Pubdate: Mon, 17 May 2010
Source: Huffington Post (US Web)
Copyright: 2010 HuffingtonPost com, Inc.
Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Author: Ethan Nadelmann
Note: Ethan Nadelmann is the Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance. www.drugpolicy.org
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0A1XTlJAio
Sting, Soros, Montel and More
WE ARE THE DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE
I’ve often felt in years past that our struggle to end the drug war is relentlessly uphill. But that’s changing now, sometimes more quickly than even I can believe. The principal reason is us, by which I mean every person who grasps the lunacy of drug policies in this country and throughout much of the world, and who takes some action – no matter how small – to advance a better way.
It’s time now for DPA – the Drug Policy Alliance – to launch a new organizational identity that fully expresses each of our roles as agents of change.
This change represents the once-unimaginable progress that you and I have made over the past decade to bring drug policy reform that much closer to the tipping point. Now is the time to make drug policy reform more personal – creating an even greater sense of moral urgency, connecting the dots with more allies, and building on the common interests of everyone who makes up this movement. We can keep chipping away at the drug war but it won’t really end until a critical mass of people, communities and elected officials demand a new way of dealing with drugs in our society. That’s why we are the Drug Policy Alliance.
I’m often asked, “Who is this growing drug policy reform movement?”
We vary of course in what brings us to this cause. We are people who care about fundamental freedoms, civil liberties and human rights. We are people who care about social and economic justice. We are people who want to end racism. We are people who want addiction treated as a health issue rather than a criminal justice problem. We are people who want honest drug education for our youth that fosters trust rather than fear. And every one of us – no matter our reason – believes that the war on drugs is not the way to deal with the reality of drugs in our society. That’s why we are the Drug Policy Alliance.
[snip]
P.S. Today we’re introducing a new video featuring Sting, George Soros and Montel Williams. Each of them – like so many of us – believes that our drug policies must be grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n368/a09.html