buylotrogold

http://www.uudpr.org/ http://www.firstuniv.org/  First Universalist *Church* of Minneapolis (a potential local ally) *** *The General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association passed the Alternatives to the War on Drugs Statement of Conscience on June 22, 2002*. The full document may be read below. Excerpts include:    - Establish a legal, regulated, and taxed market for marijuana. Treat    marijuana as we treat alcohol.    - Remove criminal penalties for possession and use of currently illegal    drugs, with drug abusers subject to arrest and imprisonment only if they    commit an actual crime (e.g., assault, burglary, impaired driving,    vandalism).    - Drug use, drug abuse, and drug addiction are distinct from one    another. Using a drug does not necessarily mean abusing the drug, much less    becoming addicted to it. Drug abuse issues are essentially matters for    medical attention. We do not believe that drug use should be considered    criminal behavior.    - Make all drugs legally available with a pre_script_ion by a licensed    physician, subject to professional oversight. End the practice of punishing    an individual for obtaining, possessing, or using an otherwise illegal    substance to treat a medical condition, and allow medically administered    drug maintenance as a treatment option for drug addiction. **** Alternatives to the War on Drugs Statement of Conscience Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations *Background: * This final draft Statement of Conscience of the Unitarian Universalist Association builds upon four social witness statements on drug policy adopted by the Unitarian Universalist Association between 1965 and 1991. In June 2000, the General Assembly of the UUA selected Alternatives to the 'War on Drugs' as the Study/Action Issue (SAI) suggested to congregations for two years of study, action, and reflection. The Commission on Social Witness (CSW) received initial reports from congregations and districts in March 2001. In June 2001, the CSW held a workshop on this issue at General Assembly. An initial draft Statement of Conscience was distributed to all congregations and districts for their reflection and feedback. At its March 2002 meeting, the CSW prepared a revised draft. It was placed on the final agenda of the June 2002 General Assembly. A mini-assembly was held on Friday, June 21, where proposed amendments were received. Friday evening, June 21, the CSW produced this final draft Statement of Conscience, _base_d on the mini-assembly and the proposed amendments. The delegates present at the Saturday, June 22 plenary adopted this Statement of Conscience with the required two-thirds majority.    *OUR CALL TO END THE WAR ON DRUGS AS A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE* For more than thirty years, American public policy has advanced an escalating war on drugs that seeks to eradicate illegal drugs from our society. It is increasingly clear that this effort has failed. Our current drug policy has consumed tens of billions of dollars and wrecked countless lives. The costs of this policy include the increasing breakdown of families and neighborhoods, endangerment of children, widespread violation of civil liberties, escalating rates of incarceration, political corruption, and the imposition of United States policy abroad. For United States taxpayers, the price tag on the drug offensive has soared from $66 million in 1968 to almost $20 billion in 2000, an increase of over 30,000 percent. In practice the drug war disproportionately targets people of color and people who are poverty-stricken. Coercive measures have not reduced drug use, but they have clogged our criminal justice system with non-violent offenders. It is time to explore alternative approaches and to end this costly war. The war on drugs has blurred the distinction between drug use and drug abuse. Drug use is erroneously perceived as behavior that is always out of control and harmful to others. Illegal drug use is thus portrayed as threatening to society. As a result, drug policy has been closed to study, discussion, and consideration of alternatives by legislative bodies. Yet many people who use both legal and illegal drugs live productive, functional lives and do no harm to society. As Unitarian Universalists committed to a free and responsible search for truth, we must protest the misguided policies that shape current practice. We cannot in good conscience remain quiet when it is becoming clear that we have been misled for decades about illegal drugs. United States government drug policy makers mislead the world about the purported success of the war on drugs. They tell the public that success is dependent upon even more laws restricting constitutional protections and the allocation of billions of dollars for drug law enforcement. They mislead the public about the extent of corruption and environmental degradation that the American war on drugs has left in its wake in other countries. As Unitarian Universalists committed to affirming the inherent worth and dignity of every person and to justice, equity, and compassion in human relations, we call for thoughtful consideration and implementation of alternatives that regard the reduction of harm as the appropriate standard by which to assess drug policies. We seek a compassionate reduction of harm associated with drugs, both legal and illegal, with special attention to the harm unleashed by policies established in the war on drugs. As Unitarian Universalists committed to respecting the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part, we find irresponsible and morally wrong the practices of scorching the earth and poisoning the soil and ground water in other countries to stop the production of drugs that are illegal in the United States. As a community of faith, Unitarian Universalists have both a moral imperative and a personal responsibility to ask the difficult questions that so many within our society are unable, unwilling, or too afraid to ask. In asking these questions and in weighing our findings, we are compelled to consider a different approach to national drug policy. *A DIFFERENT APPROACH* To conceive and develop a more just and compassionate drug policy, it is necessary to transform how we view drugs and particularly drug addiction. Drug use, drug abuse, and drug addiction are distinct from one another. Using a drug does not necessarily mean abusing the drug, much less becoming addicted to it. Drug abuse issues are essentially matters for medical attention. We do not believe that drug use should be considered criminal behavior. Advocates for harsh drug