1. What is the biggest single reason for the epidemic of crime in the inner city?

The biggest single cause of crime in the inner city is the fact that most black men cannot find jobs. According to Federal Government figures, about half of all of the black men in America are chronically unemployed.

2. What is the biggest single reason for chronic unemployment in black men?

The biggest single cause of chronic unemployment in black men is the fact that most of the chronically unemployed black men have prison records and nobody will hire a black man with a prison record.

3. What is the biggest single reason that black men have prison records?

The biggest single reason that black men have prison records is that, over the last twelve years, millions of black men have been thrown into prison on non-violent drug charges.

4. Why were the laws against drugs passed in the first place?

The first drug laws against the opiates were passed because of the fear that Chinese men were luring white women to their "ruin" in opium dens. "Ruin" was defined as associating with Chinese men.

Cocaine was outlawd because of fears that superhuman "Negro Cocaine Fiends" or "Cocainized Niggers" (actual terms used by newspapers in the early 1900's) would drink large amounts of Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola which would make them go on a violent sexual rampage and rape white women. There is little evidence that any black men actually did this, if only because it would have been certain death. The United States set a record in 1905 with 105 recorded lynchings of black men. At the same time, police nationwide seitched from 32 caliber pistols to 38 caliber pistols because it was believed that the superhuman "Negro Cocaine Fiend" could not be killed with the smaller gun.

Marjuana was outlawed in 1937 as a repressive measure against Mexican workers who crossed the border seeking jobs during the Depression.

There never was any scholarly evidence that the laws were necessary, or even beneficial, to public health and safety and none was presented when the laws were passed.

5. How many people are actually killed by drugs?

The number of drug deaths in the US in a typical year is as follows:

Tobacco kills about 390,000.

Alcohol kills about 80,000.

Sidestream smoke from tobacco kills about 50,000.

Cocaine kills about 2,200.

Heroin kills about 2,000.

Aspirin kills about 2,000.

Marijuana kills 0. There has never been a recorded death due to marijuana at any time in US history.

All illegal drugs combined kill about 4,500 people per year or about one percent of the number killed by alcohol and tobacco. Tobacco kills more people each year than all of the people killed by all of the illegal drugs in the last century.

6. Which drug causes the greatest burden on our medical facilities?

Alcohol and tobacco are the clear leaders. Some authorities have estimated that up to forty percent of all hospital care in the United States is for conditions related to alcohol.

As a medical hazard, few drugs can compete with alcohol or tobacco on any scale. A study at Rockefeller University in 1967 concluded that "Tobacco is unquestionably nore hazardous to the health than heroin."

7. Which drugs are the most addictive?

According to former Surgeon-General C. Everett Koop, tobacco is the most addictive drug, at least equally addictive to crack cocaine. Heroin and cocaine addicts commonly report that it is easier to kick heroin or cocaine that it is to kick tobacco. One of the reasons is that physical cravings fo tobacco may be felt up to six months after the drug has been discontinued, while cravings for heroin and cocaine are usually over within the first month.

8. Do illegal drugs cause violent crime?

All major authorities agree that the vast majority of drug-related violent crime is caused by the prohibition against drugs, rather than the drugs themselves. This was the same situation which was true during alcohol Prohibition. Alcohol Prohibition gave rise to a violent criminal organization which is still with us six decades later. The war on drugs will do the same.

There are about 25,000 homicides in the United States each year. A study of 414 homicides in New York City at the height ot the crack epidemic showed that only three murders, less than one percent, could be attributed to the behavioraleffects of cocaine or crack. Of these, two were victim-precipitated. For example, one homicide victim tried to rape someone who was high on crack and go killed in the process.

The drug with the clearest connection to violence is alcohol. By some authorities estimates, about two-thirds of all homicides, and seventy percent of all sexual assaults on children are alcohol-related.

9. Can we stop drug production overseas?

On December 28, 1992 ABC Television aired a major special on the drug war in Bolivia which, according to the Bush Administration, is our "best hope" for winning the drug war in South America. They concluded decisively that there was no hope and that the war on drug production has already been lost.

By the US Federal Government's own estimates, the entire United States consumption of illegal drugs could be supplied bu approximately one percent of the worldwide derug crop. In their best year, US Drug Enforcement Agents working together with foreign governments scized about one percent of the worldwide drug crop. leaving 99 percent free to supply the US. The US Government also states that, in the unlikely event that drug production was stopped in South America several countries would suffer a major economic collapse.

There is no credible evidence anywhere to suggest that there is any possibility that drug production can be eliminated in othere countries.

