Category Archives: War On Drugs

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions is promising to renew the federal governments war on drugs, saying tough new sentencing policies are necessary to combat what he described as a surge of violent crime in cities.

The Justice Department on Friday released a memo from Sessions ordering federal prosecutors to pursue the highest charges possible, including those that carry mandatory minimum sentences, for drug offenders.

If you are a drug trafficker, we will not look the other way," Sessions said Friday at the Justice Department."We will not be willfully blind to your conduct.

Sessions is ending Obama administration policies that told federal prosecutors to avoid charging low-level offenders with crimes that carry heavy mandatory sentences.

The new Justice Department policy was met with fierce criticism from sentencing advocates, some former federal prosecutors and even some Republicans in Congress who have been pursuing sentencing-reform measures.

To be tough on crime we have to be smart on crime, tweeted Sen. Mike Lee(R-Utah).That is why criminal justice reform is a conservative issue.

Violent crime has increased over the last two years in many of the nation's cities, though it is still far below rates in the 1990s. Overall, according to the FBI, the nation's crime rate fell 50% between 1993 and 2015.

Sessions said the crackdown was a key part of President Trumps promise to keep America safe, linking drug trafficking to increased homiciderates in some cities.

Drug trafficking is an inherently violent business, he said. If you want to collect a drug debt, you cant file a lawsuit in court.You collect it by the barrel of a gun.

He said heroin is cheaper, more pure and more easily available than ever. Advocates of justice reform say that the nation's opioid crisis is evidence that tough policies of the past have failed.

But Sessions said that tougher enforcement could reverse that trend.

So we are returning to the enforcement of the law as passed by Congress plain and simple, he said.

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With tough sentencing policy, Atty. Gen. Sessions pledges ... - Los Angeles Times

MANILA, Philippines - China has called on the international community to respect the Philippines sovereign prerogative in combating the drug menace in the country.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang issued the statement after 45 of 47 members of theUnited Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) urged the Philippine government to end extrajudicial killings and withdraw its plan to revive the death penalty.

Drugs are the common enemy for all human beings, bringing pain to many developing countries, including China. China supports President Duterte and the Philippine government in combating drug-related crimes in accordance with the law, Geng said in a press conference on Thursday night.

We hope the international community can respect the judicial sovereignty of the Philippines and support its efforts in fighting drug-related crimes through cooperation, he added.

Geng also called on UNHRC member-states to be objective in reviewing human rights situations in other countries.

On May 8, the 27th session of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UNHRC assessed the human rights situation in the Philippines.

Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

Several countries including China, Cuba, Russia and Venezuela made positive comments and lauded the efforts and achievements made by the Philippines in eliminating poverty, promoting socio-economic development as well as improving and protecting human rights.

Geng said the UPR was an important mechanism for UN member-states to conduct dialogue and cooperation on an equal footing in the area of human rights.

We hope various parties can be objective and fair in viewing the human rights conditions in different countries and promote the human rights cause through dialogue and cooperation, he said.

The Philippines received a total of 257 recommendations the highest from among the participating states. Recommendations after review averaged 220.

Extrajudicial killings, death penalty and human trafficking were the core issues on which the recommendations were based.

Around 8,000 suspected drug offenders have died since the Duterte administration launched a brutal campaign against illegal drugs last year.

Human rights advocates claimed that the drug war has encouraged summary executions and human rights violations, but officials have denied the allegation.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government is looking forward to working closely with incoming secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano to further strengthen relations betwee the two nations.

We welcome the appointment and congratulate Mr. Cayetano. China is ready to work with him to implement the high-level consensus and keep deepening practical cooperation to push forward China-Philippines relations for greater benefits to our peoples and regional peace and stability, Geng said.

Prior to his appointment as DFA secretary, Cayetano headed the Senate foreign relations committee. He was President Dutertes runningmate in last years election.

Last week, Cayetano led the Philippine delegation to the UNHRCs UPR of the Philippines in Geneva, Switzerland where he defended the Duterte administrations war on drugs.

Geng said that since last year, relations between the Philippines and China have achieved all-round improvementand bilateral cooperation has entered a new stage.

Cooperation across the board has recovered and yielded fruitful outcomes. Our relationship is making overall progress, he said.

