She began the meeting by describing the case of Lolita Cunningham, a young heart transplant recipient and part- time worker for a drug company in Philadelphia, who nevertheless died last week for lack of affordable health insurance. Berta continued by describing the overwhelming effects of poverty and the added burden of illicit drugs on the area s working people, especially African-American and Latino communities.
Drug use affects the whole working class.
That s why unions should be protesting against the CIA, he pointed out. Furthermore, the U.S. and corporations use the drug issue as a cover to put down peoples movements overseas. Since U.S. companies shut down here to profit from low wages overseas, our unions have a stake in supporting those peoples movements for better wages and conditions. He emphasized the role of the police in selling drugs and imprisoning our youth, and that community control of the police is more needed today than when the Black Panthers demanded it in the sixties. Jones explained why drugs especially plague poor communities, where the overwhelming oppression caused by scarce well-paying jobs, poor educational opportunities, lack of recreation, plus institutionalized racism often leave our youth with the tragic choice of low pay at McDonald s or selling drugs.