Seems Like a No Brainer “The time has come for a re-commitment to the original tenets of this war on drugs. We owe it to the American public who have been repeatedly sold a bill of goods to stop this and start taking the advice of experts. We don’t want to see the same thing happening as the opiate epidemic started, just when it looked as though we had finally cracked down, it exploded because the policies continued to be so out-dated and reactionary. It seems simple enough. Have a serious re-assessment of the policies and laws that have put so many millions of people in prison, ruin their lives, and make our streets and prisons flooded with drugs. It is just wrong on every level when it comes to drug policy. If our elected officials are really interested in saving the lives of those affected by this war on drugs, they will take an honest hard look at the policies and laws that are so harming them. There has to be a better way than the “throw all these people in jail and ignore their families and futures that we’ve seen in so many places.” That may work on TV but it doesn’t work in reality. We can do better, and the costs are astronomically high to ignore the obvious.” About Author Marianne Copenhaver is a writer, researcher, attorney, and advocate for drug policy reform. She is an editor at CLEAR, the Colorado Leadership on Alcoholism and Related Disorders. She received her law degree from the University of Colorado, and her bachelor’s degree from Smith College. She has practiced law as a litigator, and currently focuses on strategic communications and all aspects of social justice law. She has been honored with a 2013 Pillar of Courage award for standing up for the rights of those with mental illness, as well as recognition from the White House in 2014 for her advocacy on mental health. She has also worked in the New York legal community, providing counsel to non-profits and small businesses. In 2013, Marianne was the co-chair of the National Harm Reduction Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2012, she was the president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids section. Prior to her work in the cannabis reform movement, Marianne focused on promoting racial justice and the rights of the mentally ill. In 2009 she founded and directed the Colorado Coalition to End the Death Penalty and helped to pass a death penalty moratorium law in Colorado. Marianne continues to practice as an attorney in the state and national legal community. 3 Comments Well spoken article…I was in the DEA for 21 years and most of it was under the direction of Nancy Reagan and her “Just Say No” campaign. We were “sold” the lie that if you did drugs you were weak, immoral, and had no self respect. Nothing could be further from the truth than our treatment of the “user” and our complete ignorance and lack of resources for rehabilitation…. It amazes me how many of our laws were created for the purpose of protecting the profits of corporations (such as Big Pharma) and not for the safety of the citizens. So often the reason is to increase prison time which in turn generates higher profits for these corporations. I applaud Ms. Copenhaver for pointing this out so eloquently in the piece above. This story also reveals the dangers of drug laws that treat a drug as a Schedule II substance (like heroin) without a requirement for proof of addiction. This story also reveals the dangers of drug laws that treat a drug as a Schedule II substance (like heroin) without a requirement for proof of addiction. By contrast, the Obama administration has adopted a more sensible position by considering a drug a Schedule III substance if it’s not intended to cause a high or has low abuse potential. Still, there’s much more work to be done. It will be interesting to see if the newly proposed opioid legislation makes it through Congress. This is so true. So many families are affected by this criminal justice system. Its a shame that people don’t realize that the majority of people are just using pain pills to deal with the pain they are experiencing, not to get high. This article is amazing and it so true. We need to be supporting recovery not criminalizing those suffering from addiction. So many lives are ruined by this war on drugs. We need to treat people as adults and not criminalize them for their addictions. This is not a war on drugs its a war on people and for no good reason. Marianne, I was in the DEA for 30 years and, as you know, it’s true: it’s all about making war on people. Thank you so much for educating so many people who need to know.