Duterte is among 29 heads of state and government leaders who will attend the Belt and Road Forum on International Cooperation in Beijing from May 14 to 15.

During his first visit to Beijing in October last year, Duterte brought home $24 billion worth of investment pledges and infrastructure projects.

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China urges UN to support Philippines' war on drugs - Philippine Star

On Friday (May 12), a tectonic shift occurred on Capitol Hill when attorney general Jeff Sessions overturned an Obama-era policy and incited prosecutors all over the country to give low-level drug offenders the harshest penalties, leaving open a chance to extend mandatory prison sentences. While Sessions denied that his memo would affect low-level crimes, he assured that his agenda would lay a heavier hand on crime than former President Obama and former attorney general Eric Holder. Drug trafficking is an inherently dangerous and violent business, Sessions said. If you want to collect a drug debt, you cant file a lawsuit in court. You collect it with the barrel of a gun.

READ Condoleezza Rice On Donald Trump: Look, We Have A Different Kind Of President

The pressure to extend the exhausting and problematic war on drugs has often gone unnoticed in Trumps administration, given the constant rainfall of other scandals but just weeks earlier, comedic duo Keith and Kenny Lucas shared their thoughts on the matter in the form of their first Netflix stand-up special, Lucas Brothers: On Drugs. Known for their animated series Lucas Bros. Moving Company and cameos in 21 Jump Street and Lady Dynamite, the duo decided to take their first stand-up special in a political, but light note.

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The funny men blend their deadpan stoner comedy with their hatred for Richard Nixon, the purveyor of the war on drugs (or what they call the war on ni**as who want to have fun). One of [Nixons] aides, Rob Halderman, even stated that they started the war on drugs to minimise the impact of black folks on the far left, Keith said. So there was intent with the policies with Ronald Reagan later doubling down on it. But the brothers believe there could be one man to bring the earth back to a comforting axisDwayne The Rock Johnson.

I think The Rock is the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. talked about, Kenny explained. Hes a combination of Obama, the celebrity of Trump but the ability to speak like Obama. The idea of the actor as a post-Trump candidate seems more believable these days since just this week, the Baywatch star toyed around with the idea in his interview with GQ.

The potential black futurists shelve out plenty of truths in the special and our chat, from the joy in OJ Simpson jokes to their dislike for the Trump administration.

***

VIBE: What inspired the focus for On Drugs?

Kenny: We have been developing our routine for about almost eight years and when we were scanning the material, we noticed there were characteristics between the jokes that connected to a larger topic so from there we thought, we should have it more systematic.

Keith: We decided to focus it more on the war on drugs since its impacted us in so many ways. First, our dad went to prison and second, its tough to get drugs when theres a war being waged against drug dealers. Technically, our material fits into the theme.

I appreciated the balance of social construct and comedy.

Kenny: Its hard to get the message out if youre being overtly political. If youre able to disguise it in a way where youre getting your opinion out there where its mostly jokes, but people can laugh at the jokes first and get the message later, I think its more effective.

Who do you hate more: Reagan or Nixon?

Kenny: I have a personal gripe for Reagan, I really hate Reagan, but you gotta go to the first mover, the first person who started it. You have to access their psychology and their intent behind the policy and all evidence seems to suggest that Nixon was racist. He was just a racist guy who didnt like black people so if hes this racist guy and has such a big impact on policies toward black and brown people I mean, Im not saying that racism caused it, but

Keith: One of his aides, Rob Halderman, even stated that they started the war on drugs to minimise the impact of black folks on the far left. So there was intent with the policies with Regan later doubling down on it. Also, Clinton doubled down so its hard to say I hate Regan and then leave Clinton out of it since he played a huge role in locking ni**as up.

But he played the sax so ni**as didnt care.

Keith: I didnt know if you read this, but theres a book that says if a president played the sax you can arrest a hundred thousand black people and everyone would be okay with it.

Word, it would be no problem at all. The Trump administration seems to find themselves crumbling from the inside. Do you think theres going to be any real change in the presidents leadership?

Kenny: Thats not going to happen.

Keith: When you have a gangsta, its gonna end one way. Every second were speaking, a law is being broken by this administration. Its sort of an infectious impact on the rest of his minions so theyre doubling down on the rhetoric. They havent seemed to think of pivoting to get these policies in place. Sessions is a warrior so hes not going to change. These guys are 65 plus, theyve established their opinions and the way they see the world.

