The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ (NACDL) board of directors unanimously approved a resolution on November 4th calling for the end of the war on drugs.
In its resolution, NACDL, the nation’s largest specialty bar association representing the interests of criminal defense lawyers, stated that drug use should be considered a health problem, and that the government should “repeal all laws criminalizing the possession, use and delivery of controlled substances.” The resolution also calls for a regulated and taxable system for selling controlled substances with a portion of the revenues going towards drug treatment clinics, drug education and research.
“As a nation, we’ve stood by and watched this ‘war on drugs’ lock up a whole generation of young African-Americans,” said Fred Leatherman, the NACDL board member who drafted the resolution. “All the evidence says it’s a sham and a failure. And everybody else who makes money from it thinks we should escalate the war. We do not agree.”
“Both of our presidential candidates committed ‘youthful indiscretions’ in their day,” said NACDL president Edward Mallet. “Would they, or we, be better off if they had been sent to prison like so many blacks and Latinos are these days.”
For more information, please contact Daniel Dodson, NACDL interim public affairs director at (202) 872-8600 ext. 228.
