drug wars viewers guide

8/12/2019 Drug Wars Viewers Guide

1/6

The ACLU

Freedom File

s is

a new 10

-part te

levision

series t

hat tell

s the

stories

of real

people i

n Americ

a who fa

ced

threats

to their

civil li

berties,

and foug

ht to

preserve thei

r freedo

ms. Crea

ted by t

he Ameri

can

Civil Li

berties Union

and Robe

rt Green

walds B

rave

New Film

s and di

rected by awar

d-winnin

g filmma

ker

Jeremy K

agan, th

e series

consists of 30

-minute

episodes

that use

intervie

ws, arch

ival footage,

re-enact

ments, c

omedy, d

rama, an

imation

and music

to explor

e today

s critic

al civil

rights i

ssues.

INSIDE THIS GUID

E

Whats i

n the Episode

Page 2

Discuss!

Dig Deepe

r!Page 3

Law Enfo

rcers

Say Who

a!

Page 4

Follow u

p:

Valerie

Corral

Page 5

Join the

Club

Page 6

THEACLUFRE

EDOMFILES

ProducersClu

bViewersGuid

e


2/6

WHATSI

NTHEEP

ISODE

Regina Kelly, a mother of four in Hearne, Texas, was atwork when police officers took her into custody without

telling her why. In all, 27

young African Americans

were rounded up as part of a

massive drug bust, based on

the word of one unreliable

informant. Regina took

action to prohibit police

from basing arrests on

such flimsy evidence.

LeQuan Simpson

was a high-school student in Goose

Creek, S.C., when a SWAT team

stormed the school because they

believed one student had a joint.

The agents targeted African American

students, holding guns to their heads

as dogs ripped apart their backpacks.No drugs were ever found.

Kasaundra Lomax of Portland, Ore., was nine

years old when her mother went to jail because the

man she was involved with was dealing drugs.

Her mother,

Hamedah

Hasan, is facing

a mandatory

minimum sen-

tence of 27

years, though

she is a first-

time offender

who never used

drugs herself

and was not actually selling them.

2

Despitede

cadesofma

ssivespen

dingonla

wenforcem

entand

draconian

punishmen

ts,theU.S

.governme

ntswaro

ndrugsh

as

donenothingtored

ucedruga

buseoreli

minatethe

presenceo

fdrugs.

Instead,it

hasundermine

dourmost

basicconst

itutionalri

ghts,

divertedre

sourcesfro

mfightingother

crimes,fos

teredracia

lprofiling,

createdan

unpreceden

tedlevelof

incarceration,an

dprevente

dpeople

withseriou

sillnesses

fromacces

singmedica

tionsthatcouldhe

lp

them.This

episodeof

TheACLUF

reedomFil

esshowsh

owthewa

ron

drugshas

becomeaw

arontheA

mericanpe

ople,andin

troducesy

ou

toindividua

lswhoare

fightingba

ck.

After Valerie Corral

of Santa Cruz, Calif.,

found that marijuana

relieved her debili-

tating seizures, she

helped author the

first state law

allowing the use of

medical marijuanaand started a hospice to help people

with terminal illnesses. Nevertheless, federal

agents stormed her home and arrested her

and her husband.


3/6

Howdothesocialandhealt

heffectsofalcoholcompare

withtheeffectsofotherdru

gs?

Doyoufeelsomepeoplecan

usedrugsinawaythatdoes

notaffecttheirabilitytobe

productivemembersofsocie

ty?

Haveyoueverknownanyo

newhowenttoprisonfora

drugoffense?

Whatimpactdid

incarcerationhaveonthep

ersonandhis/herfamily?

Doyouknowanyonewhou

sesmarijuanaasamedicine

,orsomeone

whomightbenefitfromusi

ngmedicalmarijuana?

Wouldyousupportanatio

nwidelawthatallowedsick

peopletouse

medicalmarijuanawitha

doctorsrecommendation?D

oesyourstateallow

medicaluseofmarijuana?

Ifnot,doyouthinkitshoul

d?

