2011 International Drug Policy Reform Conference Taking Place This Week

Drug policy reform advocates from around the globe will be attending the Drug Policy Alliance‘s 2011 International Drug Policy Reform Conference this week. The bi-annual conference, co-hosted by NORML and various other drug law reform organizations, will take place from Wednesday, November 2 through Saturday, November 5, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Representatives from NORML and the NORML Women’s Alliance — including NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano, NORML Advisory Board Member Rick Steves, California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer, and NWA west coast representative Kyndra Miller — will be speaking at this year’s conference, which will feature over 50 separate panels and round-table discussions.

On Thursday, November 3, conference participants will gather for mass public protest at the Levitt Pavilion in historic MacArthur Park to call for an end to America’s drug criminalization strategies.

Other participants at this year’s conference include DPA Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, former two-term Republican Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson, and California NAACP director Alice Huffman.

Conference registration and agenda information is available online here.

World’s Largest Drug Policy Reform Conference One Month Away

The Reform Conference is just a month away – have you secured your spot yet?

Click here to register to attend.

If you haven’t, you should soon. Booking your travel a month out will save you money. And you won’t want to miss what former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson and current California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom have to say at the Opening Plenary!

The rest of the conference program is packed full with trainings, roundtable discussions addressing controversies within the movement, and panels exploring and sharing innovative approaches to reform challenges. Thursday evening you can stand up for justice at the No More Drug War rally at nearby MacArthur Park, hosted by dozens of local California organizations and emceed by KPFK radio personality Lalo Alcaraz.

And the activities and highlights don’t stop there…

Very soon we’ll be announcing three special Mobile Workshops – learning sessions that will take a select group of conference-goers out of the hotel and into the local community.

You’re also invited to host informal Community Meetings of your own during the conference. These meetings are meant to be your opportunity to organize reformers around action plans. They take place in open session rooms in the mornings, evenings and at lunch.

What do these Mobile Workshops and Community Meetings have in common? They’re only available to registered conference attendees – and they’ll be limited by space availability!

So register now…and I’ll see you in Los Angeles!

Stefanie Jones
Event Manager
Drug Policy Alliance

World’s Largest Pro-Drug Policy Reform Conference: Register Now For Earlybird Discount

Do you believe the drug war is doing more harm than good? Are you outraged that the US government still won’t recognize the medical benefits of marijuana?  Whether you’re an expert on drug policy or a newcomer, your voice should be heard at this year’s International Drug Policy Reform Conference from November 2-6 at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles, California.

You’ll join city, state, and federal elected officials, health care professionals, students, grassroots activists, people in recovery as well as active drug users, treatment providers and more — all working to change this country’s drug policies so that they reflect the principles of health, justice, compassion and human rights.

Do you believe an end to marijuana prohibition is possible at a national level, or will it always remain a state-by-state issue? At the ‘State of the Movement: Marijuana Legalization’ spotlight session, results from the most extensive marijuana reform public opinion research ever conducted will be shared. Explore what these results will mean for 2012, and how soon you can expect to see legislative issues like decriminalization and medical marijuana spring up in your state if they haven’t already.

Come learn how to effectively campaign for an end to costly and racist marijuana arrests in the US. In the ‘Marijuana Policing: Targeting Urban Youth’ panel, we’ll dissect the reasons why urban police departments nationwide employ practices such as ‘stop and frisk,’ especially amongst the young and nonwhite population. Permanent drug records, social marginalization, and intense street-level scrutiny will only continue to escalate if we don’t bring an end to the drug war.

Don’t miss your best opportunity to participate in cutting-edge drug policy debates and meet the people who could be your future partners in reform efforts! Register to attend the Reform Conference by September 16^th to receive the Early Bird discount and save $100 off conference rates!

Reformer’s Calendar: Drug Policy Alliance Biennial Conference in Los Angeles

Now that the 40^th annual NORML conference has concluded and is committed to the history books, the next big organized drug policy conference on the reformer’s calendar is the biennial Drug Policy Alliance’s 2011 International Drug Policy Reform Conference.

This year’s DPA conference will be held Wednesday, November 2 through Saturday, November 5 in Los Angeles @ The Westin Bonaventure. Over 1,000 reform-minded activists, non-governmental organizations, scholars, government officials, and religious and business leaders are expected to gather to explore and discuss effective and moral alternatives to warring against some drugs—notably marijuana.

This year’s attendees will have the opportunity to spend three days interacting with people committed to finding alternatives to the war on some drugs while participating in sessions given by leading experts from around the world. Don’t miss the opportunity to be a part of this event.

For more information on the DPA conference, scholarships and to enjoy earlybird savings for pre-registering, check out www.reformconference.org

California: Study Says Latinos Disproportionately Arrested For Minor Marijuana Crimes

Latinos use marijuana at lower rates in than whites yet they are prosecuted for minor cannabis possession offenses in most major California cities at “double to nearly triple” the rate of Caucasians, according to a report released today by The Drug Policy Alliance and the William C. Velasquez Institute.

Among some of the California cities profiled:

* The City of Los Angeles, with ten percent of California’s population, arrested Latinos for marijuana possession at twice the rate of whites.

* In San Jose, the third largest city in the state, Latinos are 31 percent of the population but 54 percent of those arrested for marijuana possession. Police in San Jose arrested Latinos at 2.2 times the rate of whites.

* In Glendale, Latinos are 17.4 percent of the population of almost 200,000, but comprise 30 percent of those arrested for marijuana possession. Glendale police arrested Latinos at a rate of 981 per 100,000 — the highest Latino arrest rate for any of the 33 cities profiled.

In conjunction with the release of today’s report, members of the National Latino Officers Association attended a press conference in Los Angeles to publicly announce their support for Proposition 19, California’s ballot measure to regulate the adult, non-medical use and possession of marijuana.

The NLOA joins a broad range of leading criminal justice, civil rights and religious organizations in favor of Prop. 19. These include the National Black Police Association, the California Council of Churches IMPACT, the California National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the California League of United Latin American Citizens, the Latino Voters League, the Progressive Jewish Alliance and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Western States Council.

Today’s study is a follow up to a report released last week by the Drug Policy Alliance that found that from 2006 to 2008, African Americans were arrested for marijuana possession offenses in California’s 25 largest cities at at four, five, six, seven and even twelve times the rate of whites.

Full text of today’s study, “Arresting Latinos for Marijuana in California: Possession Arrests in 33 Cities, 2006-08” is available online here.