policies with severe penalties for drug use often cite violent crime as a direct result of drug use. Drugs alone do not cause crime. Legal prohibition of drugs leads to inflated street value, which in turn incites violent turf wars among distributors. The whole pattern is reminiscent of the proliferation of organized crime at the time of alcohol prohibition in the early twentieth century. That policy also failed. We believe that the vision of a drug-free America is unrealistic. Many programs for school children have misled participants and the public by teaching that all illicit drugs are equally harmful in spite of current scientific research to the contrary. Just Say No is not a viable policy. The consequences of the current drug war are cruel and counterproductive. At issue here are the health and well-being of our families and our communities, our society, and our global community. Alternatives exist. *ALTERNATIVE GOALS* _base_d on this perspective, we believe appropriate and achievable goals for reformed national drug policies include:    - preventing consumption of drugs, including alcohol and nicotine, that    are harmful to the health of children and adolescents;    - reducing the likelihood that drug users will become drug abusers;    - minimizing the harmful effects of drug use, such as disease contracted    from the use of contaminated needles and overdoses resulting from the    unwitting use of impure drugs;    - increasing the availability and affordability of quality drug treatment    and eliminating the stigma associated with accessing it;    - significantly reducing violent and predatory drug-related crime;    - minimizing the harmful consequences of current drug policy, such as    racial profiling, property confiscation without conviction, and unnecessary    incarceration; and    - reducing the harm to our earth now caused by the practice of destroying    crops intended for the production of drugs.  *ALTERNATIVE POLICIES* Instead of the current war on drugs, we offer the following policies for study, debate, and implementation:    - Shift budget priorities from spending for pursuit, prosecution, and    imprisonment of drug law offenders to spending for education, treatment, and    research.    - Develop and implement age-appropriate drug education programs that are    grounded in research and fact and that promote dialogue without fear of    censure or reprisal.    - Undertake research to assess the effects of currently illegal drugs.    Ensure that findings and conclusions are publicly accessible, serving as a    basis for responsible decision making by individuals and in arenas of public    policy and practice.    - Research the sociological factors that contribute to habitual,    addictive, and destructive drug use, such as poverty, poor mental health,    sexual or other physical abuse, and lack of education or medical treatment.    - Research and expand a range of management and on-demand treatment    programs for drug abuse and addiction. Examples include nutritional    counseling, job training, psychiatric evaluation and treatment,    psychological counseling, parent training and assistance, support groups,    clean needle distribution and exchange, substitution of safer drugs (e.g.    methadone or marijuana), medically administered drug maintenance, disease    screening, and acupuncture and other alternative and complementary    treatments. Publish the results of studies of these programs.    - Require health insurance providers to cover in-patient and out-patient    treatment for substance abuse on the same basis as treatment of other    chronic health conditions.    - Make all drugs legally available with a pre_script_ion by a licensed    physician, subject to professional oversight. End the practice of punishing    an individual for obtaining, possessing, or using an otherwise illegal    substance to treat a medical condition. End the threat to impose sanctions    on physicians who treat patients with opiates for alleviation of pain.    - Prohibit civil liberties violations and other intrusive law enforcement    practices. Violations of the right to privacy, such as urine testing, should    be imposed only upon employees in safety-sensitive occupations.    - Establish a legal, regulated, and taxed market for marijuana. Treat    marijuana as we treat alcohol.    - Modify civil forfeiture laws to require conviction before seizure of    assets. Prohibit the eviction of family, friends, and co-habitants or the    loss of government en_title_ments _base_d on drug law violation.    - Abolish mandatory minimum prison sentences for the use and distribution    of currently illicit drugs. Legislation should specify only maximum prison    sentences.    - Remove criminal penalties for possession and use of currently illegal    drugs, with drug abusers subject to arrest and imprisonment only if they    commit actual crimes (e.g., assault, burglary, impaired driving, vandalism).    End sentencing inequities driven by racial profiling.    - Establish and make more accessible prison-_base_d drug treatment,    education, job training, and transition programs designed for inmates.    - End the financing of anti-drug campaigns in Central and South America,    which promote the widespread spraying of herbicides, contribute to the    destruction of rainforests, and are responsible for uprooting peoples from    their homelands.  *OUR CALL TO ACT AS A PEOPLE OF FAITH* We must begin with ourselves. Our congregations can offer safe space for open and honest discussion among congregants about the complex issues of drug use, abuse, and addiction. Through acceptance of one another and the encouragement of spiritual growth, we should be able to acknowledge and address our own drug use without fear of censure or reprisal. We can recognize that drugs include not only currently illegal substances but also alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, over-the-counter pain relievers, and pre_script_ion drugs. We can learn to distinguish among use, abuse, and addiction. We can support one another in recognizing drug-related problems and seeking help. We can seek to understand those among us who use drugs for relief or escape. With compassion, we can cultivate reflection and analysis of drug policy. In the safe space of our own congregations, we can begin to prevent destructive relationships with drugs. We can lend necessary support to individuals and families when their loved ones need treatment for addiction problems. We can encourage our congregations to partner with and follow the lead of groups representing individuals whose lives are most severely undermined by current drug policy