Title: Acknowledging that the War on Drugs has been a failed policy in achieving the goal of reducing drug use, and for the House of Representatives to apologize to the individuals and communities that were victimized by this policy.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the War on Drugs has failed to achieve its goal of reducing drug use and that activities continuing the War on Drugs should end. Further, the House of Representatives apologizes to those harmed through the War on Drugs.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 747 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 747

    Acknowledging that the War on Drugs has been a failed policy in 
     achieving the goal of reducing drug use, and for the House of 
 Representatives to apologize to the individuals and communities that 
                    were victimized by this policy.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 6, 2019

 Mrs. Watson Coleman (for herself, Mr. Takano, Ms. Lee of California, 
  Ms. Norton, Mr. Lewis, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Moore, Ms. Pressley, Ms. 
    Wilson of Florida, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Payne, Mr. 
   Horsford, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Ms. Fudge, Ms. Bass, Mr. Brown of 
Maryland, Ms. Adams, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Danny K. 
 Davis of Illinois, and Mr. Pocan) submitted the following resolution; 
  which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 
    addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Acknowledging that the War on Drugs has been a failed policy in 
     achieving the goal of reducing drug use, and for the House of 
 Representatives to apologize to the individuals and communities that 
                    were victimized by this policy.

Whereas, until the early 1900s, most of today's illegal substances were not 
        regulated by the Federal Government, and there was no ``War on Drugs'';
Whereas, in the 1930s, the first Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of 
        Narcotics, Harry J. Anslinger, who was a strong opponent to marijuana, 
        pushed a heavy propaganda campaign to demonize marijuana use, stating 
        that it caused people to become violent and criminals;
Whereas much of this propaganda was racially charged against the Mexican-
        American community, for example, as Commissioner Anslinger testified to 
        the 75th Congress in 1937 that, ``I wish I could show you what a small 
        marijuana cigarette can do to one of our degenerate Spanish speaking 
        residents. That's why our problem is so great; the greatest percentage 
        of our population is composed of Spanish-speaking persons, most of who 
        are low mentally, because of social and racial conditions'';
Whereas, in 1937, the 75th Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act which 
        criminalized marijuana, and laws passed during the following years were 
        introduced to institute mandatory minimum sentences for those who 
        bought, sold, and used the drug;
Whereas over the course of the next few decades, studies conducted by scientists 
        did not find any connection between the use of marijuana and violent 
        behaviors, and in 1973 the Shafer Commission Report on Marijuana and 
        Drugs concluded that, ``The Commission believes that the contemporary 
        American drug problem has emerged in part from our institutional 
        response to drug use . . . We have failed to weave policy into the 
        fabric of social institutions.'';
Whereas despite mounting evidence, the Federal Government's approach to the 
        abuse of drugs continued to be one of criminalizing drug abuse instead 
        of treatment;
Whereas, on June 18, 1971, President Richard Nixon declared the War on Drugs, 
        stating that drug abuse is ``public enemy number one'';
Whereas the Federal Government's attitude toward drug use as a criminal problem 
        only intensified with stricter drug laws, and the Government put little 
        to no focus on treating those impacted;
Whereas the War on Drugs was admitted to be a move by the Nixon administration 
        to attack his political opponents, and in 1994, President Richard 
        Nixon's aide John Ehrlichman admitted in an interview that the War on 
        Drugs was a tool to arrest and manipulate Blacks and liberals stating, 
        ``We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or 
        black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana 
        and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could 
        disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their 
        homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the 
        evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we 
        did.'';
Whereas, in 1986, the 99th Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act establishing, 
        for the first time, mandatory minimum sentences for those convicted of 
        having specific amounts of cocaine;
Whereas, in 1989, drug czar William Bennett announced a $7,900,000,000 plan to 
        combat the drug epidemic, but 70 percent of that amount went to hiring 
        more law enforcement personnel and building prisons;
Whereas that money could have been better used to help provide treatment to 
        those on heroin, cocaine, and other drugs;
Whereas, in 1986, the 99th Congress increased the sentences for dealing and 
        possessing crack cocaine, and in a few years, enhanced law enforcement 
        presence loomed over and aggressively policed communities of color;
Whereas, to this day, these laws greatly target communities of color, 
        dramatically increasing the incarceration rate of these communities and 
        imposing a stigma that people of color are the main users of drugs, 
