PUSHING TREATMENT IS NOT 'LEGALIZATION'

I am writing in response to the article "Drug legalization focus of
gathering." As a co-organizer of this student conference, I was mystified
that it had been assessed as a forum for the discussion of legalization.

It seems the reporter fell prey to the common illness afflicting all of us
who have analyzed the war on drugs and its proponents and opponents a "
that it is a battle between legalizers and prohibitionists. The article
suggests that the students gathered at the conference promoted the idea of
legalizing drugs as a means to end prison overcrowding and to get drug
abusers the help they need to beat their habit.

As both an organizer and a participant, I observed students and community
members gathered together to discuss alternatives to incarceration in
Connecticut, and in particular advocating for treatment over incarceration
for nonviolent drug offenders entering the system.

Is this legalization? Certainly not. And I do not think that the hundreds
of thousands of voters in California would believe this either. Those
citizens voted overwhelmingly in support of Proposition 36, a measure that
will divert over 30,000 nonviolent drug offenders to treatment as opposed
to incarceration.

That is not to say there were not some proponents of legalization in our
audience and amongst our speakers a " they are a necessary and essential
part of this movement. However, I do believe that it is absolutely
imperative that we understand the conference as it was a " a spectrumof
voices advocating for a more sensible drug policy for Connecticut.

Alexandra Cox

New Haven