The War on Drugs and Families
As the Drug Policy Alliance explains:
"Everyone has a stake in ending the "war on drugs." Whether you’re a parent concerned about protecting children from drug-related harm, a social justice advocate worried about racially disproportionate incarceration rates, an environmentalist seeking to protect the Amazon rainforest or a fiscally conservative taxpayer you have a stake in ending the drug war. U.S. federal, state and local governments have spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to make America "drug-free." Yet heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illicit drugs are cheaper, purer and easier to get than ever before. Nearly half a million people are behind bars on drug charges - more than all of western Europe (with a bigger population) incarcerates for all offenses. The war on drugs has become a war on families, a war on public health and a war on our constitutional rights.
Many of the problems the drug war purports to resolve are in fact caused by the drug war itself. So-called "drug-related" crime is a direct result of drug prohibition's distortion of immutable laws of supply and demand. Public health problems like HIV and Hepatitis C are all exacerbated by zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean needles. The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse." See http://www.drugpolicy.org/drugwar/
Because the war on drugs has been used as a way to justify the punishment of pregnant women (See Punishment of Pregnant Women) and because it is undermining the health and well being of so many parents, families, and communities this section provides articles, resources, and links that provide evidence based information about illegal drugs, the destructive impact of the war on drugs and organziations and strategies for change.
Learn more about the war on drugs...
Drug Crazy
Mike Gray's riveting account of America's tragic and futile war on drugs.New Mexico Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments in Case Involving Prosecution of Woman Struggling with Addiction During Pregnancy
Leading Physicians, Scientific Researchers, and Medical, Public Health, and Child Welfare Organizations Oppose Treating Pregnant Women Who Give Birth in Spite of a Drug Problem as Felony Child Abusers
Caught in the Net: The Impact of Drug Policies on Women and Families
"Federal and state drug laws and policies over the past twenty years have had specific devastating, and disparate effects on women, and particularly women of color and low income women." Caught in the Net is a collaboration between the American Civil Liberties Union, Break the Chain: Communities of Color and the War on Drugs, and the Brennan Center at NYU School of Law. Caught in the Net this comprehensive report that compiles and anlyzes existing research with respect to the impact of current drug policies on women, their children, families and communities. NAPW is proud to have participated in the Caught in the Net Conference, with Wyndi Anderson, our National Educator acting as a faciliator for one of the working groups.
http://www.brennancenter.org/programs/cj/caught_in_the_net_report.pdf
Drug/Terror Ads and Kids Don't Mix
By Lynn Paltrow
Several weeks ago, my children and I watched a family movie on the ABC Family Channel, and together we were exposed to the entertaining and fascinating world of drugs, drug money and violence.
Somewhere in the middle of the movie, part of a week long comedy series, the station ran an advertisement sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The advertisement offers stark pictures of teenagers talking about how they are really murderers, torturers and terrorists. The ad originally ran during the Super Bowl, costing taxpayers 3.5 million dollars, as part of a publicity campaign linking American youth who have tried illegal drugs with funding for terrorism.
http://www.alternet.org/story/12865/
The War on Drugs and the War on Abortion: Some Initial Thoughts on the Connections, Intersections and the Effects
Lynn Paltrow*, 28 Southern University Law Review 201 (2001).
Links
- Drug Policy Alliance
- Break the Chains: Communities of Color and the War on Drugs
- The Harm Reduction Coalition
- Common Sense for Drug Policy
- The Rebecca Project for Human Rights
- The Real Cost of Prisons Project
- International Center for Advancement of Addiction Treatment
- Physicians and Lawyers for National Drug Policy