Thursday, September 03, 2009

The Drug War Gets Worse

Drug cartel members burst into a Juarez drug rehabilation clinic yesterday, lining up patients and executing 17 of them. On the same day, newly appointed ( 2 weeks ago ) deputy police chief Jose Manuel Revueltas, was killed in President Calderon's home state of Michoacan in western Mexico by heavily armed men in two vehicles just a few blocks from police headquarters.

How many Saint Valentine's Day Massacres do we need to witness before we end drug prohibition? I'm not feeling like ranting so here are some current highlights from the drug war:
  • 13,000 people have been killed since late 2006
  • Obama plans to give $1.4 billion to aid fighting drug cartels (aka, wasting tax dollars and increasing violence)
  • Ciudad Juarez has become the most violent city on earth.
  • In 2009 there have been 4,736 murders in Mexico
  • There have been 24,000 arrests in 2009 and the violence still continues

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

SSDP on the radio

UMD SSDP President Irina Alexander and I spoke on Midday with Dan Rodricks on WYPR radio (Baltimore's NPR affilliate - 88.1 FM) last Tuesday, August 25th.

The hour long segment covered the Higher Education Act Drug Penalty, zero tolerance policies, 911 Good Samaritan policies, and the Amethyst initiative.

Listen to us and let us know what you think of our performance!

As the school year begins, your local NPR stations might be interested to hear about your chapter's plans for the year. This could be a great opportunity to raise awareness and build local support for a campus change campaign or one of our national campaigns. You might also inspire sister chapters! Contact your outreach director for help on how to reach out to local media.

Josh Flynn at Towson University near Baltimore listened to us and is now starting a chapter there!

It's time for the children used to justify this Drug War speak up about its failure.