MAJOR NEWS AFFILIATES CALLING COLVILLE ABOUT DRUGS

The city of Colville made Newsweek magazine in February by virtue of
the November Coalition's nationwide crusade against current U.S. drug
war policies. As one of Colville's largest nonprofit organizations,
the Coalition is a dominant national voice decrying current drug
policies as ineffective, deceptive, and unusually cruel.

When sentences for marijuana possession are harsher than those for
rape, child molestation, and, in some cases, murder, there is
something suspiciously despotic with these particular laws of the land.

The United States locks up more of its citizens per capita than any
other nation on earth.

We have just sent the theoretical two millionth person to jail last
February, which was the occasion for the Newsweek article, "Locked
away and Forgotten." Out of every ten prisoners in the federal
correctional system, six are non-violent drug offenders.

The policy of warehousing drug violators has resulted in prison
overcrowding, forcing the premature release of violent offenders who
often repeat their crimes against society.

Drug offenders are not going to be "rehabilitated" or "corrected" when
a clear majority of their jailmates are unrehabilitated drug users.
Unusually long prison terms are handed out because of mandatory
sentencing legislation, like the three-strikes law. Getting caught
smoking marijuana for the third time can bring a life sentence, while
raping once can bring just ten years.

And after thirty years of handing out harsh sentences mandated by our
war on drugs, drugs are more available than ever--even in prison.

Drug abuse is a health problem, but our policies require it be treated
criminally. In the Netherlands, where a strong public health approach
is taken for drug use, the 'incarceration rate is just eleven percent
of the United States'. Additionally, thirty-two percent of the people
in the U.S. have tried marijuana, compared to only fifteen percent of
Dutch people. And while ten percent in the U.S. have used cocaine,
only two percent have tried it in the Netherlands. The subhead in the
Newsweek article affirmed one problem with our war on drugs: We're
going to have to face it - the prison system doesn't work.

Citizens of the United States will continue to consume billions of
dollars in illegal drugs each year, as long as we choose to spend our
money that way. Yet our government has been providing military aid to
South American countries for the past thirty years in an attempt to
eradicate drugs at their source.

A recent survey of high school students found that ninety percent can
acquire marijuana easier than they can beer, and that it is easier to
obtain heroin and cocaine than it is prescription drugs.

Somebody is not paying attention to the facts--or doesn't want
to.

The Clinton administration has proposed an increased aid package to
Columbia in the amount of $1 .6 billion.

The logic is, if military aid doesn't solve the drug problem in this
country, then certainly more military aid will. This is how current
policy reasons away our money that could be spent on prevention and
treatment programs that have proven to be effective.

Instead, America has been drawn into a vicious civil war in Colombia
that has been raging for over forty years.

Drug czar General McCaffrey admitted last July that it is impossible
to differentiate between anti-drug efforts and the war against
insurgent groups. In other words, the United States military is not
exactly sure who is shooting whom with U.S. artillery--paramilitary
factions, narco-guerillas, antinarcoterrorist death squads, coca
growing peasants, indigenous groups caught in the crossfire, priests,
nuns and human rights workers--but we do know U.S. presence is
important to Exxon, Texaco, Conoco, Standard Oil, Arco, and other oil
companies who have a stake in these drug-producing countries.

Could there be another U.S. motive for awarding Colombia our the third
largest military aid package?

The stated objective in attempting to eliminate drugs at their source
through military intervention is to deprive users of their criminal
pleasures, and to prevent those who would use for the first time from
ever having access.

But when billions of tax free dollars are there for the taking, there
will always be suppliers.

We can count on an abundance of illegal drugs in this country as long
as there is a strong demand. Yet current policy suggests that if we
continue sending helicopters and guns and military technology to every
place in the world with a good climate for poppies and marijuana, then
eventually we'll be to able stamp out every last plant.

Demand is what makes any business successful. There can be a bountiful
supply of product, but if nobody cares, you're out of business.

Now that many prisons are privatized, prisoners are big
business.

And like any enterprise, the more product there is, the greater the
profits. There are now "correctional" companies that are competing for
entire state penal systems to process and warehouse their prisoners.

This has sparked the biggest prison construction boom in history, and
Wall Street is delighted.

Paine Webber researcher Gary Boston said of these prison companies,
they are "very powerful performers and have huge potential, even
compared to high tech stocks." Since these stockholders and
corporations depend on a robust prisoner market for viability, policy
makers are influenced by the lobbying efforts from an industry that
relies heavily upon non-violent drug offenders for their fortunes.

With tremendous financial incentives to incarcerate, the draconian
consequence is selling our citizens to prison enterprises because
rehabilitation is no longer profitable.

Since the November Coalition began its crusade in 1997, and began
publishing the nationally distributed Razor Wire that chronicles the
drug issue, public awareness about the inhumane and misguided drug war
has increased exponentially. Mainstream media is now publicizing the
injustices of America's ineffectual drug policies.

ABC's Barbara Walters dialed the Colville prefix for resources for a
drug policy story that was recently aired on the network.

Numerous source requests by media giants have contacted Colville's
November Coalition, including PBS Frontline, Playboy Magazine,
Newsweek, CBS's 60 Minutes, The Nation magazine, Glamour, Geraldo news
special, daily newspapers across the country, and many more.

The Coalition's web site (www.november.org) is being accessed by a
host of journalists as a resource for stories and articles about drug
war policies and casualties. Colville should be proud to be the home
of a nationally influential organization that is winning some major
battles against the propagandized war on drugs.

On Saturday, June 10th, a benefit for the drug war casualties and in
honor of the November Coalition will be held at Cafe al Mundo. Live
music with Spokane's Civilized Animal and Colville's Planetary
Refugees will keep things hopping.

Jim Mattheissen of Seattle's fabulous Herbivors will be in attendance,
and world cuisine will be served in the cafe's extraordinary garden
fresh fashion for those who arrive early. Meet Nora Callahan and Chuck
Armsbury from the Coalition and learn about the humanization of
victims of the drug war. There will be a door charge, drawings for
prizes, and an evening of education, music and dancing.