ALL OF US USE DRUGS, BUT ONLY SOME OF US GO TO JAIL!

Despite a $40 billion a year "war on drugs" that is premised on the
goal of creating a "drug-free society," our country is swimming in
drugs.

Most people start using drugs before they even leave the house in the
morning. Yes, that first cup of coffee is what many of us need to
start the day. The next drug that millions of Americans use, sometimes
up to 20 times a day, is our nicotine! And then, after a long day of
work, many of us head to a local bar or to our refrigerator and pour
ourselves a cocktail, ice cold beer or a nice glass of wine.

And I'm just getting started. There are over 100 million Americans who
have used marijuana. Thirty years after Nancy Reagan told us to "Just
Say No," half of high-school seniors will try marijuana and 75% will
try alcohol before they graduate. And what about the college students
who use Ritalin to help them focus and put in long hours at the
library? And how about all of the superstar athletes who use
performance enhancing substances? What about all of the men (and
women) who are deeply grateful forthe "little blue pill"? And how
about the businessmen who stay up until three in the morning with the
help of a "little bump"?

Drugs are so popular because people use them for both pleasure and for
pain. Drugs can be fun. How many of us enjoy having some drinks and
going out dancing? How many of us enjoy a little smoke after a nice
dinner with friends? Many people bond with others or find inspiration
alone while under the influence of drugs. On the flip side, many
people self-medicate to try to ease the pain in their lives. How many
have us have had too much to drink to drown our sorrows over a breakup
or some other painful event? How many of us smoke cigarettes or take
prescription drugs to deal with anxiety or stress? Throughout recorded
history, people have inevitably altered their consciousness to fall
asleep, wake up, deal with stress, and for creative and spiritual purposes.

While it is clear that drug use doesn't discriminate and the majority
of us are using one drug or another, the reality is that the war on
drug users does discriminate. More than 1.8 million people are
arrested every year on nonviolent drug charges. In New York City,
"moderate" Mayor Bloomberg's police arrested close to 50,000 people
for marijuana possession in 2009 - and 87% of those arrested were
black and Latino, despite similar rates of marijuana use as whites.
The reason for the discrepancy is that the NYPD stops and frisks
blacks and Latinos - but not white people. Last week the New York
Times ran a front page story that showed blacks and Latinos were nine
times more likely to be frisked than whites.

The racist enforcement of drug laws is not limited to just New York or
just marijuana. Thanks to the mass incarceration of people for
nonviolent drug law violations, the U.S. is the world's leading
jailer. The U.S. has 5% of the world's population but has 25% of the
world's prison population. Nationally, blacks are 13 times more likely
to be incarcerated on drug charges as whites, despite similar rates of
drug use.

Why are some drugs legal and other drugs illegal today? It's not based
on any scientific assessment of the relative risks of these drugs -
but it has everything to do with who is associated with these drugs.
The first anti-opium laws in the 1870s were directed at East Asian
immigrants. The first anti-cocaine laws, in the South in the early
1900s, were directed at black men. The first anti-marijuana laws, in
the Midwest and the Southwest in the early 1900s, were directed at
Mexican migrants and Mexican Americans.

Too often, the stereotypical "drug user" is someone we see panhandling
on the street or the image of a young person of color. The reality is
that most Americans use some drugs and most families include someone
who is dealing with addiction to a legal or illegal drug. By declaring
a "war on drugs" we have declared a war on ourselves, our families,
and our communities.

We have to learn how to live with drugs, because they aren't going
anywhere. Drugs have been around for thousands of years and will be
here for thousands more. We need to educate people about the possible
harms of drug use, offer compassion and treatment to people who have
problems, and leave in peace the people who are not causing harm. And
we need to take action against the incarceration of so many of our
brothers and sisters who are suffering behind bars because of the
substance that they choose to use.