-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Thu, 26 Oct 2000 15:39:16 -0400 (EDT) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Release: Prop. 36 From: Libertarian Party Announcements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- =============================== NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 Washington DC 20037 World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org =============================== For release: October 26, 2000 =============================== For additional information: George Getz, Press Secretary Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222 E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] =============================== Will California's Prop. 36 mark the beginning of the end of the Drug War? WASHINGTON, DC -- Should every one of the 458,131 Americans currently in prison for using drugs be set free so they can get mandatory drug treatment? Yes, say Libertarians -- because such a program would mark the beginning of the end of the failed War on Drugs. And California voters will have the opportunity to take the next big step in that direction in November when they vote on Proposition 36, an initiative that would require nonviolent drug offenders to be sentenced to treatment instead of prison. "Peaceful people who haven't harmed anybody except maybe themselves don't deserve to be locked in steel cages and have their lives destroyed," said Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate. "That's why every nonviolent drug offender in California -- and every other state -- should be freed from prison and allowed to live their lives in peace." Under Proposition 36, people convicted of possessing or using controlled substances would be sentenced to probation and drug treatment rather than prison. The measure would reroute up to 36,000 people annually away from prison, saving California taxpayers about $750 million a year in incarceration costs. Arizona and New York have already implemented similar programs, Browne noted -- raising the possibility that the treatment-instead-of- prison option could become a nationwide trend. "California voters took matters into their own hands and put Proposition 36 on the ballot because politicians can't shake their addiction to the Drug War," he said. "It's more evidence that ordinary Americans want a drug peace -- not a drug war." Passage of Proposition 36, which is currently leading in the polls, may also pave the way for releasing drug offenders in other states as well, said Browne -- since 458,131 Americans nationwide are behind bars solely for using or selling drugs, according to a new study by the Justice Policy Institute in Washington, DC. "Every one of those 458,131 people deserve to be released immediately," he said. Here's why: * They are innocent of any real crime. "These 458,131 people are not serving time for murder, rape, robbery, assault, or a property crime," said Browne. "They have not harmed anyone except perhaps themselves. No purpose is served by imprisoning them and forcing taxpayers to pay their room and board." * Some are drug addicts who need medical attention. "Throwing drug addicts in jail makes about as much sense as throwing alcoholics in jail," said Browne. "Even a so-called compassionate conservative like George W. Bush should realize that these individuals won't get the professional help they need in prison. What's compassionate about dragging someone suffering from an addiction off to jail and destroying their lives?" * Some have simply committed a "youthful indiscretion." "Would Al Gore and George W. Bush be better men today if they had been sent to prison for 10 years for their youthful indiscretions?" asked Browne. "If not, how can they possibly justify condemning hundreds of thousands of young Americans to prison for making the same youthful mistakes they made?" Besides, said Browne, the vast majority of occasional drug users are normal, productive citizens whose personal lives should be out-of-bounds to politicians. "Most Americans targeted by the War on Drugs pose no more threat to society than the Americans targeted by the War on Alcohol earlier in this century," he said. "The only real combatants in the War on Drugs are politicians, who use it as an excuse to attack innocent people, loot the taxpayer, and pillage the Constitution." Although Libertarians support Proposition 36 as a move towards a more sensible drug policy, that doesn't mean the party supports government-mandated drug treatment, said Browne. "Libertarians don't think politicians should have the power to force people into drug, alcohol, or any other treatment for their own good," he said. "However, treatment is more humane than prison, so Proposition 36 is a step in the right direction." -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBOfiyatCSe1KnQG7RAQE/bAQAr4E6SwIObrmvcn/J5R4ulS0V2KJZ5jue oyqHal+USUaAaNVmyDqQveyWmzEx8pAXjQsU9bbF64QXi5OcNJ59ryXXl44wIET4 rAsnIQBbOX3OfaepVSu8/TcGP/UxGQfY9VmWTay5HOMDuLwmZBF6Ixmds6wb/DDj hjGFElHkv2M= =aE8B -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/ 2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008 Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at: http://www.lp.org/action/email.html Alternatively, you may also send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with just the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line. ------- End of forwarded message ------- A<>E<>R Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Integrity has no need of rules. -Albert Camus (1913-1960) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The libertarian therefore considers one of his prime educational tasks is to spread the demystification and desanctification of the State among its hapless subjects. His task is to demonstrate repeatedly and in depth that not only the emperor but even the "democratic" State has no clothes; that all governments subsist by exploitive rule over the public; and that such rule is the reverse of objective necessity. He strives to show that the existence of taxation and the State necessarily sets up a class division between the exploiting rulers and the exploited ruled. He seeks to show that the task of the court intellectuals who have always supported the State has ever been to weave mystification in order to induce the public to accept State rule and that these intellectuals obtain, in return, a share in the power and pelf extracted by the rulers from their deluded subjects. [[For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, Murray N. Rothbard, Fox & Wilkes, 1973, 1978, p. 25]] <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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