Kenny: These old dudes, theyre not concerned about the younger generation at all. Theyre going to wage these wars and just assume that the young people are going to fight it. I think young people need to say, F**k that, f**k you guys, we didnt vote for you and were not going to fight in any baseless wars and if you guys try to put us in any baseless wars, were gonna revolt.

Keith: How is it that they allow 65 years olds to determine who goes to war when they dont even have to fight?

They cant even fight.

Keith: They cant even drive! F**k them.

Kenny: Yea its just a bunch of old white dudes f**king up the world.

The situation is very wild but if you had to choose another entertainer to rule the free world, who would it be?

Keith: For the free world? Theres only one man who can do this.

Kenny: Hes the most electrifying man in entertainment and thats The Rock. I think The Rock is the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. talked about, hes a combination of Obama, the celebrity of Trump but the ability to speak like Obama.

Keith: And hes just a bada** dude. Hes already got catchphrases. Hes the peoples champ so you can use that on the campaign easily.

Kenny: Smell what the Rock is cooking.

Keith: You can use that.

Kenny: When hes in a debate with someone he can just say, It doesnt matter what this guy says.

Keith: He has the perfect resume. Id vote for him if he was a Republican or a Democrat.

Kenny: I dont care what he is. Hes a perfect combination of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Obama and Trump.

Keith: And hell be the second black president.

Kenny: He should run in 2020.

Keith: He should! F**k it.

If that was to happen, it would be pretty awesome. I saw in the stand up that you guys had a plethora of OJ jokes. Whats the best thing about coming up with them?

Kenny: Buried in our subconscious, for black men at least, is Damn, OJ got away. He committed the worst crime against a white person and got away with it. So subconsciously, were like, Lets have a little fun with this and relive the moment.

Keith: Im obsessed with the case and with OJ as a character, I mean obviously its a tragedy, but when its had such an influential role on how we see TV and the legal system and how we see race in America. You cant help but formulate ideas around it, especially as comedians sometimes those beliefs turn into jokes. Its just one of those things you have to say about it because why not? Everyone else has.

Yeah, thats very true. I like the one about the stabbing.

Kenny: Im sure white people didnt find it funny.

Theyll be alright. Why do you guys love (or hate) Kazaam so much?

Kenny: Its definitely a love/hate thing.

I used to watch Lucas Bros. Moving Company and I remember it being referenced on there and so I wondered if you guys really liked it or not.

Keith: Its just one of those things that stand out in my childhood. So anything that was relevant when I was a child, but its subjectively a horrible movie. But Shaq as a genie so you cant look away. Why is he in a genie uniform? He cant rap, he cant act, hes a huge genie.

Kenny: It was Touchstone Pictures and Interscope. None of these companies are around anymore.

Its funny since theres an online theory that in another universe, Sinbad starred in Kazaam. Do you guys believe in the idea of the multiverse?

Kenny: [Not the Sinbad theory] but with the multiverse, Its the only thing that makes mathematical sense. We can only see 4.9 percent of the observable universe. So that means theres a vast universe we cant see and even with us trying to explain the 4.9 percent that we can observe makes me think that what we cant see is even more inexplicable.

What would be going on in that universe right now?

Kenny: Heres my theory and it could be farfetched cause Im still hungover from yesterday (April 21), but theres a universe for every possible outcome for every action you take. Every permutation that your life can take, theres a universe that exists for that. And thats true for seven billion people so you have to calculate the permeate and the other living things.

Keith: Everything is and isnt.

Kenny: How did we get to the cosmos?

Were spinning! Ill bring it back. Do you guys plan on making a return to the animated world? I really enjoyed the end of the special.

Keith: We want to. Were currently developing a TV show with TBS. It takes place in an alternate universe (laughs). Its a magical alternate universe where we get stuck and we have to goto a magic college and we sort of have to go through certain events to get back to our universe.

Kenny: And this is a historically black magic universe.

Keith: So its like an HBCU, but more a hybrid of magic university so were getting taught black magic and how to defend wizards against the universe. Its gonna be super trippy.

Anything else you guys wanna add?

Keith: They should check out the special if youre fans of our comedy or if youre not fans and hate us and want to leave a negative review, then still watch it.

