Drug Criminalization is Biggest Human Rights Crisis

Slides shows I made for my informative and persuasive speech when I took Introduction to Speech on the War on Drugs. (Got an A+, think I had the second highest grade in the class)

Did my first big speech for class on Drug Prohibition in the United States. (Informative Speech Project)
(Screenshot from one of the slides)

http://limitlessnexus.com/_exhibitions/45_Drug_Prohibition_in_the_United_States_Informative.pdf)

Did my final persuasive speech in the class on why we need to end drug prohibition.

http://limitlessnexus.com/index.php?page=exhibition&id=40
(http://limitlessnexus.com/_exhibitions/40_Why_the_War_on_Drugs_Must_End.pdf)

Some progress with marijuana legalization has been made in some places since then, but not enough has been done. Drug Prohibtion is biggest human rights crisis facing our generation.

These are old stats from when I did my speech class, but its only gotten worse since then.

Do your part to end the continued crimes against humanity done in the name of Drug Prohibition. Get informed and vote in local office for candidates willing to make a clear stance on legalization.

Drug War Statistics from when I did the class (So a bit outdated now, but mostly things have gotten worse)

Did you know....
Amount spent annually in the U.S. on the war on drugs: More than $51,000,000,000

Number of people arrested in 2012 in the U.S. on nonviolent drug charges: 1.55 million

Number of people arrested for a marijuana law violation in 2012: 749,825

Number of those charged with marijuana law violations who were arrested for possession only: 658,231 (88 percent)

Number of Americans incarcerated in 2012 in federal, state and local prisons and jails: 2,228,400 or 1 in every 108 adults, the highest incarceration rate in the world

Proportion of people incarcerated for a drug offense in state prison that are black or Hispanic, although these groups use and sell drugs at similar rates as whites: 61 percent

Number of states that allow the medical use of marijuana: 21 + District of Columbia

Estimated annual revenue that California would raise if it taxed and regulated the sale of marijuana: $1,400,000,000

Number of people killed in Mexicos drug war since 2006: 70,000+

Number of students who have lost federal financial aid eligibility because of a drug conviction: 200,000+

Number of people in the U.S. that died from a drug overdose in 2010: 38,329

Tax revenue that drug legalization would yield annually, if currently-illegal drugs were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco: $46.7 billion

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that syringe access programs lower HIV incidence among people who inject drugs by: 80 percent

One-third of all AIDS cases in the U.S. have been caused by syringe sharing: 354,000 people

U.S. federal government support for syringe access programs: $0.00, thanks to a federal ban reinstated by Congress in 2011 that prohibits any federal assistance for them

http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics

Also its becoming increasing clear to more people the drug war contributes to the spread of AIDS in way where it can't be eliminated as long the Drug War continues.

You Can’t End AIDS Unless You End the Drug War
By Mathilde Krim and Ethan Nadelmann

The end of AIDS is not just possible but predictably achievable. Science is showing the way.

But science is laborious, time consuming and costly. Its achievements must be complemented by effective government action to control the spread of HIV among vulnerable populations.

As world leaders gather this week in Washington D.C. for the 2012 International AIDS Conference, it is impossible to ignore an inconvenient truth: that drug war politics and policies in the United States and many other countries are severely jeopardizing the overall “fight against AIDS.” Simply stated, criminalizing those people who use drugs increases the risk of HIV infection and undermines efforts to protect them, their families and communities.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mathilde-krim/aids-drug-war_b_1698664.html