Amnesty International USA

[A] WHEREAS, the United States has the world’s largest prison population, fueled by the War on Drugs;

[B] WHEREAS the indiscriminate aerial spraying of herbicides from high altitudes in Colombia impacts the environment and human health, including genetic damage, skin tumors and thyroid damage, and is a direct result of the War on Drugs policies;

[C] WHEREAS the incarceration of women convicted of low-level drug-related offenses has negatively impacted families, created drug war orphans, and dramatically increased the burden on social services;

[D] WHEREAS Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran, Saudi Arabia and China have death sentences and executions for drug offenses, and the United States federal drug law also has death sentence provisions;

[E] WHEREAS the United States’ War on Drugs disproportionately affects people of color, as evidenced by the fact that while 72% of drug users are white and 15% are African-Americans, African-Americans make up 37% of those arrested and 57% incarcerated for drug felonies;

[F] WHEREAS a growing number of organizations such as Blacks In Government, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Human Rights Watch, National Organization of Women, Unitarians Universalist, New England Journal of Medicine, the American Public Health Association and more have taken positions against Drug War policies;

[G] WHEREAS Amnesty International USA overwhelmingly passed a resolution titled "The waging of a war on illegal drugs, known as the War on Drugs, and its effect on human rigbhts and environmental integrity" at its 2002 Annual General Meeting; and

[H] WHEREAS the Amnesty International USA Board of Directors recognizes that the “War on Drugs has had a negative impact on human rights around the world," and called for "taking a movement-wide position on this matter".

[I] THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Amnesty International USA take steps to educate its leaders and membership on the War on Drugs’ impact on human rights;

[J] BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Amnesty International USA will work, as appropriate, in coalition to convey common concerns regarding human rights violations in connection with the War on Drugs to the political leadership of the United States in the form of a written statement; and

[K] BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that Amnesty International USA will request the IEC to take a public position against the human rights abuses carried out in the name of the War on Drugs.