1

2 Before 1914 heroin could be bought from grocery stores 1.3 % of population was addicted to drugs

3 The Many Faces of Jack Cole

Percent of population addicted 1.3 %

5 Deaths as result of drug culture 1970 = Less likely than Falling down stairs Choking on food

6 Drug Problem? 1970 = Soft Drugs Hard Drugs virtually unheard of…

7 DEA Briefing Book % $ 6.37 $ % $ %

8 DEA Briefing Book % $ 6.37 $ % $ % By 2008 street level heroin was 60% pure

9 Explanation of heroin values 40x $65 $25

10 US Drug Users According to DEA 1965 = 4 million Two percent of that population Today = 112 million 46 percent of this population

11 Money spent fighting the Drug War 1970 = $100 million Today = $70 billion

12 Drug seizures for local or state police in 1970 One ounce of Cocaine One quarter ounce of Heroin

13 Drug seizures by 2002 Ten tons of Heroin Twenty tons of Cocaine

14 Wholesale Cocaine Costs 60 % LESS

15 Wholesale Heroin Costs 70 % LESS

16 Heroin Overdose Rate per 100,000 users 1979 = 28 Deaths 2000 = 141 Deaths

17 Marijuana Arrests and Total Drug Arrests in the US Year Total Drug Arrests Total Marijuana Arrests Marijuana Trafficking/Sale Arrests Marijuana Possession Arrests 20051,865,712771,60587,286684, ,579,566734,49788,455646, ,532,200704,81284,271620, ,559,100682,88584,191598, ,583,600695,20188,682606, ,506,200641,64294,891546, ,476,100588,96485,614503, ,089,500326,85066,460260, ,900401,98263,318338, ,600180,000 Drug Arrests Quadrupled 1.9 million 44% 89 % ½ Million

18 US Tax Dollars Spent Prosecuting the War on Drugs One Trillion

19 Cumulative U.S. Drug Arrests 1970 to Million Arrests

Percent of population addicted 1.3 %

21 Percent of population addicted --Nothing has changed % When drugs legal 1.3 % When drugs illegal 1.3 % After 40 year war 1.3 % After 40 year war

22 Clearance Rates for Violent and Property Crimes Unsolved 40% of murders 60% of rapes & arsons 75% of robberies

Police Credited With solving 91 % of Murders Today 61 % of Murders

Murder Clearance 1966 Miranda Warning 1968 FBI Uniform Crime Reports 1970 War on Drugs 1983 Crack in LA, CA Percent of Clearance by arrest for murders in the US From 1965 to

25 30 Percent Fewer Solved Murders Chasing nonviolent Drug Users

26 No Longer Protect us from VIOLENT Predators

27 How Has Prohibition Changed Drug Use in US Schools? School children report it is easier to buy illegal drugs than it is to buy beer or cigarettes

28 International Trade in Illicit Drugs Annually generates: $500 billion

29 This is a mere $207 million $500 billion would cover a room 2,415 times this size

30 Drug Lords don’t count their money $1 Million in hundred dollar bills weighs 37.1 pounds

31 Alternative Policy Solution Remove the profit motive continuously enhanced for 40 years by the United States policy of a WAR ON DRUGS

32 End Prohibition 1. Legalize Drugs

33 Decriminalizing Drugs Netherlands in 1976 Portugal in 2001 Mexico in 2009 Argentina in 2009

34 Won’t legalization cause everyone to use drugs? National Zogby Poll If heroin and cocain were made legal would you try them? Less than 6/10 of one percent said Yes

35 Won’t legalization cause everyone to use drugs? In the Netherlands Marijuana use by tenth graders 28 %

36 Marijuana use by tenth graders in the United States 41 %

37 Drug and Violence Indicators - US and the Netherlands - Marijuana Use Lifetime prevalence 37% 17% USA Netherlands Heroin Use Lifetime prevalence 1.4% 0.4% USA Netherlands Homicide rate per 100,000 population USA Netherlands

38 Decreased by 25% drug use by 13 to 15 year olds In Portugal

39 Decreased by 22% drug use by 16 to 19 year olds In Portugal

40 Decreased by 52% Heroin overdose deaths In Portugal

41 Decreased by 71% HIV infections reported by drug users In Portugal

42 To Stop Police Coruption Decriminalized all drugs 21 August 2009Mexico

43 Arresting for drug use and possession is Unconstitutional Supreme Court ruled on 24 August 2009Argentina

44 Incarceration Rates in European Nations At or below 150 Per 100,000 population

45 Incarceration Rates in the United States By March ,009 Per 100,000 population

46 Federal Drug Imprisonments +2,558% +294% 3,384 17,302 17,302

47 International Prisoner Comparison per 100,000 Populatio Countries indicated in Green have initiated some type of decriminalization of illicit drugs. What does imprisoning people for Non-Violent drug violations have to do with reducing crime?

