,,iv  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,h4 ,,res4 #gdg  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of
 ,,representatives  ,december #f1       
#bjai,mrs4 ,watson ,coleman 7for        
herself1 ,mr4 ,takano1 ,ms4 ,lee of     
,california1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,mr4 ,lewis1 
,ms4 ,schakowsky1 ,ms4 ,moore1 ,ms4     
,pressley1 ,ms4 ,wilson of ,florida1    
,mr4 ,thompson of ,mississippi1 ,mr4    
,payne1 ,mr4 ,horsford1 ,ms4 ,johnson of
 ,texas1 ,ms4 ,fudge1 ,ms4 ,bass1 ,mr4  
,brown of ,maryland1 ,ms4 ,adams1 ,ms4  
,clarke of ,new ,york1 ,mr4 ,cleaver1   
,mr4 ,danny ,k4 ,davis of ,illinois1 and
 ,mr4 ,pocan7 submitted the following   
resolution2 which was referred to the   
,committee on ,energy and ,commerce1 and
 in addition to the ,committee on the   
,judiciary1 for a period to be          
subsequently determined by the ,speaker1
 in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the           
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,,resolution  ,acknowledging that the   
,war on ,drugs has been a failed policy 

in achieving the goal of reducing drug  
use1 and for the ,house of              
,representatives to apologize to the    
individuals and communities that were   
victimized by this policy4  ,whereas1   
until the early #aijjs1 most of today's 
illegal substances were not regulated by
 the ,federal ,government1 and there was
 no ,war on ,drugs2 ,whereas1 in the    
#aicjs1 the first ,commissioner of the  
,federal ,bureau of ,narcotics1 ,harry  
,j4 ,anslinger1 who was a strong        
opponent to marijuana1 pushed a heavy   
propaganda campaign to demonize         
marijuana use1 stating that it caused   
people to become violent and criminals2 
,whereas much of this propaganda was    
racially charged against the            
,mexican-,american community1 for       
example1 as ,commissioner ,anslinger    
testified to the #geth ,congress in     
#aicg that1 ,i wish ,i could show you   
what a small marijuana cigarette can do 
to one of our degenerate ,spanish       
speaking residents4 ,that's why our     

problem is so great2 the greatest       
percentage of our population is composed
 of ,spanish-speaking persons1 most of  
who are low mentally1 because of social 
and racial conditions2 ,whereas1 in     
#aicg1 the #geth ,congress passed the   
,marijuana ,tax ,act which criminalized 
marijuana1 and laws passed during the   
following years were introduced to      
institute mandatory minimum sentences   
for those who bought1 sold1 and used the
 drug2 ,whereas over the course of the  
next few decades1 studies conducted by  
scientists did not find any connection  
between the use of marijuana and violent
 behaviors1 and in #aigc the ,shafer    
,commission ,report on ,marijuana and   
,drugs concluded that1 ,the ,commission 
believes that the contemporary ,american
 drug problem has emerged in part from  
our institutional response to drug use  
''' ,we have failed to weave policy into
 the fabric of social institutions42    
,whereas despite mounting evidence1 the 
,federal ,government's approach to the  

abuse of drugs continued to be one of   
criminalizing drug abuse instead of     
treatment2 ,whereas1 on ,june #ah1      
#aiga1 ,president ,richard ,nixon       
declared the ,war on ,drugs1 stating    
that drug abuse is public enemy number  
one2 ,whereas the ,federal ,government's
 attitude toward drug use as a criminal 
problem only intensified with stricter  
drug laws1 and the ,government put      
little to no focus on treating those    
impacted2 ,whereas the ,war on ,drugs   
was admitted to be a move by the ,nixon 
administration to attack his political  
opponents1 and in #aiid1 ,president     
,richard ,nixon's aide ,john ,ehrlichman
 admitted in an interview that the ,war 
on ,drugs was a tool to arrest and      
manipulate ,blacks and liberals stating1
 ,we knew we couldn't make it illegal to
 be either against the war or black1 but
 by getting the public to associate the 
hippies with marijuana and blacks with  
heroin1 and then criminalizing both     
heavily1 we could disrupt those         

communities4 ,we could arrest their     
leaders1 raid their homes1 break up     
their meetings1 and vilify them night   
after night on the evening news4 ,did we
 know we were lying about the drugs8 ,of
 course we did42 ,whereas1 in #aihf1 the
 #iith ,congress passed the ,anti-,drug 
,abuse ,act establishing1 for the first 
time1 mandatory minimum sentences for   
those convicted of having specific      
amounts of cocaine2 ,whereas1 in #aihi1 
drug czar ,william ,bennett announced a 
#g1ijj1jjj1jjj plan to combat the drug  
epidemic1 but #gj percent of that amount
 went to hiring more law enforcement    
personnel and building prisons2 ,whereas
 that money could have been better used 
to help provide treatment to those on   
heroin1 cocaine1 and other drugs2       
,whereas1 in #aihf1 the #iith ,congress 
increased the sentences for dealing and 
possessing crack cocaine1 and in a few  
years1 enhanced law enforcement presence
 loomed over and aggressively policed   
communities of color2 ,whereas1 to this 

