Published: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:32:54 EST
Are you tired of the government spending your money on all those anti-marijuana TV ads that don’t work? You know, the ones that claim that drug users are terrorists, and that smoking marijuana will make you crazy, get you pregnant, and cause you to shoot your neighbor.
You can help us cut those anti-marijuana ads this year.
But don’t stop there. You can also help us cut funding to the Andean Counter-Drug Initiative (formerly known as “Plan Colombia”), which is devastating Colombia and destroying the environment.
And help us cut the federal Byrne grant program, which is financing out-of-control anti-drug task forces like the ones we’ve told you about in Tulia, Texas and Flint, Michigan.
These are just three examples of wasteful, harmful drug war programs that Congress could cut to pay for hurricane relief efforts. Eliminating these programs would save $1.6 billion this year alone.
Tell Congress to save money by cutting drug war waste.
You have probably already read in the news that members of Congress are debating how to pay for relief efforts. We know what would be a good start: stop wasting money on the failed war on drugs. Imagine how much money would be saved if the government simply stopped arresting people for marijuana, and stopped raiding raves and other peaceful electronic music events.
And what if instead of incarcerating people with substance abuse problems, we provided them with drug treatment? California voters approved our treatment-instead-of-incarceration initiative in 2000 and taxpayers have already saved more than a billion dollars. That’s just one state, and one reform.
You may recall that we have already been successful in cutting federal drug war waste. Congress has cut funding to the anti-marijuana ads and the Byrne grant program for two years in a row. Last year we were able to slash funding for Bush’s student drug testing program in half.
Now, we’re working to cut wasteful drug war spending even more. As just one example of why we think we will be successful, the Republican Study Committee (a caucus of more than 100 conservative House Republicans) recently suggested completely eliminating several drug war programs, including those ridiculous anti-marijuana ads. By working with them, as well as with progressive Democrats, we can make these cuts happen.
But we need you to contact Congress, and then forward this alert to your friends.
Take action now!
Also, if you haven’t become a dues-paying member of the Drug Policy Alliance, please consider doing so. As the old saying goes, “There’s strength in numbers.” Help strengthen the opposition to drug war waste by becoming a member here.
Finally, we hope to have some exciting news to report next week. So stay tuned!
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