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. Read More…
Denise Lang & Ken Nicholson of Peace and Justice of La Luz invite you to visit our Otero County fair booth on Wednesday August 17 from 5 pm to 9 pm, Thursday August 18 from 5 pm to 10 pm, Friday August 19 from 11 am to 10 pm and Saturday August 20 from 11 am to 10 pm, where we continue our discussion about the consequences of the ‘War on Drugs.’
Stop by, pick up a LEAP, brochure, and join our ongoing discussions on the War on Drugs as well as Mandatory Sentencing, and Prison issues.
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 the newest materials from LEAP and from the clergy of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative
Questions? Comments? Call Denise or Ken at 575-430-5704 or contact us at
http://pajoll.org pajoll@zianet.com
We welcome discussion with people who wish to dialogue with reason and compassion about our “War on Drugs” and prison issues. See you at the Fair!
by Tina Godby-Ware, RN Otero/Lincoln Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program
The goal of sexual health promotion is to foster healthy relationships and comfort with sexuality. It is based on the premise that adults who are comfortable with their sexuality and at ease with open discussion of sexual issues will create a family environment that supports healthy sexual behavior and responsible sexual choices. Healthy sexuality is based on respect, value, honesty, and joy.
But first, we must work diligently to challenge the institutions and practices that uphold male domination, the powerlessness of children, the turning of sexuality into a commodity, and the glorification of violence and exploration of fellow human beings. Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted. Only 83 percent of victims ever report this crime, with a large majority never telling anyone, allowing this silent epidemic to multiply and explode. The literature states that sexual violence is perhaps the most insidious manifestation of patriarchy, because it involves the corruption and distortion of that which is fundamental to our existence; our sexuality.Read 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”.
There can be no stronger proof of the impoverishment of our contemporary culture than the popular - though profoundly mistaken definition of myth as falsehood.
~ Rollo May, 1991, The Cry for Myth .