Stream the Lucas Brothers: On Drugs over at Netflix.

READ Title Aside, Dear White People Is About Much More Than Race

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Interview: The Lucas Brothers Talk The War On Drugs & Why The Rock Would Be The Perfect President - Vibe

Thousands of lives have been taken summarily, and we are debating whether those killings were justified or not

Senator Alan Cayetano traveled last week to Geneva, in Switzerland, to appear at a United Nations inquiry and argue on behalf of the Duterte government that, if any summary executions were happening in its war on drugs, these were not "state-sponsored".

He made other points, but still they were mainly about extrajudicial killings or EJKs, as they have come to be commonly called. He took issue particularly with media and other unofficial accounts of them and pronounced them falsehoods, as if these things don't qualify as truth until they have been Duterte-sanctified.

An immediate concern for Cayetanos representation was a complaint against Duterte with the International Criminal Court (ICC), based also in Geneva. The complaint was filed by Jude Sabio, lawyer for Edgar Matobato, who came forward last year and, in a foreshadowing of the present-day EJKs, confessed at a Senate hearing that he had been an assassin on a death squad in Davao City when Duterte was its mayor.

With reports of multiple drug-war deaths almost daily in the first 7 or 8 months of Duterte's 6-year presidential term reports backed by eyewitness accounts, pictures, and television footage taken by the networks as well as public closed-circuit systems how did Cayetano expect to make anyone disbelieve them and believe his word instead? One apparent trick was to seize on the phrase "state-sponsored", as EJKs are widely alleged, and split hairs around it.

To be sure, the phrase lends itself to semantic twisting, a game that lawyers like Cayetano like to play. But Etta Rosales, the former chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, would not let any of that sort of thing pass. "Hogwash!" she declared and, with simple, cutting logic, asked rhetorically what government will dare admit "sponsoring" such brutality.

But lets indulge Cayetano, for the moment anyway. I'm not sure how the two words that form the disputed phrase state-sponsored are defined exactly in Cayetano's legal profession. But I cant imagine the word "sponsor" taking any meaning that departs essentially from the ones in lay usage: back, support, promote, sanction, approve of.

Gravest moral issue

Doesn't President Duterte do any and all that when he warns drug dealers and addicts, "I will kill you"? Doesn't he betray an even more perverse streak when he says he will be "happy to slaughter" all 3 million of them? Doesn't he encourage excesses by promising presidential protection to the extent of pardon to policemen prosecuting his drug war?

Concededly, the word "state", used synonymously with "president", can provoke legitimate contention: When does a presidential act become an act of the state? Maybe we could all agree to settle for a phrase that replaces state with president and takes sponsored for its partner or any of its synonyms. Thus, the President, who, after all, likes to invite challenges, is tested for his tough talk. Let him assume all responsibility for all the deaths in his war and all the abuses of his war enforcers, so that the state whatever that is may be spared.

But what are we doing, really, if not simply quibbling and quibbling over the gravest moral issue of our time. Thousands of lives have been taken summarily, and we are debating whether those killings were justified or not.

I'm reminded of a line from a movie, a comedy as it happens and, as such, appropriately desperate, I think, for drawing attention to the sick tragedy of our lives:

"I am drowning here, and you are describing the water!"

The resonance in fact does not end there. The ultimate evocation of our tragicomic situation comes from the title of the movie: As good as it gets. Rappler.com

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[Newspoint] Quibbling over life and death in the war on drugs - Rappler

Common Dreams

Civil and Human Rights Coalition Blasts Sessions' Reboot of Failed 'War on Drugs' Common Dreams Attorney General Sessions seems to have missed the memo that the War on Drugs is over. It has destroyed low-income communities and communities of color and has failed to make our country safer. Abandoning the Smart on Crime initiative will only ... Why is Sessions doubling down on a failed drug war?The Hill (blog) all 3 news articles »

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Civil and Human Rights Coalition Blasts Sessions' Reboot of Failed 'War on Drugs' - Common Dreams

Talk about misplaced prioritiesisn't there an entire FBI scandal and collusion with Russia that he should be concerned with?