Doyouthinkmarijuanash

ouldbemadelegal?Ifyes,w

ouldyourestrictitsuseatall?

Ifno,wouldyoureformany

thingaboutourdruglaws

makethemtougherorless

harsh?

Doyouthinkthewarond

rugsisworking?Isityour

sensethatdrugsarelessava

il-

ablethantheywere10yea

rsago?30yearsago?Isther

elessdrug-relatedcrimein

your

area?

Doyouthinkdruglawsareenfor

cedequallyamongpeopleof

differentracesand

incomelevelsinyourarea?Whatdoyouthinkyou

rlocalpolicesprioritiesshou

ldbe?

Howeffectiveislawenforce

mentatkeepingyourcomm

unitysafe?

Whatshouldtheguidingp

rinciplesandgoalsofourn

ationsdrugpolicybe?

Howcanweworktowardsu

chapolicy?

3


4/6


5/6


6/6

RESOURCES

ORGANIZATION

S

AmericanCivil Libe

rtiesUnion www

.aclu.org/drugpol

icy

AmericansforSafe

Access www.saf

eaccessnow.org

Drug Policy Alliance www.d

rugpolicy.org

FamiliesAgainst M

andatoryMinimum

s www.famm.org

TheSentencing P

roject www.sente

ncingproject.org

StudentsforSensi

ble DrugPolicy w

ww.ssdp.org

BOOKS

Busted!DrugWarS

urvivalSkills:From

theBuytotheBus

ttoBeggingfor

Mercy,byM.Chris

Fabricantwithillu

strationsbyR.Cr

umb(HarperCollin

s)

DrugCrazy:HowW

eGotIntoThisMes

sandHowWeCanG

etOut,byMike

Gray(Routledge)

DrugWarPolitics:

ThePriceofDenial

,byEvaBertram,MorrisB

lachman,

KennethSharpea

ndPeterAndreas

(UniversityofCal

iforniaPress)

LifeontheOutside

:ThePrisonOdysse

yofElaineBartlett

,byJennifer

Gonnerman(Farra

r,StrausandGiro

ux)

Marihuana,theFor

biddenMedicine,b

yLesterGrinspoo

nandJames

Bakalar(YaleUniv

ersity)

Tulia:Race,Cocain

eandCorruptionin

aSmallTexasTow

n,byNate

Blakeslee(Public

Affairs)

Visitwww.aclu.org/dr

ugpolicyforfreep

ublications,sucha

sCaughtin

theNet:theImpactofDrugPolicies

onWomen&Fami

liesandMaking

SenseofStudentD

rugTesting:WhyEd

ucatorsAreSayingNo.

SPREADTHEWORDJointheProducersClub

BecomepartofanewwaveofinformationacTiVismbybringingTheACLUFreedomFilestoyourfriends,familyandcommunity.Signupatwww.aclu.tvtojointheProducersClub:HostascreeningorspreadthewordabouttheseriesviaemailortheWeb,andwellsendyouafreeDVDofthecurrentshowandgiveyoustep-by-stepadviceonhowtoorganizeanevent.

STAYTUNED

WatchTheACLUFreedomFiles

everymonthonCourtTVand

LinkTV.Theseriescanbeseen

onCourtTV(noonESTandPSTand11a.m.Centraland

Mountain),andonLinkTV

(DirecTVchannel375,andDISH

Networkchannel9410).Forthe

programscheduleortoorder

yourownDVDcopies,visit

www.aclu.tv.

Thepremiereseasonalso

includesepisodesonthePatrio

Act,theSupremeCourt,dissenracialprofiling,religious

freedom,votingrights,gay

andlesbianrights,youthand

womensrights.

VIEWERS GUIDE CREDITS

Concept: Active Voice

Writer/Editor: Wendy Blake

Strategic Graphic Design: Simon Does, LLC

Editorial Coordinator: Grace Eng

Freedom Files Project Director: Marsha Zeesman

Copyright 2006 ACLU Foundation. All Rights Reserved.6

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