Target: President Joe Biden
Goal: End the pointless war on drugs.
50 years ago Richard Nixon declared a so-called “war on drugs.” Now there is wide consensus among both the public and experts that this war was a failure. It left a horrific trail of bodies in its wake, skyrocketed mass incarceration for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) folks, and caused a huge balloon in our federal deficit through extensive law enforcement spending. The war on drugs has caused nothing but pain and tragedy.
It’s time for this war to end, which is why Democratic members of Congress just introduced a new bill called the Drug Policy Reform Act (DPRA) to federally decriminalize the possession of drugs. The DPRA would do more than just end criminalization for individuals who possess or personally use drugs. It would also remove these types of drug-related arrest and conviction records from individuals’ case files, meaning non-violent people would no longer be considered felons or criminals.
Expungement isn’t just about what the paper trail reads or how we interact with people. It’s also about jobs, housing, and creating a secure future. Having a drug-related felony on one’s record can currently stop people from being hired, get them fired, or prevent them from finding housing— leaving millions bankrupt, homeless, or without a family.
These punishments or effects don’t lead to any real improvements for individuals or in communities. The cycle perpetuates itself, and marginalized folks who need opportunities and support are pushed to the bottom of society and forced to stay there. This has broken generations of families and made our entire society worse-off.
Ending the War on Drugs is crucial to creating any kind of future based on social justice. Sign below and demand that this legislation pass now.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear President Biden,
The war on drugs, initiated by former president Richard Nixon, is widely believed to be a failure. The mass conviction of non-violent drug offenders has not ended drug use, but has rather left behind it a trail of bodies, a for-profit prison system bloated beyond all control, and has led to the massive federal spending that stems from extensive law enforcement costs.
A new bill has been introduced into Congress called the Drug Policy Reform Act (DPRA) that will federally decriminalize the possession or personal use of drugs. This will end the continuation of criminalizing non-violent drug offenders, but it will also remove those types of drug-related offense and conviction records from case files, meaning that these people will no longer be considered felons or criminals.
Millions of people are affected by these convictions and can be left bankrupt, homeless, and without a support system, stuck in a cycle that will not let them out.
It is time to end the cycle. Please, support the DPRA and end the vicious, pointless war on drugs.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Berlin Refugee Strike
ITS NOT A WAR ON DRUGS ITS A WAR ON US!
you are wrong, if you de-penalize drug use, you’ll become hell, like happens in Argentina, where criminals run free because they are ‘addicts’. The only way to win drug war is to penalize every step of the way, from production, trafficking and consumption. A drug addict that drives, that posses a gun, is a permanent treat to the community. Drugs checks should be run in every college, in every work, in health checks. Nobody should be allowed to drive, posses a gun, have children or pets or even take responsibility jobs if they are drug users. That’s the only way a society is truly safe.