Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 11:19:26 -0400
To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
Subject: EVENT: THE DRUG WAR ON TRIAL: Two Judges Speak Out 09-05-01
 Oakland, CA
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

THE DRUG WAR ON TRIAL: Two Judges Speak Out -- Next Independent
Policy Forum (Sept. 5, 2001)

Drug abuse is a serious problem, but the "War on Drugs" shows no sign
of being won and has come with a heavy price tag. Critics say that
its side effects -- increased taxes, increased crime and corruption
here and abroad, loss of civil liberties, decreased health, prison
overcrowding, discrimination against African Americans and other
groups, and the diversion of resources away from other problems --
are even worse for society than the drugs themselves. Many public
officials share this sentiment but fear political reprisals if they
speak out. However, Judges JAMES GRAY and VAUGHN WALKER, having
witnessed the Drug War up close, believe that the time has come to
testify publicly about its ill effects -- and to outline bold, new
approaches to the drug problem.

SPEAKERS:

   -- Hon. JAMES P. GRAY, Judge, Orange County Superior Court of
California; Author, WHY OUR DRUG LAWS HAVE FAILED and WHAT WE CAN DO
ABOUT IT: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs

   -- Hon. VAUGHN WALKER, Judge, U. S. District Court, San Francisco, California

WHEN:
 Wednesday, September 5, 2001
 Reception and book signing: 6:30 p.m.
 Program: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

WHERE:
 The Independent Institute Conference Center
 100 Swan Way
 Oakland, CA 94621-1428
 For a map and directions, see
 http://www.independent.org/tii/tii_info/about.html#map

TICKETS: $30.00 per person: includes one copy of Judge James Gray's
book, WHY OUR DRUG LAWS HAVE FAILED and WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT, OR
admission without a book is $10 per person
($7 for Independent Institute Associate Members)

Praise for Judge James Gray's WHY OUR DRUG LAWS HAVE FAILED and WHAT
WE CAN DO ABOUT IT: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs:

"Judge Gray's thorough and scholarly work, based as it is on his
personal experience, should help considerably to improve our
impossible drug laws. [His] book drives a stake through the heart of
the failed War on Drugs and gives us options to hope for in the
battles to come."
   -- WALTER CHRONKITE, Former Anchor, CBS News

"However harmful the ingestion of drugs are to their users, the
attempt to prohibit drugs has made matters far worse, threatening our
basic rights to life, liberty and property. That is Judge Gray's
thesis in this important book and he cites overwhelming evidence to
support it. His proposals to improve the situation do not go as far
as I would like, but they are all feasible and in the right
direction. If adopted, they would produce a major improvement."
   -- MILTON FRIEDMAN, Nobel Laureate in Economic Science

"The war on drugs cannot be a war on discussion of this problem. We
can fight drug use and abuse and still explore viable options. Judge
Gray illuminates options and in the process will promote necessary
discussion of them."
   -- GEORGE P. SCHULTZ, Former U.S. Secretary of State

"It's all here! A stinging indictment of today's drug strategies and
a rallying cry around new strategies for tomorrow."
  -- GARY E. JOHNSON, Governor of New Mexico

"It has been said that in public policy development we must
distinguish between ideas that sound good and good ideas that are
sound. In this book, Judge Gray provides sound ideas for a more
effective national drug control policy. He recognizes that the War on
Drugs needs new thinking for this new century."
   -- KURT L. SCHMOKE, Former Mayor of the City of Baltimore

"This book is a powerful indictment of our failed war on drugs.  Jim
Gray not only communicates the devastation wrought by a war he
witnessed from the frontlines as a trial judge and federal
prosecutor, but he displays in these pages the moral courage it takes
to cry out that the emperor wears no clothes."
  -- ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, syndicated columnist

For more about this event, see
http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-33-7.html.


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