No surprises here: Jeff Sessions is moving forward with his plans to toughen rules on prosecuting drug crimes. This movewill only serve to rollback some of theprogress the Obama administration made toward directing prosecutors away from federal mandatory minimums and imposing harsh sentences for minor drug cases. Though it didntstop the mass incarceration of black and brown people, it marked the first decline of the federal prison population in a decade andit was certainly a step in the right direction. But being the good old boy andwhite supremacist that he is, Jeff wasnt satisfied with Obamas progress.Instead, he came up with his very own planto revive the war on drugs and craft tougher sentencing policy.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to soon toughen rules on prosecuting drug crimes, according to people familiar with internal deliberations, in what would be a major rollback of Obama-era policies that would put his first big stamp on a Justice Department he has criticized as soft on crime. [...]

Current and former government officials have said for weeks that Mr. Sessionss new policy could come at any time. They said Tuesday that they expected to see it finalized shortly, and Mr. Sessions himself has foreshadowed the announcement this year, calling for a return to tougher federal charging policies in speeches and issuing memos telling prosecutors to anticipate policy shifts.

If you look at the differences between the current attorney general (Sessions) and previous one (Eric Holder), and their views on the criminal justice system, they are starkto say the least. In 2013, Holder directed federal prosecutors to avoid mandatory minimums, suggesting that in certain cases it might be appropriate to omit details about drug quantities from charging documents so as not to automatically prompt harsh penalties for offenders.

We must ensure that our most severe mandatory minimum penalties are reserved for serious, high-level, or violent drug traffickers, hewrote in 2013. Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long and for truly no good law enforcement reason.

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Sessions moves forward with war on drugs like he doesn't have anything more important to worry about - Daily Kos

LONG before President Duterte even announced his candidacy, I called attention in this column to the terrible menace of dangerous drugs abuse engulfing the country. Coming home after a six-year assignment abroad, I was shocked to find my neighborhood in Manila and my mothers remote village in Nueva Ecija both swarming with young drug addicts. Right outside the gate of my residence in Manila, teenage girls were huddled in the dark, sniffing some substance. These girls were later reportedly impregnated by other drug addicts in the area and delivered little naked children running around unattended in the streets. More alarmingly, in a nearby street corner, a young man from a prominent clan was stabbed dead after refusing to yield his cell phone to a drug-addicted hold-upper from the nearby slum area.

A dangerous drugs culture has permeated all levels of Philippine society. Also, owing to its strategic location in the Pacific, the Manila international airport has become recognized as an international exchange for prohibited drugs and the country has become a herding center for drug mules. Based on my experience assisting Filipinos carrying prohibited drugs at Pakistani airports, I bemoaned in the article the lack of international cooperation, especially in the exchange of intelligence information directed at the apprehension of the drug syndicates that deploy these women on their perilous errands.

Like many Filipinos, I was sanguine about President Dutertes waging an unrelenting war against illegal drugs as he promised during his election campaign. But sans Digongs colorful language and allegations of human rights abuses by certain sectors here and abroad, the new administrations war on drugs might have escaped international attention. While illegal drugs have proved to be a grave threat to the stability and growth of developing countries, there have been notable trends in the West in the last decade in decriminalizing abuse of dangerous drugs. Heroin has long been legal in Italy. In recent years, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Canada have designated parks and centers where drugs may be distributed and used without risking arrest.

Vice President Robredo has referred to Portugals efforts to treat drug abuse wholly as a health disorder. Certain states in the United States have lifted restrictions in varying degrees on the sale and use of marijuana or cannabis. Like the cigarette before, the young everywhere are lured to illegal drugs by their association with entertainment people despite the latters dying because of overdose.

The history of the negotiation of international treaties on narcotics control from its first one in the 1930s shows the international community having (at least) two minds about narcotics control. Countries known for their opium and coca plantations worried how narcotics control would affect their economies! Developed countries would not have narcotics control affect the march of medicine and science. Whether mere personal use should be controlled or not is a matter of continuously raging debate. Even as the present treaties recognize narcotics control as necessary to the well-being of the international community, enforcement of the treaty is left entirely to the individual state party and its national laws. The agencies created by these treaties such as the UN Office on Drugs and Crime have by no means supranational powers. Their importance lies entirely on their reporting trends in the use of narcotics and the listing and delisting of controlled drugs. I doubt if the whereabouts, movements, and operations of international drug lords and their multicolored lieutenants across borders are even in the UNODC radar.

