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U.S. tax dollars kill in Colombia but
Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio
doesn't care. His Columbus staff delivered this message on April 30 when they ordered myself and 9 other concerned constituents arrested for requesting a face-to-face meeting with the Senator.
For years students, teachers, faith-based activists, and workers of all sorts have met with DeWine's staff in their Washington and Ohio offices to call for a more humane policy toward Latin America. As U.S. involvement and the death toll in Colombia have escalated in recent years, concerned taxpayers from throughout the state have called, written and visited DeWine's staff, pleading with them to persuade the Senator to rethink his approach to America's drug problem. Despite our persistent efforts, the Senator has remained seemingly oblivious to our concerns, leading us to conclude that meeting with him in person is the only solution.
In the past three years, myself and ten other Ohioans have traveled to Colombia, witnessing first hand the human rights abuses and environmental destruction that are the result of $2 billion in U.S. military aid. Upon each return to the U.S., we have requested a personal meeting with the Senator to discuss our observations and concerns. Each request has been denied. Though DeWine is one of the most vocal legislators when it comes to Colombia policy, he feels no obligation to meet with the constituents he represents - even the ones that have risked their lives to travel to Colombia.
On April 30, sixty people from throughout the state rallied outside DeWine's Columbus office during afternoon rush-hour, informing passersby that their senator is both promoting policies that harm innocent civilians and neglecting his duties as an elected official. Ten of us entered the office to again request a personal meeting. The staff informed us that, "DeWine does not meet with constituents," and threatened to call the police. We promised to leave once they put us on his calendar, offering to meet any time, any place. We did not think it was too much to ask of our elected representative, but they had us arrested and charged with trespassing.
As the hours behind bars ticked slowly by, our group had a chance to reflect upon the failure of US drug policy, both in Colombia and here in the U.S. Though six of the ten in our group have traveled to Colombia and witnessed human rights abuses and environmental destruction with our own eyes, the thirty hours we spent in the Franklin County Jail reminded us that one does not need to travel to Colombia to see lives devastated by the war on drugs. Our prisons are overflowing with evidence.
While thousands of innocent Colombians are killed each year in the drug war, thousands more Americans disappear for years into U.S. prisons for petty nonviolent drug offenses. In both countries, the victims of the misguided war on drugs are overwhelmingly people of color and poor people. Yet while we kill and incarcerate more people each year, drug production in Colombia continues to rise (25% last year according to the White House) and drugs of higher quality sell for less on America's streets today than they did when the war on drugs began in the early 1970s. The government's own studies reveal that the war on drugs has been a failure.
But Mike DeWine doesn't want to talk about it. He would rather have his constituents locked-up than have to justify his inhumane and ineffective use of taxpayer dollars in Colombia.
We hope the court will be more open-minded when we go to trial on July 9 and 11 in Columbus. We believe the people of Ohio deserve better.
For years students, teachers, faith-based activists, and workers of all sorts have met with DeWine's staff in their Washington and Ohio offices to call for a more humane policy toward Latin America. As U.S. involvement and the death toll in Colombia have escalated in recent years, concerned taxpayers from throughout the state have called, written and visited DeWine's staff, pleading with them to persuade the Senator to rethink his approach to America's drug problem. Despite our persistent efforts, the Senator has remained seemingly oblivious to our concerns, leading us to conclude that meeting with him in person is the only solution.
In the past three years, myself and ten other Ohioans have traveled to Colombia, witnessing first hand the human rights abuses and environmental destruction that are the result of $2 billion in U.S. military aid. Upon each return to the U.S., we have requested a personal meeting with the Senator to discuss our observations and concerns. Each request has been denied. Though DeWine is one of the most vocal legislators when it comes to Colombia policy, he feels no obligation to meet with the constituents he represents - even the ones that have risked their lives to travel to Colombia.
On April 30, sixty people from throughout the state rallied outside DeWine's Columbus office during afternoon rush-hour, informing passersby that their senator is both promoting policies that harm innocent civilians and neglecting his duties as an elected official. Ten of us entered the office to again request a personal meeting. The staff informed us that, "DeWine does not meet with constituents," and threatened to call the police. We promised to leave once they put us on his calendar, offering to meet any time, any place. We did not think it was too much to ask of our elected representative, but they had us arrested and charged with trespassing.
As the hours behind bars ticked slowly by, our group had a chance to reflect upon the failure of US drug policy, both in Colombia and here in the U.S. Though six of the ten in our group have traveled to Colombia and witnessed human rights abuses and environmental destruction with our own eyes, the thirty hours we spent in the Franklin County Jail reminded us that one does not need to travel to Colombia to see lives devastated by the war on drugs. Our prisons are overflowing with evidence.
While thousands of innocent Colombians are killed each year in the drug war, thousands more Americans disappear for years into U.S. prisons for petty nonviolent drug offenses. In both countries, the victims of the misguided war on drugs are overwhelmingly people of color and poor people. Yet while we kill and incarcerate more people each year, drug production in Colombia continues to rise (25% last year according to the White House) and drugs of higher quality sell for less on America's streets today than they did when the war on drugs began in the early 1970s. The government's own studies reveal that the war on drugs has been a failure.
But Mike DeWine doesn't want to talk about it. He would rather have his constituents locked-up than have to justify his inhumane and ineffective use of taxpayer dollars in Colombia.
We hope the court will be more open-minded when we go to trial on July 9 and 11 in Columbus. We believe the people of Ohio deserve better.