FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            June 4, 2004

FAITH GROUPS CALL FOR COMPASSIONATE ALTERNATIVES TO THE DRUG WAR

CONTACT: Charles Thomas, executive director of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative: 301-938-1577

BALTIMORE -- The Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative (IDPI) enlisted the help of the Rev. Dr. Arnold W. Howard of Enon Baptist Church in Baltimore to give public witness to the positions of a growing number of religious denominations calling on Congress to make a compassionate shift in its drug policies.

“Jesus said, you judge a tree by the fruit it bears. It is no surprise that our punitive approach to drug abuse has bared the fruit of chaos on our streets, insanity in our courtrooms, and delusion in the halls of Congress,” said Rev. Howard today at a press conference in front of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings’ district office.

Both Rep. Cummings and Rev. Howard are members of the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC). The PNBC was made prominent by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and has always been very outspoken on social justice issues. Recently, the denomination took an historic stand against some of the greatest injustices of the misguided War on Drugs.

While applauding Rep. Cummings for supporting a bill to repeal harsh mandatory minimum sentencing, IDPI urges Cummings to have a change of heart on some other urgent issues: For example, last year Cummings voted to support the White House’s raids against medical marijuana patients and providers in California and other states with supportive medical marijuana laws (such as Maryland). “The federal government, in a despicable show of bravado, is even waging war on legitimate seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana with the approval of their doctor,” said Rev. Howard.

IDPI Executive Director Charles Thomas said in a written statement, “There is a crucial shift occurring among people of faith in this country in how they view the Drug War. They are recognizing that aggressive criminal justice approaches to drugs are not only counterproductive, but inhumane. In droves, the faith community is crying out for more compassionate and effective alternatives.”

[Note: See reverse side for a list of religious denominations that have taken a position in favor of medical marijuana, restoring financial aid to college students with drug convictions, and ending harsh mandatory minimum drug sentencing.]

“For fear of moral outrage, there has been an unspoken rule in Congress for the last thirty years that drug laws must keep getting harsher and more punitive, regardless of the results of such policies,” said Rev. Howard. As the U.S. secures its role as the leading incarcerator in the world with over two million people behind bars, Rev. Howard points out that “these laws are not keeping drugs off the streets, but they are making free black men an endangered species in our communities. I pray that we all gain the courage to challenge our retributive desires and chart a new course toward healing, compassion, and love.”

The Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative organizes religious denominations, clergy, and people of faith nationwide, behind more compassionate and less coercive drug policies.