Dutertes war on drugs has been criticized and pictured as a war on the poor. An American reporter won a Pulitzer prize stringing along photos taken by Filipino photographers of the death of drug pushers or users or both in the slums of Metro Manila and the overcrowding of disheveled surrenderees and inmates in a Quezon City detention center. The alarm about the peddling and abuse of dangerous drugs has been largely and precisely due to their spreading to even the most disadvantaged sectors of society, grimly putting into question the future of nearly half of the Philippine population and their offspring.

Drug lords and their minions have satanically found ways of making even the urban and rural poor take to drugs that they normally cannot afford. The drug of choice in the Philippines is methamphetamine, known locally as shabu, which is cheaper than opium, and its derivatives, and which can be marketed in small packets or degraded to make it even cheaper. It is imported from China and Korea or manufactured locally.

Dutertes war on drugs has had some defects. A principal one emanates from the very reason the people voted for him: his promise of fast, effective action to solve the drugs problem perceived to be at the root of rising criminality. It is clear by now that the deadline Duterte set for himself for solving this national scourge was unrealistic.

The Duterte administration did not allow itself a pause to contemplate the magnitude of a national campaign. It seems to have been assumed that the Philippines is merely a larger Davao.

(To be continued tomorrow)

Continued here:

Reflections on President Duterte's war on drugs - The Manila Times

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made no secret of his desire to revitalize the U.S. war on drugs, and new reports indicate he intends to begin by reinstituting harsher sentences for low-level offenders.

Sessions is considering reversing Obama-era guidelines that directed federal prosecutors to avoid charging low-level drug offenders with crimes that carry harsh mandatory-minimum sentences, U.S. officials told the Washington Post. These sentencing laws have led the United States to have the highest rate of incarceration in the world, and bringing them back would mark Sessions first concrete move in his promised crackdown on drugs.

In 2013, then-Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. sent a memo to federal prosecutors instructing them not to charge defendants with sentences that would trigger mandatory-minimum sentences unless they were violent, were leaders in drug organizations, or met similar qualifications.

Long sentences for low-level, non-violent drug offenses do not promote public safety, deterrence, and rehabilitation, Holder wrote in the memo. Moreover, rising prison costs have resulted in reduced spending on criminal justice initiatives, including spending on law enforcement agents, prosecutors, and prevention and intervention programs.

But opponents of Holders move say removing prosecutors ability to bring such charges blunted law enforcements ability to fight larger drug rings, because low-level traffickers who knew they could escape long prison sentences no longer had any incentive to help law enforcement build cases.

That may soon change Sessions is reportedly considering instructing prosecutors to bring the harshest possible charges against all levels of drug offenders. Sessions is also reportedly considering reviving the widespread use of charging offenders with enhancements, which can further lengthen sentences for certain defendants who have already been convicted of felony drug crimes. Holders memo also largely ended that practice.

Sessions has long supported harsher sentencing. While still a senator, Sessions helped block a bill that wouldve reformed some mandatory-minimum sentencing laws. Andin March, while speaking to a crowd in Richmond, Virginia, Sessions announced, We must act decisively at all levels federal, state and local to reverse this rise in violent crime and keep our people safe.

Yet critics of mandatory-minimum laws point out that reducing crime is more complicated than just throwing offenders into prison for the rest of their lives. The United States also already has record rates of incarceration: Currently,more than 1.5 million people are incarcerated across the country. Such mass incarceration disproportionately affects people of color, as black men are six times as likely to be imprisoned and jailed than white men.

As the Attorney General has consistently said, we are reviewing all Department of Justice policies to focus on keeping Americans safe and will be issuing further guidance and support to our prosecutors executing this priorityincluding an updated memorandum on charging for all criminal cases, Justice Department spokesperson Ian Prior said in a statement.

Excerpt from:

Jeff Sessions might bring back the war on drugs with harsher sentences for low-level offenders - VICE News

David Sheff, USA TODAY Contributor 12:33 p.m. ET May 10, 2017

A heroin user(Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)

During the campaign, President Trump committed to addressing Americas drug crisis. He called it a crippling problem and a total epidemic, which it is. An average of 144 people a day die of drug overdoses.

Trump promised increased funding and comprehensive Medicaid coverage for treatment. In March, he said, "This is an epidemic that knows no boundaries and shows no mercy, and we will show great compassion and resolve as we work together on this important issue."

Trumps rhetoric suggested a continuation of President Obamas approach, which was founded on a rejection of the failed 45-year-old war on drugs, which treated drug use and addiction mainly as criminal problems. Obama called that war counterproductive and an utter failure.

His administration emphasized treatment-and-prevention programs based on scientific advances that have demonstrated that addiction is a brain disease with biological, psychological and environmental determinants. Obama championed landmark legislation that funded mental health and addiction treatment programs and research.

He signed the 21st Century Cures Act and the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which provides resources for state and community prevention and treatment efforts. A godsend to sufferers of substance-use disorders, Obamacare mandated that insurance plans cover mental health, including addiction care, in parity with other diseases.

The administration made headway toward ending the war-on-drugs approach. Obamas attorney general, Eric Holder, reversed wartime policies, including draconian mandatory minimum sentencing that filled prisons with people convicted of non-violent drug crimes. His surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, released a historic report as significant as the 1964 surgeon generals report on smoking on alcohol, drugs and health, which made science-based prevention and treatment a national priority.

The report is a progressive set of evidence-based policy recommendations for preventing substance use, intervening early in cases of drug misuse, and improving addiction treatment. The recommendations were the result of a 24-month review of the past 30 years of science and policy in this field. In addition, Obamas recent drug czar, Michael Botticelli, spearheaded a movement that rejected the "failed policies and failed practices" of the past and championed prevention, treatment and harm reduction. For the first time, the drug czar's budget was tipped in favor of prevention and treatment over interdiction and policing.

Trumps initial comments regarding addiction appeared to reflect both a personal passion and a sensible policy. However, the president is systematically abandoning the addicted and their families. Last month, Trump abruptly fired Murthy and announced that the odd couple of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Chris Christie will lead an effort to create policies to combat the opioid epidemic.

Fine, but meanwhile, though Trump promised to fund treatment, he has proposed slashing almost $6 billion from health agencies that, among other priorities, address drug use and addiction. He specifically targeted $100 million in block grants for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Of immediate concern to the 20 million Americans who meet the diagnostic criteria for the disease of addiction, and the 40 million regularly misusing alcohol and other drugs who are at risk and may require some form of treatment, the president has said that one way or another hell end mandates included in the Affordable Care Act.

Trump has said that he'll sign the bill the House passed Thursday that will, if it makes it through the Senate, do just that by allowing states to apply for waivers of ACA-required benefits, including mental health and addiction care. Without that mandated coverage, its likely that millions of Americans will lose coverage for an illness that could kill them.

Meanwhile, Trumps team has begun a re-escalation of the drug war. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an old-school drug warrior, criticized Holders policies and suggested that hell reverse them. You have to able to arrest people and then youre intervening in their destructive habit, Sessions said. Many people never ever recover from addiction except by the grave.

They would recover if they had proper treatment.

Its unsurprising that an administration that has vowed to be tough on crime plans to use battering rams rather than science-based public health efforts ignoring evidence that the former doesnt work and that the latter does. In the past, tough on crime was a boon to the prison system, which is filled with hundreds of thousands of people incarcerated for non-violent drug crimes. Any policy that throws sick people in prison is inhumane, never mind counterproductive.

And how about killing them? Doubts about Trumps compassion toward the addicted were confirmed last weekend when he cozied up to a dictator whose idea of treating drug users is murdering them. According to USA TODAY, his new friend, the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, had at least 6,000 people killed for drug crimes in six months. Duterte doesnt distinguish between users and dealers. He has exhorted Philippine citizens: If you know any addicts, go ahead and kill them.

Its critical that the Trump administration reverse directions and focus on a public health approach. Science has demonstrated that addiction isnt a choice made by people without will power who only care about getting high, no matter the impact on society, their loved ones and themselves. Its a brain disease.

We punish people who make bad choices. But people who are ill dont need censure, stigmatization or jail time. They need quality care for an illness that can, if it isnt treated, kill them.

David Sheff is the author of Beautiful Boy: A Fathers Journey Through His Sons Addiction, and Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending Americas Greatest Tragedy. Follow him on Twitter: @david_sheff

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Sheff: Trump's war on drug users replays failure - Tallahassee.com

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BanyanChurch v state in the Philippines' war on drugs - The Economist