Pubdate: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 Source: Post-Standard, The (NY) Copyright: 2003, Syracuse Post-Standard Contact: http://www.syracuse.com/poststandard/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/686 Author: John Mariani WAR ON DRUGS' FOCUS WRONG, SPEAKER SAYS Emphasize Programs For Poor, Not Prisons, Nashville Clergyman Tells New Group. The key to solving America's drug problem, the Rev. Edwin Sanders says, resides not in more prisons, but in programs that will help unlock the potential of the nation's poor. Sanders, a prominent Nashville clergyman and an expert on health-care issues, challenged the members of a Syracuse-area group on Tuesday to look hard at the causes of drug abuse and the crime and violence that attend it, then work toward reforming the drug laws he said perpetuate the problem. "We'll have to stand up. We'll have to speak up. And if necessary, we'll have to act up," said Sanders, keynote speaker at the kickoff meeting of the newly formed Families Against Injustice. The group describes itself as a diverse association of families concerned about crime and violence, which it says are caused by poverty, unemployment, hopelessness, ineffective youth policies, failed drug policies and the unfair application of laws, particularly the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act. About 70 people gathered at God's Way Church, 1800 S. Salina St., for the meeting. America's war against drugs has imprisoned thousands of poor, largely minority individuals while doing nothing to either rehabilitate habitual users or solve the underlying causes of drug abuse, several speakers said. "While we fully acknowledge the fact that good law enforcement is an essential part of our society, we feel this one-dimensional method of looking to law enforcement as the cure to all violence and crime entrusts the hopes and aspirations of the community to scare tactics, prisons and ultimately a police state," said the Rev. Larry Ellis, pastor of God's Way Church, in his opening remarks. Sanders told the audience of seeing a museum exhibition of graffiti art in New York City. The artists each were given a canvas with an obscene word painted on it, then challenged to make something beautiful of the canvas without painting over the word. Like those artists, Sanders said, "I'm convinced that the reason we are here tonight is because we are challenged to take this ugliness, to take this vulgar situation, to take this obscene reality, to take this funky mess that you see . . . to deal with it in a way that transforms what it is and has a liberating possibility for our community." That can't be done without taking a hard look at the oppression that results from a poor education system, lack of economic opportunities and the way the criminal justice system seems to favor the rich, Sanders said. In addition, he said, concerned people need to do more than analyze the problem from the sidelines: They need to take action. Finally, he said, those who seek change have to learn to rise above the problem. "What allows us to rise above it is that we should not be deterred by the fact that the enemy seems to be so much bigger than we are," Sanders said. "We know we are a part of a tradition of people who in the face of hopelessness found a way to hope." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin