Mike Gravel: End the War on Drugs

July 2nd, 2007 by Mark Beemsterboer

By C.M. Paulson

In Thursday's All American Presidential Forum moderated by PBS' Tavis Smiley, Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel repeatedly shared his belief that the "war on drugs" is a failure and should end immediately.

Held at Howard University, the primetime Democratic forum was the first to feature a panel consisting entirely of African-American journalists. The forum focused mainly on issues relating to the African-American community. Topics discussed included immigration, healthcare, as well as inequities in education and income between the races.

During these discussions, Senator Gravel said that many of the issues in the African-American community stem from the criminalization of drugs. Gravel provided statistics regarding the substantial increase in incarcerations from 1979 to 2005 (with over 2.3 million Americans currently in jail) and said that he believed that the nation's strict drug laws were to blame.

On his website, Gravel elaborates on his views regarding drugs: "We are losing an entire generation of young men and women to our prisons. Our nation's ineffective and wasteful 'war on drugs' plays a major role in this. We must place a greater emphasis on rehabilitation and prevention. We must de-criminalize minor drug offenses and increase the availability and visibility of substance abuse treatment and prevention in our communities as well as in jails and prisons."

Gravel believes that mandatory drug sentencing laws should be abolished and that drug abusers should be given rehabilitation opportunities instead of jail time: "Drug defendants convicted of nonviolent offenses should not be given mandatory prison sentences. We should emphasize the criminalization of the importers, manufacturers, and major distributors, rather than just the street venders. Prisons in this country should be a legitimate criminal sanction -- but it should be an extension of a fair, just and wise society."

Although Gravel's campaign has not received much national attention, he certainly has gained notice on YouTube, with his political ad titled "Rock" receiving over 150,000 views in the past month. The almost three-minute "Rock" advertisement features Gravel looking into the camera, saying nothing, for over a minute. Gravel then throws a rock into the nearby water and proceeds to walk away from the camera. Matt Mayes and Guston Sondin-Klausner of Otis College of Art and Design created the ad, which Gravel describes to MSNBC as a "metaphor ... the point of the spot is not the rock but the ripples it leaves in the water ... (just) as an ordinary citizen who's trying to make a difference by doing something and it causes ripples in society."

http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/32622/cm_paulson.html

C.M. Paulson is a freelance writer who has been published online and in print publications ranging from Multichannel Merchant Magazine to Woman Engineer Magazine. C.M. Paulson has 10 years of analytical/leadership experience with several Fortune 100 companies

Comments

I too believe that the war

Submitted on November 7th, 2007 by gordman
I too believe that the war on drugs is a real failure, I mean, I am a normal citizen and I keep seeing the same things when I walk the street: drug dealers and teenagers... Nothing changed so far although I saw the public advertising. How many people responded to that? Not many, actually my son is attending right now a drug addiction treatment center although I tried hard to keep him away from drugs.

Pot (legalization) is not enough

Submitted on July 8th, 2007 by Pat
Washington Post Writers Group member Kathleen Parker, writing in the Southern Illinoisan about the public reactions to the arrest of former Vice President Al Gore's son on pot and other drug charges, presents the idea that "The younger Gore's high-profile arrest does, however, offer Americans an opportunity to get real about drug prohibition, and especially about marijuana laws." Her arguments are well documented, cogent and a must read for anyone who cares about America.

The drug war is the most irresponsible policy ever foisted off on the American people. It leaves the responsibility of sales to children in the hands of the least responsible and most unethical people in the community; addicts, gangsters and social predators. Put the sale of all intoxicants into the hands of regulated and licensed responsible members of the community and it would drastically reduce access by children to drugs.

Gravel's position does not even start to address the real issues that make up the anti democracy, terrorism funding and crime fostering drug war.
http://independentsofamerica.blogspot.com/2007/07/pot-legalization-is-not-enough.html Pot (legalization) is not enough

Reason I love Mike's stance on Issues :

Submitted on July 2nd, 2007 by Rydax

If Mike was only able to do this one thing the ramifications would be so wide reaching. The same could easily be said for Fair tax, NI4D, Military Industrial complex, etc... Something that just can't honestly be said for most other candidates. Which even with the other ones in which it can, they don't have any true plan for actually implementing it.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. -- Benjamin Franklin

Vote for Mike Gravel, anything else would be insanity!