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Time For Action
 The horrible consequences
of the war on drugs are so clear that it is no longer debatable
- the drug war must end. The time for academic debate is over
- it is time for action.
We are in a battle for the hearts and minds of the American people.
Our goal must be to get people to face the ugliness of the drug
war being fought in their name and with their tax dollars. People
need to be confronted with the facts, see those hurt by the drug
war and face the truth.
The case against the drug war is so strong that once people understand
it, they realize that the drug war must be ended. By our actions
we must demonstrate that failure to take action is immoral. As
Robert F. Kennedy said: Each time a person stands up for an idea,
or to improve the lot of others . . . they send forth a ripple
of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers
of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can
sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
There is power in taking action. When you stand against oppression
you gain strength. You show others they can take a stand; and
still others see that this is an important enough issue that
people are willing to put their bodies on the line for it. Those
who are part of the apparatus of the drug war realize they are
being watched and challenged; and are forced to rethink their
position. These public acts force people to confront uncomfortable
issues they would prefer to ignore. Once the issue is confronted
they must decide which side they are on.
The November Coalition has been among the leaders in getting
people to take action. The national vigil project - organized,
public opposition to the drug war outside of courthouses, prisons
and federal buildings - is something that needs to expand and
be emulated by other organizations.
I saw the power of taking action when I participated in the Journey
for Justice - a caravan of two-dozen activists who traveled for
a week from Houston to Austin protesting at prisons, federal
buildings and other appropriate places. When we arrived at a
prison the authorities would react by bringing out manpower and
vehicles, blocking the entrance to the prison and attempting
to intimidate us. Their actions - against a small band of demonstrators
- showed their insecurity. They realized that people were standing
as witnesses against the injustices of which they play a part
of. They began to understand that the times were changing, now
that there are millions behind bars there are many millions more
outside the prison walls concerned about what is going on inside.
By taking action our opponents became fearful.
During the Journey one night at midnight a group of police officers
came to our hotel. We were concerned they were going to harass
us, but instead for two hours we discussed drug policy. They
were obviously sympathetic to the abuses of the drug war and
the need for a new approach. Similarly, after demonstrating at
a woman's prison for several hours, the local police officer
assigned to monitor our demonstration thanked us for being there;
for raising the issues around over incarceration of non-violent
drug offenders. By taking action we were winning the hearts and
minds of front-line drug warriors.
At that same women's prison a brother of a prisoner stopped
by our demonstration. He had driven two hours to see his sister
but because he did not have any identification with him he was
not permitted to see her. We gave him our microphone and he spoke
to his sister - in heartfelt, loving terms - through the wall.
The next day we received an email from a prisoner saying she
heard our words and drew strength from our actions. By taking
action we empowered our allies.
On the last day of the Journey we were joined by a busload of
people from Tulia, Texas. The "Friends of Justice"
had driven eight hours to participate in the final day of the
Journey, a march in Austin. They came from a town that highlighted
the racism of the drug war. After an 18 month investigation 43%
of the African American population was indicted on drug charges.
Their action in joining the Journey for Justice gave us more
strength, confidence and energy.
There are many forms of action people are taking. Some work to
prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases by violating
drug paraphernalia laws and providing drug users with sterile
syringes. Their actions not only protect the injection drug user
but also the entire community from a deadly disease. Others,
seeing the recalcitrance of the federal government in refusing
to provide safe access to medical marijuana find ways to provide
medicine to the seriously ill. Still others are boycotting businesses
that are part of the prison industrial complex. And others are
refusing to let their children be drug tested and suing local
school boards that insist on it. Another took action by returning
a military medal to protest US military involvement in the drug
war in Colombia.
We are at the moment in history where we must take action to
save our nation from the folly of the drug war. Every person
of humane convictions must determine what action they are comfortable
with, but there should be no debate on one issue - we must all
take action.
In the next decade ending the drug war has the potential of being
the major social justice issue facing the United States. We are
at the forefront of this struggle. Being in the lead requires
us to be responsible. We must emulate Ghandi and King to stand
firm against injustice. We must show peaceful protest in the
face of the violent drug war-peaceful not passive. By doing so
the public will not be afraid to join our cause.
In advocating peaceful protest Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said:
"Nonviolent resistance . . . is based on the conviction
that the universe is on the side of justice . . . The believer
in nonviolence has deep faith in the future . . . For he knows
that in his struggle for justice he has cosmic companionship."
Drug law reform is on the bright side of human history - consistent
with battles for social justice, human rights, protection of
health and the rights of individuals. Drug prohibition enforced
by the war on drugs is on the dark side of human experience -
prejudice, mass incarceration, injustice and loss of rights.
By taking action people will confront the issue and choose the
side of justice.
We are in the vanguard of a growing social justice movement,
a movement that is confronting an aggressive and sometimes violent
opponent. We need to meet their violence with peace; their hate
with love; their desire to incarcerate with education; their
racism with equal justice, their desire to warehouse people with
freedom; their myths with facts; their desire to deny medicine
with efforts to make medicine available and their desire for
drug war with drug peace.
Each of us has more power than we realize - we can take action
that will for once and forever end the war on drugs. It's time
for action!
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