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| O'Malley Launches Anti-Drug Program |
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Posted by FoM on April 05, 2002 at 22:02:06 PT By Daniel LeDuc, Washington Post Staff Writer Source: Washington Post 
Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, who is contemplating a run for governor of Maryland, today announced a broad anti-drug program so popular that the two other leading contenders for governor stood with him as he outlined an ambitious campaign of television commercials, improved drug treatment and outreach to addicts and at-risk youngsters.Dozens of Maryland political, business and community leaders joined O'Malley at Israel Baptist Church on the city's blighted east side for the announcement, which stretched for more than two hours and became, at times, a motivational rally with the packed-in crowd shouting "Amen!" to the speakers. Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the leading contender for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, and U.S. Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the leading Republican, both spoke at O'Malley's request. Also there were Kweisi Mfume, the NAACP president; Ben Carson, a well-known Baltimore pediatric neurosurgeon; banker H. Furlong Baldwin, one of the city's most powerful business leaders; U.S. Rep. E. Elijah Cummings (D); many state legislators; and Prince George's County Executive Wayne K. Curry (D). "This is not about politics," O'Malley said in introducing Ehrlich. "It's bigger than partisanship." It also illustrated the power of whoever is mayor of Baltimore, Maryland's largest city. Even as the Washington suburbs become a political force in state politics with their growing populations, a big-city mayor can still command political and media attention. And though O'Malley trails Townsend in polls on the Democratic gubernatorial primary, today's event showed why a Baltimore mayor can remain a political contender who must be reckoned with. Curry said he came because he wanted to work with O'Malley on drug addiction, a problem Prince George's shares with Baltimore. "We're sharing goals and objectives," he said. "I hope we can extend that feeling of excitement" statewide. The turnout of political hopefuls, he said, showed "the most certain Democratic votes . . . come out of Prince George's and Baltimore." O'Malley's campaign is called "Baltimore Believe" and is meant to capture public attention not only in the Baltimore region but throughout Maryland. It will begin with a four-minute video, illustrating the city's drug neighborhoods through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy, which will appear during all of the 6 p.m. newscasts on Baltimore's television stations Monday. In the coming weeks, there will be television and radio commercials as part of a $2 million advertising campaign, paid for by private donations and a federal grant. That will be followed by direct appeals to business and community leaders to enact mentoring programs for young people. The hope of the campaign's leaders is to show Marylanders that success in addressing Baltimore's drug problems can spread optimism throughout the state. "With programs like this, there is hope for the future," said U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, a conservative Republican who represents rural Western Maryland and brought the crowd alive with shouts of "Yeah!" when he spoke. President Bush's administration even weighed in with praise, with drug czar John Walters telling the crowd, "What is happening here is what we want to happen around the nation." O'Malley, 39, took office a little more than two years ago on a pledge to curtail Baltimore's crime and drug epidemic. During his administration, violent crime has decreased 23 percent and drug-related emergency room admissions declined 19 percent last year, the largest percentage decrease in the nation. The mayor said the Baltimore Believe campaign has long been a planned part of the strategy but only began to take shape over the past five months. He said he wanted a significant decline in crime and drug use to give credibility to the advertising and outreach efforts. O'Malley's efforts aren't without a potential downside. Much of Baltimore's business community is trying to emphasize a turnaround in the city, highlighting urban renewal, not drug-dealing. "There's a risk in addressing our problems and being honest about them," O'Malley said. But "to say everything is Mayberry overnight would not be honest." Note: Potential Rivals For Governor Back Baltimore's Effort. Source: Washington Post (DC) Related Article: 'Reality' Ad Campaign Will Urge Fighting Drugs Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #7 posted by FoM on April 06, 2002 at 08:00:57 PT |
| A Sign of Hope: Drug 'Peace Talks'
