Peace And Justice Of La Luz

NAACP PASSES HISTORIC RESOLUTION CALLING FOR END TO WAR ON DRUGS

Neill Franklin at the NAACP Criminal Justice Summit

President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous: Major step towards equity, justice, effective law enforcement

(Los Angeles, CA) – Today the NAACP passed a historic resolution calling for an end to the war on drugs. The resolution was voted on by a majority of delegates at the 102nd NAACP Annual Convention in Los Angeles, CA. The overall message of the resolution is captured by its title: A Call to End the War on Drugs, Allocate Funding to Investigate Substance Abuse Treatment, Education, and Opportunities in Communities of Color for A Better Tomorrow.

“Today the NAACP has taken a major step towards equity, justice and effective law enforcement,” stated Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP. “These flawed drug policies that have been mostly enforced in African American communities 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, highlighting that the U.S. spends over $40 billion annually on the war on drugs, locking up low-level drug offenders – 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. (more…)

LEAP Officer (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) Larry Teller interviewed by Fred Martino of KRWG, Las Cruces, NM Aug 12, 2010

Larry Teller was a guest of  PAJOLL during our second year of running a booth at the Otero County Fair in Alamogordo, NM  where we talked with  an estimated thousand Fair visitors about the failed drug war and the importance of Treatment instead of Incarceration for non-violent drug offenders.  We handed out what seemed like about eighty pounds of material, most of which was donated by the Drug Policy Alliance.

The Fair was attended by 18,619 visitors for the last three days, according to the official “entrance count”.

Denise Lang & Ken Nicholson & Peace and Justice of La Luz invite you to visit our booth at the Otero County Fair off North White Sands Blvd. in Alamogordo, NM.

Wednesday August 11 from 5 pm to 9 pm,

Thursday August 12 from 5 pm to 10 pm,

Friday August 13 from 11 am to 10 pm,

Saturday August 14 from 11 am to 10 pm

…where we continue our discussion about the consequences of the ‘War on Drugs.’

Meet our guest speaker, Larry Talley, from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition!

Larry S. Talley served in the United States Navy from 1987-2007 as an intelligence specialist and was stationed at Naval Special Warfare Unit Eight in the Republic of Panama from 1991-1996. While stationed in Panama, Larry deployed frequently to various locations in Central and South America in support of counter-drug operations, where he formulated and implemented eradication strategy in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Agency and with many countries in the region.

About LEAP:

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is made up of current and former members of law enforcement who believe the existing drug policies have failed in their intended goals of addressing the problems of crime, drug abuse, addiction, juvenile drug use, stopping the flow of illegal drugs into this country and the internal sale and use of illegal drugs. By fighting a war on drugs the government has increased the problems of society and made them far worse.

We’ll have materials from LEAP and from the clergy of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative

Questions? Comments? Contact Denise or Ken at 575-430-5704 or

http://pajoll.org or mail to:  pajoll@zianet.com

—PAJOLL at the fair 2009