1. DRUGS America’s Holy War by Bridgit Sliwak, Christina Cook, Gemma Atticks, Hannah McComish

2. Why are certain drugs prohibited?

3. NO - Together, tobacco and alcohol are responsible for over a half a million deaths per year. ●In 2000--435,000 tobacco related deaths and 85,000 alcohol related deaths ●In 2000--17,000 deaths due to the consumption of all illicit drugs Are heroin, cocaine, and amphetamines more life threatening than alcohol and tobacco?

4. Hmm let’s see… well… um... RACISM 1.19th century anti-opium laws directed at Chinese laborers who were in competition with American workers 2.In the early 20th century marijuana was the drug of choice for mexican farm laborers who were thought to be taking scarce jobs away from Americans 3.Cocaine and heroin were perceived as a danger to society due to their association with blacks, juvenile gangs, and prostitutes Why are certain drugs prohibited while more dangerous ones are not?

5. Damage from the Drug War

6. Crime Violence -Outside the law: No legal recourse -Weapons for protection and maintenance of turf -Justice system has fewer resources Property Crime -Inflated black market prices of drugs lead addicts to steal to fund their addiction

7. Public Health Black Market Dangers - No government regulation, Potency is unknown AIDS -Drug Paraphernalia Laws, Needle Exchanges, Harm Reduction Prohibition and Potency Drug Substitutions -Increase in price of one good increases consumption of another good.

8. Civil Liberties No-Knock Drug Raids -Unannounced drug raids, Warrants, Minorities and the Poor The Assault on the Bill of Rights -Fourth Amendment, “Unreasonable Searches and Seizures” -Fifth Amendment, “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation” Mandatory Minimum Sentences -Power goes to prosecutors rather than judges -Many sentences are based on gross weight of the drug

9. Social Cohesion Race -Consumers and peddlers of drugs are predominantly white, those incarcerated are predominantly black. Corruption -Easy money -Directly related to the War on Drugs

10. Your Tax Dollars at Work Cocaine and Heroin Prices -Supply Reduction has failed Eradication -Ineffective Interdiction -Ineffective Domestic Law Enforcement ODALE, Busting Traffickers, Meth Labs

11. The Federal Government’s Case for the Drug War

12. How has media framing of the “war” shifted ? ●https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mkB1Yi5O SYAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mkB1Yi5O SYA ●https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l- WnT7bXeb0&feature=player_detailpagehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l- WnT7bXeb0&feature=player_detailpage ●https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giGkt5oAhT0&feature=player_detailpa gehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giGkt5oAhT0&feature=player_detailpa ge ●https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rwd0cIHYVc&feature=player_detailp agehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rwd0cIHYVc&feature=player_detailp age ●https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wwu7L38gl cQ&list=PLB5B68909D761E363https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wwu7L38gl cQ&list=PLB5B68909D761E363 ●https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ZbsBj8NRu fw&list=PLB5B68909D761E363https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ZbsBj8NRu fw&list=PLB5B68909D761E363

13. The White House vs The Scientists Drug Czar: Informal name for the person who directs drug-control policies in the US. ●1914: Harrison Narcotics Act ●1930-1962: Czar Harry Anslinger was commissioner of the federal Bureau of Narcotics. Science fiction and racism were Anslinger's weapons of choice to promote his version of America's drug culture. ●1972: Jaffe and Ambroise in accordance with public support for Nixon's presidential campaign went against the American Medical Association, NIMH and the American Bar Associations recommendations to decriminalize marijuana. “an all-out global war on drug menace”. ●1977: Bourne set in motion legislation to legalise medical marijuana however it was not popular with Republican politicians and Jimmy Carter was forced to scrap the Bill. ???Why ●1980: Turner and Regan. Shift from public health to department of justice. ●1985: Bush and Bennett. “all out war on drugs” ●2001: Bush and Walters. $100 billion spent and no change. ●2009: Obama and Kerikowske. Pledged to change the conversation of the drug war.

14. Walters and Bennett vs Scientists Marijuana

15. Walters and Bennett vs Scientists Heroin and Cocaine ●Pro-incarceration and Socioeconomic differences

16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Eeidr4fMb9w

17. "National Drug Control Budget: FY 2015 Funding Highlights" (Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy), March 2014, http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/about-content/fy_201... http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/about-content/fy_201... "National Drug Control Budget: FY 2015 Funding Highlights" (Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy), March 2014, http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/about-content/fy_201... http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/about-content/fy_201...

18. Harm R HARM REDUCTION INSTEAD OF WAR uction Instead *Aimed at reducing harm caused by illicit drugs *Includes policies such as: -making sterile syringes freely available (reduce HIV/AIDS) -establishing safe injection rooms/physicians on hand -created drug analysis units -decriminalizing possession of small quantities

19. “Archeological and Anthropological research has shown that human beings (across all societies) have an innate craving for psychoactive drugs” p.113 *Right to pursuit of happiness *Should drug users be treated as criminals? -your pursuit of happiness/different than theirs *Government can’t tax or control strength/quality if drugs they are in an underground market

20. ENDING MARIJUANA PROHIBITION *Over 14.6 million Americans have smoked marijuana *60,000 people incarcerated for marijuana possession with no other offenses p.116 -About as addictive as caffeine -Not a gateway drug -No deaths by overdose -No increase in use in countries that decriminalized DEA Judge: Marijuana has medical uses and is far safer than many foods we commonly consume in the United States *Movement in Maine

21. REFORMING LAWS ON HARD DRUGS http://youtu.be/NBxLwDS7p7E 100% Free Heroin With Prescription *participants involved in other crimes dropped from 59% to 10% *percentage of participants able to maintain a stable job rose from 14% to 32% *tax money needing to go to crime control, medical and social support services dropped 50% *20 out of 30 police chiefs in Switzerland support the act *Citizens voted to keep the program after the trial