[Peace] Contact Congress TODAY about Reintegration!

[danielle at illinoisnorml.org]

Thought I would post this, since I briefly mentioned it at the meeting
yesterday...

This week (through June 29), your members of Congress need to hear
from you about student drug testing and the Youthful Offenders
Reintegration Program (which helps young offenders find jobs). As
early as today, the House will vote on the Labor, Health and Human
Services and Education Appropriations bill. Congressman Bobby Scott
(D-VA) has committed to introducing an amendment to partially restore
funding for the Reintegration of Youthful Offenders Program from zero
to $10 million. The amendment offsets the cost by cutting student
drug testing- which studies show to be ineffective- from $10 million
to zero.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (www.ssdp.org) suggest you CALL YOUR
REPRESENTATIVE IN THE HOUSE TODAY and ask him or her to vote YES on
Bobby Scott's amendment. Find your representative at www.house.gov or
by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202.224.3121.

The Marijuana Policy Project (www.mpp.org) offers this advice:

It's easy: Just call the Capitol switchboard, give the operator your
zip code, and ask to be connected to your representative; you don't
even need to know your representative's name to do this.

When the receptionist for the Congressperson ? not the Capitol
receptionist ? answers, say something like: "Hi, this is [name]. I
live in [city], and I'm calling to ask my representative to vote for
Bobby Scott's amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education bill, which will be
considered this week. The amendment would save the Reintegration of
Youthful Offenders program by shifting $10 million from student drug
testing to fund it."

Here are some talking points you may want to use:

? Numerous studies have found that forcing students to undergo
degrading urine tests ? often a condition of participating in
extracurricular activities ? has no impact on illegal drug use among
young people.

? Drug testing can even lead students to use drugs that are more
dangerous than marijuana but less detectable by drug tests ? including
alcohol, which causes far more student deaths each year than all
illegal drugs combined and which is almost impossible to detect with
urinalysis.

The Drug Policy Alliance (www.drugpolicy.org) has some additional
pointers about calling:

What to Say: Once the operator transfers you to your Representative's
office, give the person who answers the phone the following message:
"Hi, I'm a constituent. I'm calling to urge my Representative to vote
for Bobby Scott's amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education bill, which
will be considered this week. His amendment would save the
Reintegration of Youthful Offenders program by shifting $10 million
from student drug testing to fund it. The House Appropriations
Committee eliminated all funding to the Reintegration program. It's
vital that we keep it alive. I would also like my Representative to
send me a letter letting me know how he (or she) voted."

The Drug Reform Coordination Network (www.stopthedrugwar.org)
recommends also sending an email to your representative that may look
a little something like this:

Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Vote YES on the Scott Amendment This Week

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

Please vote YES on Rep. Bobby Scott's amendment this week to shift $10
million that the Labor/HHS/Education funding bill allocates to student
drug testing into support for the Reintegration of Youthful Offenders
program.

Student drug testing doesn't work and sends the harmful message that
the government doesn't respect your privacy. Reintegrating those who
do criminally offend is a far more rational, humane and respectful use
of taxpayer resources.

Sincerely,

Constituent

All of the organizations mentioned above have ample information about
the problems with drug testing and the importance of reintregration
programs on their websites, and don't hesitate to share all of this
alert with family and friends. Thank you for taking a little time out
of your week to do such important work!

Danielle Schumacher
Executive Director, Illinois NORML
P.O. Box 221
Urbana, IL 61803