By Thom Marshall Peace talks scheduled next week at Rice University have Faye Hamilton hoping for a big drop in the number of drug war victims. Actually, the event at Rice's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy is billed as a conference, the official title of which is "Moving Beyond `The War on Drugs.' " But the term "peace talks" also seems fitting, because two sides of an issue are coming to discuss and evaluate and look for a smoother path to follow into the future together. Rice professor William Martin put the conference together with an impressive slate of participants, including Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Asa Hutchinson, who kicks off the two-day peace talks with an overview of the nation's drug policy (following the welcome by Baker Institute director and former U.S. Ambassador Edward Djerejian). Kevin Zeese, executive director of Common Sense for Drug Policy, will follow with a general response. Others slated to speak include Travis County District Attorney Ronald Earle from Austin, Judge James Gray from California, Deborah Small of the Drug Policy Alliance, health experts Ernest Drucker and C. Stratton Hill, marijuana researcher Robert Kammpia, cocaine researcher Craig Reinerman, and drug education authority Marsha Rosenbaum. Under the microscope Focus the first day will be on the U.S. drug policy: Its history. Its goals. Its problems, such as disproportionate sentencing, police corruption, public health and environment. Second day's program expands to an international perspective to examine the drug war's effect on U.S. foreign policy and explore less punitive drug policies of other countries that are reporting some success. The reason Hamilton is interested in the drug war peace talks and their potential is because she spent three decades as a counselor in public middle and high schools prior to retiring three years ago. She had front-row seating for watching things go from bad to worse. Drugs are poisoning more of our kids than ever, she said, despite recent years of escalating the drug war. We've got to get drugs off the streets. We've got to get rid of the drug dealers, she said. And we've got to provide our kids with the education and help they need to protect themselves from drugs. Zero-tolerance, get-tough policies have hurt more than helped, she said. By the time they finish high school, about half our nation's students have tried some illegal substance -- marijuana mostly. And yet if an 18-year-old senior is caught with drugs or paraphernalia, he can be escorted out of school in handcuffs, spend time in jail, be banished to alternative school for the rest of the semester, be denied federal aid and lose other educational opportunities. `Harm reduction approach' Because she believes the drug war is doing more harm than the drugs, Hamilton favors a "harm reduction approach" in education, which is one of Rosenbaum's areas of expertise. A medical sociologist, Rosenbaum has over the past quarter-century conducted many studies funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. While the peace talks at Rice are not open to the general public, Rosenbaum also is scheduled to speak Tuesday at a Drug Policy Forum of Texas luncheon in the Wyndham Warwick Hotel. People interested in attending that event can call the DPFT at 713-784-3196. Martin said that in addition to the constituents of Baker Institute, others invited to the peace talks will be "members of the state executive, legislative and judicial branches; mayors; law enforcement personnel; public health officials and religious leaders." He said conference proceedings will be broadcast over the Web, and he will publish a book from conference reports that will be available early next year. Complete Article: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1346609 [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by qqqq on April 06, 2002 at 07:49:10 PT |
| crack humor,,,,but Goneposthole gave me confidence that their are others out there who are not offended by crack humor......come to think of it,,I pity the snobbishly corpulent prude who would condemn my cheap fun due to some whacko drug war reverance concept!...making fun of crack is good clean fun.....it's no more tasteless than makling fun of booze,or tobacco!...I'd like to see a modern version of Mayberry RFD,,and Otis would be the town crackhead,,he'd keep gettin' busted by Andy and Barney,,,,and there would be episodes like the time Aunt Bea offered to let Otis stay over a the house so he could straighten out,,but then a few days later,Aunt Bea comes home,and the TV is gone!...(of course "Opey",,would now be;"Dopey",,and he would get burned by Otis on a weed deal ,in which he fronted Otis 50 bucks that Andy had given him to buy a new Nintendo,,to get him some weed,and Otis claimed he got ripped off,,,then Andy gets home and finds that his 1954 Martin D-45 acoustic guitar is missing........I guess Floyd the barber wouldnt need much modernization of his character,,, . ...anyway,,,the thing I wanted to mention in the first place ,,was about an episode of the Simpsons,,in which Lisa gets lost,,and ends up on some train,,,and the conducter says,;"Next stop,,Crackton."...dreadfully amusing [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by goneposthole on April 06, 2002 at 06:57:02 PT |
| Could possibly be the newest 'drug' on the black market. OOPS, maybe the term 'balckmarket' will have to be changed, it has rascist connotations. Must be politically corredt about that, too. What word could be used? 'Whitemarket' is maybe more appropriate since there are more white drug users. When it comes to Indians (native Americans), maybe 'redmarket' should be used. Asians could use 'yellowmarket' and so on. Just as long as it is 'politically correct'. Have a 'politically correct' nice day. Is there 'politically correct' hypocrisy? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by qqqq on April 06, 2002 at 06:27:34 PT |
