Nixon to Reagan combined. Thanks to the drug war, the United States now incarcerates more of its own people at a higher rate (455 prisoners per 100,000 population) than any other country in the free world. Each prisoner costs the American taxpayer $20,000 to $40,000 per year. Minor drug offenders serve mandatory 10-year sentences. As the chart below shows, the cost is not just in dollars. Average Sentences for Violent Offenders Compared with Drug Offenders 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990* 140 v v 120 v v v v 100 v v v v v v 80 v v v v d v d v d 60 v d v d v d v d v d v d 40 v d v d v d v d v d v d 20 v d v d v d v d v d v d 0 v d v d v d v d v d v d *preliminary data v Violent Offenses d Drug Offenses Despite a nationwide wave of violent crime, the drug war has led to decreased sentences for violent offenders and longer sentences for petty drug offenders. Source: US Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics: 1991, p 506. Police and civilians have become drug war cannon fodder. The Bill of Rights has been eroded. Despite the massive anti-drug crackdown, cocaine imports are up and so is hard-core drug use. It's time for drug peace, not drug war. -- "A beacon of reason in a sea of hysteria. " That's how syndicated columnist David Morris described the Drug Policy Foundation. Established in 1986, the Drug Policy Foundation is the leading independent forum for alternatives to the failed drug war, including legalization, medicalization and harm reduction. The basic premise of the Foundation's work is that a war is not a domestic policy. The Drug Policy Foundation protects some of the saddest victims of the drug war. We're suing the federal government to legalize medical manjuana for desperately ill patients. We've helped defend pregnant women who couldn't get treatment against charges of drug trafficking via the umbilical cord. The Foundation counters drug-war spawned misinformation and hysteria through accurate research and a widespread educational campaign. Because of our work, the media and the public increasingly recognize the destruction and futility of the drug war. Mayors, police, judges, doctors, scholars, business leaders and community activists actively support the non-profit Drug Policy Foundation. We depend on the financial support of concerned individuals everywhere to keep the flame of reason burning. About the Foundation: Here's what we do in addition to legal action and public information campaigns. Conferences: annual International Conference on Drug Policy Reform (discounts for Foundation members), legal seminars and medical seminars Newsletter: The Drug Policy Letter with Drug Policy Action (free for Foundation members) Reports: Choose Health, Not War; The Bush Drug War Record; and more Books: Friedman & Szasz and annual volumes TV: "America's Drug Forum" talk show Catalog: 40+ titles and 50 videotapes (catalog discounts for Foundation members) Join the Drug Policy Foundation today. Annual membership is just $25 ($35 outside of the United States) and includes a one-year subscription to The Drug Policy Letter plus discounts on books, reports and videos ordered through the Foundation. ----------------- contribution form ---------------------- YES! I support the Drug Policy Foundation's promotion of peaceful alternatives to the drug war. Contribution: o $100 o $50 o $35 Basic Overseas Membership o $25 Basic U.S. Membership, I will receive Foundation newsletters and discounts. Method of Payment: o M/C o Visa o Check Credit card account number: expiration date signature daytime phone number Your name: Address: City, state zip: ------------------ end contribution form ----------------- Send your tax-deductible contribution to: THE DRUG POLICY FOUNDATION 4455 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite B-500 Washington, DC 20008-2302 Phone: (202) 537-5005 Fax: (202)537-3007 CompuServe: 76546,215 Drug Policy Foundation Board of Directors: President Arnold S. Trebach, J.D., Ph.D.; Vice President Kevin B. Zeese, Esq. Secretary-Treasurer Marjorie A. Rosner; Geraldine Barrett Washington;lraGlasser,A.C.L.U.,NewYork;PatrickV.Murphy, N.Y. PoliceDepartmentCommissioner(ret.), Washington, D.C.; Wesley C. Pomeroy, Independent Review Panel, Dade County, Fla.; Joanne Sgro, Esq., Washington; Ronald Sinoway, Esq., Phillipsville, Calif. Board of Advisors: Chairman Richard J. Dennis; Barry Beyerstein, Ph.D., Simon Fraser Univ., Canada; David D. Boaz, Cato Inst., Washington; Anthony Burton, Esq., Drug Policy Fdn. U.K.; Richard C. Cowan, N.O.R.M.L., Wash- ington, Luigi Del Gatto, M.D., Intl. Anti-Prohibitionist League, Italy; Patricia Erickson, Ph.D., Addiction Research Fdn., Canada; Lester Grinspoon, M.D., Harvard Medical School; Jane Hendtlass, Ph.D., Rodie Research, Australia; Rufus King, Esq., Washington; Frederick H. Meyers, M.D., Univ. of Calif., San Francisco; John P. Morgan, M.D., City Univ. of N.Y. Medical School; Ethan Nadelmann, J.D., Ph.D., Princeton Univ.; Craig Reinarman, Ph.D., Univ. of Calif., Santa Cruz; Marsha Rosenbaum, Ph.D., Inst. forScientificAnalysis, San Francisco; Frits ROter, Prof. Dr., Univ. of Amsterdam; Carl Sagan, Ph.D., Cornell Univ., Ralph Salerno, N.Y. Police Dept. (ret.), Lake Ariel, Pa.; The Hon. Kurt L. Schmoke, Mayor, Baltimore, Md.; Alan Silber, Esq., New York; Michael Stepanian, Esq., Haight- Ashbury Free Clinic San Francisco; Thomas Szasz, M.D., State Univ. of N.Y., Syracuse; Carole Tongue, European Parlia- ment, U.K.; Grant Wardlaw, Ph.D., Australian Inst. of Criminol- ogy, Andrew Weil, M.D., Univ. of Arizona; Steven Wisotsky, Esq, Nova Univ. Law Center, Fla.; Alex Wodak, M.D., St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Australia The Drug Policy Foundation an independent forum for drug policy alternatives