WEBB HOSTS DRUG POLICY SYMPOSIUM AT GMU, FOCUS ON DRUG TRAFFICKING, POLICY & SENTENCINGArlington, Va. - On Wednesday, October 15th, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) and the Administration of Justice Department of George Mason University hosted a symposium entitled "Drugs in America: Trafficking, Policy and Sentencing." More than 200 participants attended the interactive event, submitting an equal number of questions to Senator Webb, who served as moderator.
Webb convened the four-hour forum as "an opportunity to take a broad look at the difficult range of issues regarding the effects of illegal drugs on our society, and to discuss real solutions for immediate and long-term implementation."
Wednesday's symposium followed a series of Senate hearings held by Senator Webb exploring the causes behind the country's mass incarceration rate and how drug policy plays a prominent role in the increasing prison population.
"The reason we are here today is to begin a serious dialogue about what has happened to our criminal justice system-- a subject that does not get a lot of attention from politicians, but should," said Senator Webb. "We have a national crisis on our hands that no one wants to address. You will notice that not a single question about our rampant prison population has been asked during the presidential campaign.
"We want to keep bad people off our streets. We want to break the back of gangs, and we want to cut down on violent behavior. But there's something wrong when you have five percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's reported prison population," continued Webb.
The event featured three panels, with a wide range of presenters, including representatives of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, law enforcement officials, scholars, and a member of the judiciary. The first explored how drugs get into the United States, the entities involved in drug trafficking, and the situation at the border. The second panel examined what is being done to combat drug crime, including taking a look at gangs. The last panel examined what is happening to drug users, drug sentencing, and treatment.
"Violent offenders and gang members must be brought to justice, but the present system has skewed toward putting non-violent drug users behind bars," continued Webb.
Panelists highlighted the fact that although drug usage is widespread with 46 percent of the population above the age of 12 having admitted to use, there is a great disparity between those users who will experience life-long consequences and those who will not.
The United States has the highest reported incarceration rate in the world with 2.38 million Americans in federal, state, and local prisons and jails and more than 7 million Americans under some form of corrections supervision. The total economic costs of all the factors associated with drug abuse in the United States have been estimated at $182 billion per year.
"I am committed to raising awareness of this complex problem among the American public and in Congress and working on a solution that is both responsive to our needs for law and order and fairer to those ensnared by this system," said Webb.
To read remarks from the panelists and access additional resources on the symposium and this issue, please go to: http://webb.senate.gov/symp/Sy...
The selection of panelists was excellent, with people from all corners of the drug war. I was particularly interested in the group calling itself Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, which consists of Law Enforcement officers who want to see some sanity brought into our drug laws.
As always, Senator Webb graciously stayed for a very long time after the conference ended, speaking to all who waited their turn to talk to him. I approached him and told him I represent drug offenders and my primary concerns are what to do about dual diagnosis defendants - those who have a combination of drug addiction and mental health issues - and the rising tide of returning military veterans. The mention of the returning military and veterans really caught his interest. Senator Webb mentioned that he's troubled that the military is not paying enough attention to the effects of deployments, especially multiple deployments, on soldiers, many of whom are returning to deal with their problems through drugs and alcohol. He is concerned that the orientation of the military is too much toward sanctions and not enough toward treatment of substance abuse as indicators not of character flaws, but of the way our military have tried to deal with the stresses and trauma caused by their deployments. He is particularly interested in hearing from members of the military and recent veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who have encountered the stringent sanctions of the military for drug use in particular, but also alcohol.
I have spoken to many probation officers who look with trepidation at the prospect of dealing with these returning veterans, many of whom are now beginning a long slide into drug and alcohol dependency and eventual destitution. Senator Webb should be congratulated for not only looking at the entire system of drug interdiction, intervention, and punishment, but for focusing also on what it all means for our military and returning veterans and the criminalization of these symptoms of PTSD and adjustment difficulties.
I hope Senator Webb continues pursuing this issue with the same tenacity he showed with the New GI Bill.