        despite White Americans using drugs at a similar if not greater rate;
Whereas Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, 
        Craig Reinarman, and Professor of Sociology at Queens College, Harry G. 
        Levine, studied the use of crack cocaine in the United States and later 
        published in their book, entitled ``Crack in America'', which stated 
        that, ``In the spring of 1986, American politicians and news media began 
        an extraordinary anti-drug frenzy that ran until 1992. Newspapers, 
        magazines and television networks regularly carried lurid stories about 
        a new `epidemic' or `plague' of drug use, especially of crack cocaine. 
        They said this `epidemic' was spreading rapidly from cities to the 
        suburbs and was destroying American society. It is certainly true that 
        the United States has real health and social problems that result from 
        illegal and legal drug use. But it is certainly also true that the 
        period from 1986 through 1992 was characterized by anti-drug 
        extremism.'';
Whereas the use of opiates such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone, heroin, 
        and fentanyl has skyrocketed since the late 1990s and the amount of 
        prescription opioids legally sold nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2010, 
        despite no change in the amount of pain that Americans reported;
Whereas the National Center for Health Statistics suggested that there were more 
        than 70,200 drug overdose deaths in 2017, and that a majority of these 
        deaths come from synthetic opioids like fentanyl;
Whereas these drug overdoses have become the leading cause of accidental death, 
        surpassing car accidents;
Whereas, on March 29, 2017, President Donald Trump signed an Executive order to 
        establish the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the 
        Opioid Crisis, and in a preliminary report the Commission has 
        recommended that the opioid crisis, among other things, should be 
        ``declared a national emergency under either the Public Health Service 
        Act or the Stafford Act'';
Whereas many scholars, journalists, and civic leaders have addressed the strong 
        contrast to the urgency of helping those impacted by opioids compared to 
        those who were impacted by crack cocaine and other substances during the 
        War on Drugs;
Whereas the terminology used to describe those impacted by the opioid epidemic 
        is ``victims'', and the terminology used to describe those impacted by 
        the War on Drugs is ``criminals'';
Whereas if the concept of equity was considered, meaning that individuals fairly 
        receive what they need in order to create a level playing field, the 
        same funds and support going to help those impacted by opioids will also 
        go to help those impacted by heroin, cocaine, and the other drugs 
        classified in the War on Drugs;
Whereas as stated by Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson, ``White 
        brothers and sisters have been medicalized in terms of their trauma and 
        addiction. Black and brown people have been criminalized for their 
        trauma and addiction.'';
Whereas after almost 50 years, the War on Drugs has yet to achieve its goal; and
Whereas there has been no formal action by the United States Government to treat 
        the epidemic of overall drug abuse and to treat the War on Drugs as a 
        health issue: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the War on Drugs has failed to achieve its goal of 
        reducing drug use;
            (2) the War on Drugs has created conditions in the United 
        States that have allowed the opioid epidemic to be as deadly as 
        it is;
            (3) the War on Drugs is a racially charged policy that has 
        led to the mass incarceration of millions of Americans, 
        disproportionately affecting communities of color, has 
        stigmatized these communities as the cause of the drug problem, 
        and has economically, politically, and socially crippled these 
        communities for decades;
            (4) the House of Representatives condemns the actions and 
        role Harry J. Anslinger played in creating the War on Drugs;
            (5) in order to help those impacted, drug use has to be 
        seen as a health issue and not a criminal issue;
            (6) the House of Representatives should immediately halt 
        any and all actions that would allow the War on Drugs to 
        continue;
            (7) the House of Representatives encourages the creation of 
        a select committee that would be tasked in reviewing all laws 
        associated and consistent with the War on Drugs and 
        prioritizing effective, evidence-based health policy solutions 
        for individuals and communities suffering from addiction;
            (8) the House of Representatives should pass legislation 
        that would provide civil remedies and restorative justice for 
        any individual who has been incarcerated or otherwise punished 
        through the Federal criminal justice system due to laws 
        associated and consistent with the War on Drugs;
            (9) the House of Representatives affirms that all 
        individuals suffering from the disease of addiction be treated 
        humanely, and with the same respect as all people struggling 
        with any other health matter; and
            (10) the House of Representatives hereby apologizes to the 
        individuals and communities harmed through the War on Drugs and 
        acknowledges that actions by this body have demonized and 
        criminalized addiction for more than 80 years instead of 
        accurately treating it as a health concern.
                                 <all>