10. Can we stop drug smuggling at the borders?

No. Any examination of the statistics regarding border interdiction shows quite clearly that border interdiction is an expensive failure. In 1990, the General Accounting Office completed a major study on border interdiction. They reported that border interdiction was a waste of money and that no conceivable increase in funding or effort would make it any better.

In 1988, Stirling Johson, the Federal prosecutor for New York, stated that the police would have to increase drug seizures by at least 1,400 percent to have any impact at all on the drug market, assuming there were no corresponding increases in production.

The best Federal Government evidence has concluded that there is no way to stop, or even greatly reduce, either production of drugs in foreign countries or the smuggling of drugs into the US.

11. Can we arrest all the drug dealers in the United States?

No. Most of the prisons and jails in the United States are already far in excess of their planned capacity and correctional institutions in 24 states are under Federal court order to release prisoners. Arresting all of the drug dealers would require construction of at least five new prison beds for every one which now exists, assuming that no new drug dealers came along to fill the gap. In September, 1992 Sheriff Sherman Block announced that he would release 4,000 prisoners, about twenty percent of the total Los Angeles County jail population, because there was no room to keep them and no more tax dollars to build more jails. For every person who goes to jail from now on, another one will be released. Tough drug laws have done all they can do and they have not solved the problem. The "get-tough" policy is over.

12. What does it cost to put a single drug dealer in jail?

The cost to put a single drug dealer in jail is about $450,000, composed of the following:

The cost for arrest and conviction is about $150,000.

The cost for an additional prison bed is about $150,000.

It costs about $30,000 per year to house a prisoner. With an average sentence of 5 years, that adds up to another $150,000.

The same $450,000 can provide treatment or education for about 200 people. In addition, putting a person in prison produces about fifteen dollars in related welfare costs, for every dollar spent on incarceration. Every dollar spent on treatment and education saves about five dollars in related welfare costs.

13. What does this drug policy do to the black community?

At the present time, one-fourth of all of the young black men in America are either in prison or on parole. Most of them were arrested on non-violent drug charges.

In Washington, DC, the Bush administration's "demonstration" city, half of all of the black men in the city are currently in jail or on parole. More than ninety percent have arrest records. The same is true of inner city black men in Baltimore, New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

Two-thirds of all of today's black male high school students will be dead, disabled or in prison before their thirtieth birthday. The majority will go to prison because of non-violent drug charges. For every black man who goes to college, three will go to prison.

By the year 2000, about half of all black men in America will have gone to prison. Most of them will go to prison for non-violent drug charges. Most of those who go to prison will be released into society again. Because they are black men with a prison record, they will be permanently unemployable.

14. How does our policy compare with the policies of other countries?

Europe is beginning to form uniform drug laws as a result of European unification. Europe is decriminalizing drugs along the lines of the programs used in England and the Netherlands.

Let's compare the results of two roughly comparable major cities which both have a drug problem. The cities are New York, and Liverpool, England.

In New York, heroin and cocaine addicts suffer from tremendous medical problems. In Liverpool, England, most heroin and cocaine addicts suffer few medical problems.

In New York, most drug addicts are unemployed criminals. In Liverpool, most drug addicts are gainfully employed taxpayers.

In New York, crime committed by drug addicts is a major problem. In Liverpool, it is a very minor problem.

In New York, drug addicts often have their children taken away and live under miserable conditions. In Liverpool, most addicts live with their families in stable homes and manage to raise healthy, well-adjusted children.

In New York, thousands of babies are permanently damaged every year by their mother's drug use. In Liverpool, health authorities report no cases of harm to infants as a result of their mother's drug use.

In New York, sixty percent of all intravenous drug users are infected with AIDS, and they are a major cause of the spread of AIDS. In Liverpool, only one percent of the intravenous drug users are infected with AIDS and they are a very minor source of infection fo the rest of the population.

In the United States, drug use in illega and the police hunt down drug users to throw them in prison. Four thousand people died from illegal drugs in the US last year and we now have more than 600,000 people in prison on drug charges.

In Liverpool, England, the police do not arrest drug users any more. Instead, health care workers seek them out and encourage them to come in for counseling and medical treatment. Both counseling and medical treatment are provided on demand. The medical treatment often includes maintenance doses of narcotics under the management of a physician.

Liverpool, England, has adopted the same approach as the Netherlands and has had substantially the same results. They both chose decriminalization.

15. What should we do about drugs?

The overwhelming weight of scholarly evidence on drug policy supports decriminalization. Every major study of drug policy in history has recommednded a non-criminal approach. This is irrefutable.

I recommend that you start with: The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs, published by the Editors of Consumer Reports Magazine. This books is eminently readable and every page will shock you.