Congressman John Conyers to Speak and Receive Award at Upcoming Conference Against War on Drugs, Thursday November 6 – Saturday November 8 in New Jersey

How can drug policy reform save money and lives? Why is the rate of injection-related HIV/AIDS in New Jersey almost twice the national rate? How did California change its drug policies to save $275 million in one year? Why are black men imprisoned for drug offenses at 13 times the rate of white men despite equal rates of drug use across races? What are some alternatives to current drug policies? People will gather to answer these questions and many more at * Reason * Compassion * Justice: The Drug Policy Alliance 2003 Biennial Conference” November 6-8 in Meadowlands, New Jersey.

Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) will be in attendance to speak and receive an award from the Alliance for his tireless work toward drug policy reform. He has been particularly outspoken in his opposition to mandatory minimum sentencing, voter disenfranchisement and racial profiling fueled by the war on drugs. First elected in 1964, Congressman Conyers is the second most senior member of the House of Representatives, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, and the Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus. He will receive the Justice Gerald Le Dain Award for Achievement in the Field of Law during an awards ceremony at Friday November 7. The award is named after Gerald Le Dain, who called for more rational drug laws while serving as Dean of the Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto and chairman of the Canadian government’s Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs.

The conference is organized by the Drug Policy Alliance, a national nonprofit with offices in New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., California and New Mexico. The Drug Policy Alliance is the nation’s leading organization working to end the war on drugs and promote new drug policies based on science, compassion, health and human rights.

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