We need more funding to expose the miserable failure they call the "war on drugs". Make a gift to support our 2008 Special Coverage.
Maybe you smoke pot, or know someone who does. Either way, you'll be shocked to learn that almost 9 out of 10 of the all-time record 829,627 marijuana arrests made last year were for possession -- not for sales or trafficking, just for possession. That's one pot-related arrest every 38 seconds. Why are we wasting our tax dollars chasing after pot smokers?
By every measure the drug war has been a colossal failure -- and an expensive one. America is the world's biggest jailer, and our prison populations continue to grow in large part because of the disastrous drug policies of the last 30 years.
AlterNet is fighting the failed drug war with everything we've got. The war on drugs is really a war on our constitutional rights. Staying informed is step one in the fight.
AlterNet brings you the shocking facts about the horrific outcomes of the war on drugs -- $42 billion spent a year for the war on pot alone, racist sentencing laws, and the latest World Health Organization finding that Americans use more pot and cocaine than anyone else in the world -- far more than when the war on drugs began. You could say that the drug war was lost a long time ago.
But we bring you the success stories, too. Sentencing reforms making their way through Congress, studies showing pot has promise as a cure for cancer, or hallucinogens successfully treating vets with PTSD. And perhaps more important, 12 states have medical marijuana laws on the books, and millions of people have access to pot far more safely than before. These battles are hard-won, and we need to spread the word.
We get no foundation funding for our drug coverage. We depend on you, our readers. We need $25,000 to continue our "Drug Policy" Special Coverage for 2008.
Make a contribution and help out.
We'll do our part -- finding the truth, keeping you informed, mobilizing people to take action. Join AlterNet and help expose the miserable failure they call the "war on drugs". It's a critical time for concerned people like you to fight back.
Thanks for everything you do,
Don Hazen
Executive Editor, AlterNet.org
P.S.
We took a risk and relaunched our drug coverage without any funding. We are counting on you!
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