Pubdate: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 Source: Providence Journal, The (RI) Copyright: 2007 The Providence Journal Company Contact: http://www.projo.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/352 Author: Talia Buford, staff writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?219 (Students for Sensible Drug Policy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/tom+angell CHAFEE: U.S. NEEDS TO REEXAMINE WAR ON DRUGS PROVIDENCE -- The war on drugs should be reassessed and a global drug policy established, former U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee told attendees of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy Northeast Regional Conference, which kicked off yesterday evening at Brown University. "We're at the point now where we really need to assess whether or not it's working," Chafee told the crowd of about 120. "There are a lot of people who will tell you it's not working. We should be open and honest with ourselves and what are our options." Chafee spoke during the opening session of the conference, this year themed "Confronting the Drug War, Envisioning Alternatives." The conference, which ends tomorrow, features more than a dozen speakers. Today, forums on topics such as "Building an Anti-Racist Movement to End the Drug War" and a panel on the health system and policy reform will be held. Tomorrow, the conference rounds out with a trio of panels, including "What If? A World Without the Drug War." All of the sessions will be held at Brown's Sayles Hall, Leung Gallery or MacMillan Hall, Rooms 115 and 117. Students for Sensible Drug Policy is a student-based organization geared toward championing policies that fight the negative effects current drug policies have had on this generation, said Tom Angell, the organization's government relations director. Angell said the goal was to get students involved in the political process, because the war on drugs directly affects young people. "It's important for young people to be involved in the movement since it impacts our generation," he said. "When you hear politicians talk about the war on drugs, they always say they're doing it to protect the children. This war is waged in our names." The organization claims more than 100 chapters at high schools and colleges across the United States and 10 in Canada. There are three chapters in Rhode Island, and two each in Massachusetts and Connecticut. According to the organization's Web site, http://www.schoolsnotprisons.com, the group "neither encourages nor condemns drug use. Rather, we seek to reduce the harms caused by drug abuse and drug policies." Some of the policies the organization opposes are random drug tests in high schools, the federal law that restricts students with drug convictions from obtaining state or federal student aid, and what Angell called the "misleading propaganda" of school-based drug programs such as DARE. Chafee, a teaching fellow at The Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown, said participating in the conference was important because of the important role students have had in past social and political movements. "Historically, universities have been where out-of-the-box thinking first takes place," Chafee said. "There's more freedom in the collegiate setting to address certain things." During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Chafee served as chairman of both the Western Hemisphere and the Middle East subcommittees, and traveled to drug producing countries in those regions. In 1999, when he was seeking his Senate seat, Chafee had admitted that he experimented with cocaine and marijuana while a student at Brown University in the 1970s. The key to producing effective drug legislation, Chafee said, is to have a uniform policy worldwide, possibly formulated by the United Nations. "The doors are open to a different way of looking at the war on drugs," he said. "It has to be done in unison, with a lot of other countries." Chafee also called for the reassessment of federal laws governing mandatory sentencing during the forum. Those laws, particularly the one that strips those convicted of drug crimes of financial aid, may have been good at one time, but may do more harm today, he said. "[When someone is released from prison] the first thing they want to get is a skill and you get that by going to school," Chafee said. "To forbid them from getting school aid because they have a conviction is backwards. I'm sure those laws were put into place with good intentions, but we're at a point where we're saying let's try something different." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin