Black Coalition Pushes for Drug Treatment Over Prison

Saying that current drug policies keep a large number of black men in the prison system, the National African American Drug Policy Coalition is calling for policy changes that promote prevention and treatment instead of imprisonment.

Under the therapeutic-sentencing approach being promoted by the group, judges would require individuals convicted of certain drug crimes to receive treatment instead of jail. The group is also calling for mentoring of schoolchildren by black professionals to prevent drug use.
The National African American Drug Policy Coalition is comprised of several black professional organizations, including the National Bar Association, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Inc., the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, and the National Dental Association.

"We've seen the drugs drop almost off the screen of this country," said retired police chief Clarence Edwards, a coalition member and president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. "A fresh approach is sorely needed."
According to a 2002 Justice Policy Institute study, in 2000 there were 791,600 black men in the prison system and 603,032 enrolled in a college or university. By contrast, in 1980 there were three times as many blacks in higher education than in the prison system. ||||

Inside information on the joke they call "the War On Drugs"

Wis. Police Take Over Website to Catch Drug Buyers

Police in Rhinelander, Wis., in partnership with federal investigators, have taken over a website selling illegal drugs in order to catch its online customers.

The sting began after Rhinelander police arrested a man for possessing cocaine that he purchased over the Internet. The Rhinelander resident turned informant for the police and helped in catching 27-year-old Thomaz Franzl of Chicago, Ill., the online drug dealer.
Local police officials and federal authorities are continuing the investigation to catch Franzl's customers. "Before, we probably would have just taken Mr. Franzl and closed down the site and not done anything further," said J.B. Van Hollen, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin. "We wouldn't have gone down the ladder to figure out who some of his buyers are."

Under the operation, authorities pretended to fill the Internet orders. Nine customers, mostly white-collar professionals, were indicted on an attempted drug-possession charge and for using the Internet to facilitate the unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. Together, the charges could bring up to five years in prison.
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