In a step few politicians would take, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle today declared the nation’s decades-old war on drugs a failure.
What’s more, she said, it has resulted in the incarceration of millions of non-violent offenders, the vast majority of whom are African American and Latino. That’s come “at a tremendous social and economic cost to all of us. The cost is too great to continue fighting this war on drugs with so little success. “Rather than invest in detaining people in the Cook County Jail at almost $150 a day . . . we need to invest in treatment, education and job-skills training. That’s the only way . . . we are going to reduce crime and stabilize our communities,” she said.
Preckwinkle, just six months into her tenure, was addressing a lunchtime rally crowd outside the James R. Thompson Center in the Loop. The group assembled to call for an end to the war on drugs 40 years to the day after it was declared by then-President Richard Nixon.
“We all know that the war on drugs has failed to end drug use. Instead, it’s resulted in the incarceration of millions of people around the country, and 100,000 here in Cook County on an annual basis,” she said. “Drugs and the failed war on the drugs have devastated lives, families and communities. For too long we’ve treated drug use as a criminal justice issue, rather than a public issue, which is what it is.”
Academics, religious leaders and social-service providers spoke out, but Preckwinkle was the sole politician to address the crowd, which cheered her on.
Kathleen Kane-Willis, director of Roosevelt University’s Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy, kicked off the rally by citing recent statistics indicating Illinois leads the nation when it comes to putting far greater percentages of African Americans behind bars for drug crimes than whites.
“The sad thing about the war on the drugs is that most people know it has failed,” added Rev. Alexander Sharp of Protestants for the Common Good. “They just don’t have the courage to say so, and that is why we are so grateful to have Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle with us here. She is willing to speak the truth, a leader with courage.”
Preckwinkle’s call for more treatment and less punishment was in keeping with her statements on the campaign trail, when she often talked about diverting drug users into treatment programs. She said she now is working with the courts, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the sheriff’s office to find ways to do that.
“If 70 percent of the people in the jail are there for non-violent offenses, and 83 percent of the people who walk through the door have illicit drugs in their system, clearly the issue we’ve got is around addiction as much as it is around criminal justice,” she said after making her speech. “It is a public health issue.”
Preckwinkle, who came up through the liberal bastion of the Kenwood-Hyde Park area, also said politicians have gone too far with drug laws in an effort to appear tough on crime.
“They have criminalized a lot more behaviors and we’ve enhanced penalties for behaviors,” she said. “The consequence of that is that a lot more people are in jail at a tremendous cost to society as a whole. . . . We’re going to have to re-examine our drug policies and look at effectively treating addiction and not just criminalizing large portions of our African American and Latino population.”
Before the rally, new Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said he understood the concerns of those staging the rally.
“It becomes the issue of mass incarceration,” he said during an interview for WBBM Radio’s “At Issue” program set to air at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Sunday. “There is an issue here. And law enforcement has gotten this wrong. Narcotics use is a criminalized social issue. It causes crime. Drug dealers get into violent disputes over turf. It’s about the money.”
He added: “It’s been so twisted up that law enforcement looks at narcotics as the crime, when it’s not. It’s the cause of the crime. So, we’ve had this wrong for a long time in law enforcement.”
McCarthy went on to say that he wants to implement a strategy to close outdoor drug markets, then help those neighborhoods stay safe, clean up and form community groups.
What’s more, she said, it has resulted in the incarceration of millions of non-violent offenders, the vast majority of whom are African American and Latino. That’s come “at a tremendous social and economic cost to all of us. The cost is too great to continue fighting this war on drugs with so little success.
Preckwinkle, just six months into her tenure, was addressing a lunchtime rally crowd outside the James R. Thompson Center in the Loop. The group assembled to call for an end to the war on drugs 40 years to the day after it was declared by then-President Richard Nixon.
“We all know that the war on drugs has failed to end drug use. Instead, it’s resulted in the incarceration of millions of people around the country, and 100,000 here in Cook County on an annual basis,” she said. “Drugs and the failed war on the drugs have devastated lives, families and communities. For too long we’ve treated drug use as a criminal justice issue, rather than a public issue, which is what it is.”
Academics, religious leaders and social-service providers spoke out, but Preckwinkle was the sole politician to address the crowd, which cheered her on.
Kathleen Kane-Willis, director of Roosevelt University’s Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy, kicked off the rally by citing recent statistics indicating Illinois leads the nation when it comes to putting far greater percentages of African Americans behind bars for drug crimes than whites.
“The sad thing about the war on the drugs is that most people know it has failed,” added Rev. Alexander Sharp of Protestants for the Common Good. “They just don’t have the courage to say so, and that is why we are so grateful to have Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle with us here. She is willing to speak the truth, a leader with courage.”
Preckwinkle’s call for more treatment and less punishment was in keeping with her statements on the campaign trail, when she often talked about diverting drug users into treatment programs. She said she now is working with the courts, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the sheriff’s office to find ways to do that.
“If 70 percent of the people in the jail are there for non-violent offenses, and 83 percent of the people who walk through the door have illicit drugs in their system, clearly the issue we’ve got is around addiction as much as it is around criminal justice,” she said after making her speech. “It is a public health issue.”
Preckwinkle, who came up through the liberal bastion of the Kenwood-Hyde Park area, also said politicians have gone too far with drug laws in an effort to appear tough on crime.
“They have criminalized a lot more behaviors and we’ve enhanced penalties for behaviors,” she said. “The consequence of that is that a lot more people are in jail at a tremendous cost to society as a whole. . . . We’re going to have to re-examine our drug policies and look at effectively treating addiction and not just criminalizing large portions of our African American and Latino population.”
Before the rally, new Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said he understood the concerns of those staging the rally.
“It becomes the issue of mass incarceration,” he said during an interview for WBBM Radio’s “At Issue” program set to air at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Sunday. “There is an issue here. And law enforcement has gotten this wrong. Narcotics use is a criminalized social issue. It causes crime. Drug dealers get into violent disputes over turf. It’s about the money.”
He added: “It’s been so twisted up that law enforcement looks at narcotics as the crime, when it’s not. It’s the cause of the crime. So, we’ve had this wrong for a long time in law enforcement.”
McCarthy went on to say that he wants to implement a strategy to close outdoor drug markets, then help those neighborhoods stay safe, clean up and form community groups.
Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune
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