day1 these laws greatly target          
communities of color1 dramatically      
increasing the incarceration rate of    
these communities and imposing a stigma 
that people of color are the main users 
of drugs1 despite ,white ,americans     
using drugs at a similar if not greater 
rate2 ,whereas ,professor of ,sociology 
at the ,university of ,california1      
,santa ,cruz1 ,craig ,reinarman1 and    
,professor of ,sociology at ,queens     
,college1 ,harry ,g4 ,levine1 studied   
the use of crack cocaine in the ,united 
,states and later published in their    
book1 entitled ,crack in ,america1 which
 stated that1 ,in the spring of #aihf1  
,american politicians and news media    
began an extraordinary anti-drug frenzy 
that ran until #aiib4 ,newspapers1      
magazines and television networks       
regularly carried lurid stories about a 
new epidemic or plague of drug use1     
especially of crack cocaine4 ,they said 
this epidemic was spreading rapidly from
 cities to the suburbs and was          

destroying ,american society4 ,it is    
certainly true that the ,united ,states 
has real health and social problems that
 result from illegal and legal drug use4
 ,but it is certainly also true that the
 period from #aihf through #aiib was    
characterized by anti-drug extremism42  
,whereas the use of opiates such as     
oxycodone1 hydrocodone1 methadone1      
heroin1 and fentanyl has skyrocketed    
since the late #aiijs and the amount of 
prescription opioids legally sold nearly
 quadrupled from #aiii to #bjaj1 despite
 no change in the amount of pain that   
,americans reported2 ,whereas the       
,national ,center for ,health           
,statistics suggested that there were   
more than #gj1bjj drug overdose deaths  
in #bjag1 and that a majority of these  
deaths come from synthetic opioids like 
fentanyl2 ,whereas these drug overdoses 
have become the leading cause of        
accidental death1 surpassing car        
accidents2 ,whereas1 on ,march #bi1     
#bjag1 ,president ,donald ,trump signed 

an ,executive order to establish the    
,president's ,commission on ,combating  
,drug ,addiction and the ,opioid        
,crisis1 and in a preliminary report the
 ,commission has recommended that the   
opioid crisis1 among other things1      
should be declared a national emergency 
under either the ,public ,health        
,service ,act or the ,stafford ,act2    
,whereas many scholars1 journalists1 and
 civic leaders have addressed the strong
 contrast to the urgency of helping     
those impacted by opioids compared to   
those who were impacted by crack cocaine
 and other substances during the ,war on
 ,drugs2 ,whereas the terminology used  
to describe those impacted by the opioid
 epidemic is victims1 and the           
terminology used to describe those      
impacted by the ,war on ,drugs is       
criminals2 ,whereas if the concept of   
equity was considered1 meaning that     
individuals fairly receive what they    
need in order to create a level playing 
field1 the same funds and support going 

to help those impacted by opioids will  
also go to help those impacted by       
heroin1 cocaine1 and the other drugs    
classified in the ,war on ,drugs2       
,whereas as stated by ,georgetown       
,university ,professor ,michael ,eric   
,dyson1 ,white brothers and sisters have
 been medicalized in terms of their     
trauma and addiction4 ,black and brown  
people have been criminalized for their 
trauma and addiction42 ,whereas after   
almost #ej years1 the ,war on ,drugs has
 yet to achieve its goal2 and ,whereas  
there has been no formal action by the  
,united ,states ,government to treat the
 epidemic of overall drug abuse and to  
treat the ,war on ,drugs as a health    
issue3 ,now1 therefore1 be it  ,that it 
is the sense of the ,house of           
,representatives that-- 7#a7 the ,war on
 ,drugs has failed to achieve its goal  
of reducing drug use2  7#b7 the ,war on 
,drugs has created conditions in the    
,united ,states that have allowed the   
opioid epidemic to be as deadly as it   

is2  7#c7 the ,war on ,drugs is a       
racially charged policy that has led to 
the mass incarceration of millions of   
,americans1 disproportionately affecting
 communities of color1 has stigmatized  
these communities as the cause of the   
drug problem1 and has economically1     
politically1 and socially crippled these
 communities for decades2  7#d7 the     
,house of ,representatives condemns the 
actions and role ,harry ,j4 ,anslinger  
played in creating the ,war on ,drugs2  
7#e7 in order to help those impacted1   
drug use has to be seen as a health     
issue and not a criminal issue2  7#f7   
the ,house of ,representatives should   
immediately halt any and all actions    
that would allow the ,war on ,drugs to  
continue2  7#g7 the ,house of           
,representatives encourages the creation
 of a select committee that would be    
tasked in reviewing all laws associated 
and consistent with the ,war on ,drugs  
and prioritizing effective1             
evidence-based health policy solutions  

for individuals and communities         
suffering from addiction2  7#h7 the     
,house of ,representatives should pass  
legislation that would provide civil    
remedies and restorative justice for any
 individual who has been incarcerated or
 otherwise punished through the ,federal
 criminal justice system due to laws    
associated and consistent with the ,war 
on ,drugs2  7#i7 the ,house of          
,representatives affirms that all       
individuals suffering from the disease  
of addiction be treated humanely1 and   
with the same respect as all people     
struggling with any other health matter2
 and  7#aj7 the ,house of               
,representatives hereby apologizes to   
the individuals and communities harmed  
through the ,war on ,drugs and          
acknowledges that actions by this body  
have demonized and criminalized         
addiction for more than #hj years       
instead of accurately treating it as a  
health concern4