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Friend,
You know the drug war leads to high arrest rates and mass incarceration. It’s unjust and racially biased against Black, Latinx, Indigenous and other communities of color. And it’s a waste of financial resources.
You could wait until the last minute or you could act now to ensure that the initiatives you’ve devotedly followed and that align with your values become realities.
This fight is for people like Bobby Byrd. Bobby is an Oregonian who was arrested for possession of a small amount of cocaine more than two decades ago. He took a plea deal for three years probation, paid his court fees and fines, and tried to move on with his life.
This minor infraction was considered a felony in Oregon and has burdened and haunted Bobby nearly every waking moment of the past 25 years.
“I’m a grandfather, I’m a father, I love my kids. I’ve been clean since ‘93,” Bobby explains. “This has kept me from getting housing, apartments, getting places near my kids. Now I have to travel 3 hours to see them. It makes me feel like I’m trapped, like somebody owns me or something. Drug laws are the new Jim Crow, that’s why Black people are consistently arrested at a higher rate even though drug use is the same rate.”
We need a drug policy that saves lives, not ruins them. We can do this by decriminalizing all drugs, like we did in Oregon. We can do it by legalizing marijuana and shifting funding away from drug war fueled militarized law enforcement. And we can do it by prioritizing the health, safety, freedom, and dignity of people who use drugs, rather than criminalizing them.
But we can only do it with your support. Help us get closer to dismantling the cruel and racist drug war that creates such undue burdens for people like Bobby Byrd and so many others.
Make a donation today to end this drug war and your impact will triple in value up to $150,000.
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Sincerely,
Maritza Perez
Director, Office of National Affairs
Drug Policy Alliance |
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