| ..OK...here's an idea to clean up any town of the really stupid and desperate drug buyers.....the city,,or "privately funded foundations",, buys a bunch of old catering trucks,(step-vans,,down here in SoCal,workers call them a "Roach Coach"),and 'Ice Cream Man" vans...and then they outfit them as drug-mobiles....kinda like a bookmobile,or some 'Ice cream man thing.... "Cracky The Clown",,with some bug eyed jack-in-the-box clown on top,,and fuzz-tone guitar playin' 'Pop goes the Weasel' thru a crackly PA horn,,drivin' thru the bad neighborhoods,,busting the fools who walk up with 5 bucks and say,,"I'll take the Drumstick-O-Crack", ,,or,"Two Cracksicles please"....This plan would clear the streets of all the really stupid and desperate drug users. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by goneposthole on April 06, 2002 at 05:51:05 PT |
| Right or wrong, good or bad, smart or dumb, those 60,000 addicts in Baltimore are going to get their drugs TODAY. Apparently, they perceive the privilege as a right. They have a right to do so, they are that privileged. Is the DEA selling them the drugs? Maybe, who knows? Who cares? Does Joyce really care? Hell no. There is no concerted effort to win the war on drugs, except to make sure the money keeps rolling in...to the pockets of Asa, and the other yokels who supposedly run the show. The stratagem to defeat those bums lies within the power of local politicians. If they withdraw their resources to battle the WOSD imposed upon them by the Federales, what can the Federales do? If local politicians support the citizens to help with all of the problems that beset them and tell the Federales to go home (wherever that is), the war is over, over here. Mr. O'Malley should be able to do just that, and receive a lot of help from local citizens, too. Why not tell the Federales to go home? The corruption will flee, too. Plenty of ground will be gained by booting the DEA in the behind; give 'em the axe. Why not? It can be done, and local politicians will be doing themselves a favor if they do. It is time. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by DdC on April 06, 2002 at 05:08:07 PT |
| They know they can't fool all of the people all of the time, and profit highly on the fact someone will perpetuate the reefer madness and someone will resist and speak the truth. Peace or winning WoD doesn't Pay $19 bil annually to ONDCPtions!!! Profits on WoD's Misery is what's really Foolish. Every nasty dirty scene of drug abuse and violence, is happening during prohibition DUFFIS'!!! Every new AIDs victim from a dirty needle, inconsistant dosage overdose or adulterated street dope is all because some schmuck D.E.A.th Monger wants his budgets bigger and that ain't a gonna happen if the Doctors start treating it... Walters profits on Urine Quizes, Monsanto's Roun dup collecting back restitution losses from their Agent Orange and DDT, Dyncorps has more energy than the Everready Kangaroo in Colombia and now the Military's in it we'll all think Arther CEO's are good and Enrons upright citizens. Working at the Breeding Farm raising snitches for D.E.A.th statistics and spraying Dow's generic fungus on non-psychoactive Missouri and Appalachian Ditchweed, comprising 99% of D.E.A.th's "Marijuana Suppression Program" One more scam to keep the WoD in our faces everynight from Ruports Faux Decides What You Will See, with the rest not much different or the dead tree scraps of advertizments impersonating journalism. Partisan Fascism what a concept... Bury another report, replace soverignty with a bigger Great Wall than China and herd the legally inebriated masses past 15 years of indoctrination, breathing in the poison POP.s and toxins, slushing it down with lots of Cocaine cola's, booze and pills that Bush, Cheney or Rumsfeld sells and then do it all again tomorrow. Con sume come and me wannna go home....da oh! 70% of the farmland grows grain for meat, 12# of grain for 1 pound of burger, sucking down crude oil herbicides and pesticides and fresh water, while the grain proves too fat for yuppies, now Whopers burning Rainforest to buy from South American cows not so spoiled as ours. While people starve we send them wheat, isn't that better than nothing? Now more millions brainwashing HOT L B LTMORE children and their parents with greater fears unheard of in sane cultures dealing with it, instead of profiting on the suffering, of feeding, clothing, bootcamp "teaching" the boys raped in juvi prison, no treatment for those who want it, attack the poor by raising prices, only while D.E.A.th maintains the Black Market. T he cost of plants are minimal, the cost of Pharmaceuticals the same few bucks to make as opposed to hundreds on the street. Violence is from gansters, bad dope and rip off artist, patients and naive buyers, but mostly from mandatory jail time and the jungle provided by Bushit Ely Lilly Livered as deterrents re-cycling inmates sure as History repeating itself when no ones caring or able to watch it... IEN-Indigenous Environmental Network Links Corporate Predators... Stepping Off Hard Drugs With Cannabis [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by DdC on April 06, 2002 at 03:37:37 PT |
| JC/DC http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionlinx.showMessage?topicID=76.topic http://boards.marihemp.com/boards/politics/media/40/40295.gif [ Post Comment ] |
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