48 Who Uses and Sells Drugs? Whites constitute 72% of all drug users in the US Blacks constitute 13.5% of all drug users in the US

49 Who Gets Arrested? 37% of those arrested for drug violations are Black

50 Who Goes to Prison? 60% of those in state prisons for drug felonies are Black 81% of federal drug offenders are black

51 Who Goes to Prison? Blacks are now serving an average of six years, while whites are serving only four years.

52 Bureau of Justice Statistics Disenfranchisement 14% of black men lost right to vote Black male born today has a one-in-three chance of serving time in prison Of convicted defendants 33% of whites received a prison sentence 33% of whites received a prison sentence Nine in 10 prisoners serving mandatory sentences for drug offenses in New York State prisonsare serving mandatory sentences for drug offenses in New York State prisons are black or Latino Of convicted defendants 51% of Blacks received prison sentences Disenfranchisement In Texas 31% of black men lost right to vote

53 Incarceration Rates in the United States White Males 943 Per 100,000 population

54 Incarceration Rate of Black Males Per 100,000 population South Africa Under Apartheid 851 United States Under Prohibition 6,667

55 Outcomes of Legalization 1.9 million less people arrested each year 70 Billion Dollars saved each year

56 End Prohibition 1. Legalize Drugs 2. Have the federal government produce those drugs

57 Outcomes of Government Production 1. Quality controlled production for consistency 2. Standardized measurement and potency End of overdoses

58 1. Legalize Drugs 2. Government production 3. Sell drugs to adults from state package stores and Tax the sales

59 1. Legalize Drugs 2. Government production 3. Distribute free maintenance doses of drugs to any adult requesting them

60 Results of treating heroin addiction with heroin SwitzerlandNetherlandsGermanyDenmark

61 Results of treating heroin addiction with heroin Crime was cut by 60% AIDSandHEPATITIS dropped to the lowest of any countries in Europe 82 % DECLINE IN NEW HEROIN USERS! Not one Overdose Death since 1994

62 1. Legalize Drugs 2. Government production 3. Distribute free doses 4. Redirect money saved to programs that offer people hope for the future

63 Programs offering hope Guaranteed Minimums Education - Health Care - Housing - Job Training Employment Livable Wages

64 Programs offering hope Rehabilitation Centers

65 Results of offering people hope for the future Less need to use drugs Less drug addicts

66 1. Legalize Drugs 2. Government production 3. Distribute free doses 4. Create hope for the future 5. Redirect money saved to programs that offer true education about drugs

67 Does Education Work? 1985 United States 42% smoked tobacco 2003 United States Only 21% smoked tobacco

68 1. Legalize Drugs 2. Government production 3. Distribute free doses 4. Create hope for the future 5. Educate users and public

69 Albert Einstein on Prohibition The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the Prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this. Albert Einstein

70 Prohibition - When will we learn? Members of the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform pose for a photograph in 1932 (courtesy of the Hagly Museum and Library, Wilmington, Delaware). We are having to relearn the same lesson today that they learned 69 years ago.

71 Prohibition - When will we learn? Members of the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform pose for a photograph in 1932 (courtesy of the Hagly Museum and Library, Wilmington, Delaware). We are having to relearn the same lesson today that they learned 69 years ago. Save our Children Stamp Out Prohibition Members of the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform

72 Save our Children Stamp Out Prohibition

73

74 Alcohol Prohibition Didn’t Work Either 15,000 saloons 32,000 Speakeasys

75 Methamphetamine use decreased Since % for 8 th Graders -78% for 10 th Graders -65% for 12 th Graders

76 Inmates there for crimes to get money to buy drugs State Prisons = 17% Jails = 13% Federal Inmates = 18%

77 Prevalence of Use of Any Illicit Drug (2001 – 2007) From DEA Presentation

78 Prevalence of Use of Any Illicit Drug (2001 – 2007)

79 Prevalence of Use of Any Illicit Drug in the Last Month Monitoring the Future 2007 Prevalence of Use of illicit Drugs 8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade DEA presentation ( )-37%-26%-15% LEAP presentation ( )30%46%34%

80 Increased Prevalence of Monthly Marijuana Use (1990 – 2005) Age12-17Age18-24Age25-34Age35+Total Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health; National Household Survey on Drug Abuse 68%48%-10% 103% 43%