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From: Subject: The Free Press -- Independent News Media - National Issues Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:04:56 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00AE_01C9A96D.3B119FF0" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3350 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00AE_01C9A96D.3B119FF0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.freepress.org/departments.php/display/20/2003/335 The Free Press -- Independent News Media - National = Issues <= /TD>

Fri Mar 20=20 2009

Departments
National=20 Issues

Faith-based drug wars: Bush recruits = religious=20 youth groups as ground troops
by Bill Berkowitz,=20 WorkingForChange
August 21, 2003

Bush = recruits=20 religious youth groups as ground troops for the 'drug wars' = What do=20 advocating "religious hiring rights," a $4 billion workplace = retraining bill, and the war on drugs have in common? The = short=20 answer: Bring on the faith-based = organizations!

Although more=20 than 30 months have passed since President Bush announced = the=20 centerpiece of his domestic agenda -- his faith-based = initiative --=20 and no significant broader efforts to fund his initiative = has=20 emerged from Congress, the administration continues to move = ahead on=20 a number of fronts.

Bush's latest faith-based = proposal=20 involves enlisting religious youth groups in the war on = drugs.=20 According to the Washington Times, the administration = recently=20 printed 75,000 copies of a guidebook to the drug wars called = "Pathways to Prevention: Guiding Youth to Wise Decisions." = The=20 100-page pamphlet "seeks to teach youth leaders how to = handle=20 questions and concerns about substance abuse." In addition = to the=20 publication, there's a new Web site and an e-mail = newsletter.=20

The new anti-drug project is built around three = premises=20 which are spelled out in a fact sheet titled "Marijuana and = Kids:=20 Faith":

1) "Religion plays a major role in the lives = of=20 American teens;"

2) "Religion and religiosity = repeatedly=20 correlate with lower teen and adult marijuana and substance = use=20 rates and buffer the impact of life stress which can lead to = marijuana and substance use;" and

3) "Youth turn to = faith=20 communities=85 [but] most faith institutions [with]=85 youth = ministries=20 [do not]=85 incorporate significant teen substance abuse = prevention=20 activities."

Krissy Oechslin, assistant director of=20 communications at the Washington, DC-based Marijuana Policy = Project,=20 the nation's largest marijuana policy reform organization, = is=20 concerned about the faith-based effort. "We do not oppose = efforts to=20 teach kids the truth about drugs. But the one thing that = will likely=20 be conspicuously missing from this faith-based initiative is = any=20 discussion about the effects of our drug laws," Oechslin = told me in=20 a telephone interview.

"You can talk all you want = about=20 prevention and reducing demand but the fact of the matter = is, nearly=20 750,000 people were arrested for marijuana violations in = 2001;=20 nearly 90% of those were for simple possession," Oechslin = pointed=20 out. "Despite the fact they are in a religious setting, they = will=20 likely avoid significant ethical questions raised by the = drug wars,=20 such as whether kids should be put into prison for using = marijuana.=20 If you talked with John Walters about this he would probably = say=20 that these kinds of questions are irrelevant to the = conversation."=20

Moving forward on faith

Bush's faith-based = anti-drug=20 effort is the latest in a series of moves advancing his = faith-based=20 initiative. In late-June, the White House Office of = Faith-Based and=20 Community Organizations spelled out its position on a = concept called=20 "religious hiring rights." In a position paper titled = "Protecting=20 the Civil Rights and Religious Liberty of Faith-Based = Organizations:=20 Why Religious Hiring Rights Must Be Preserved," the = administration=20 argued religious organizations that receive government = grants should=20 be allowed to hire anyone they darn well please.

At = least=20 two pieces of legislation with "religious hiring rights" = provisions=20 are currently under consideration by Congress: "The School = Readiness=20 Act of 2003," H.R. 2210, allows religious organizations = receiving=20 government funds to provide Head Start services to = discriminate in=20 their hiring practices; and the $4 billion Workforce = Reinvestment=20 and Adult Education Act -- passed by the full House on a = party-line=20 220-204 vote -- also included a similar faith-based = exemption.=20

'Faith: The Anti-Drug'

At a press conference = surrounded by Christian, Jewish and Islamic community = leaders, John=20 Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control = Policy,=20 said: "Faith plays an important role when it comes to teen = marijuana=20 prevention. We are urging youth ministers, volunteers and = faith=20 leaders to integrate drug prevention messages and activities = into=20 their sermons and youth programming and are providing them = with key=20 tools and resources to make a difference.

"As long = as=20 [America's youth] have, in their minds, the expectation that = drug=20 abuse comes as a rite of passage, we will continue to lose = too many=20 of our young people." (Isn't it amazing how many press = conferences=20 Bush Administration officials have held surrounded by = Christian,=20 Jewish and Islamic religious leaders?)

"The reality = is a lot=20 of people don't know how to talk about these issues," said = Jim=20 Towey, the Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based = and=20 Community Initiatives. "According to data from Monitoring = the=20 Future, 90 percent of teens in the U.S. are affiliated with = a=20 religious denomination and 43 percent of eighth graders = attend=20 religious services weekly. Churches, temples and mosques are = well=20 positioned to cultivate anti-drug values and teach effective = coping=20 tools to deal with negative peer pressure," said Towey. =

The=20 new campaign's slogan -- "Faith. The Anti-Drug" -- appears = to=20 indicate that Walters, appointed drug czar by Bush in May = 2001, is=20 turning down the volume from an earlier anti-marijuana ad = campaign=20 focused on teens. That high-powered effort was aimed at = linking=20 teenagers using marijuana to the funding of terrorist = organizations=20 and support for terrorism.

Walters, characterized as = a "drug=20 'hawk'=85 well known for his moral condemnation of drug use = and his=20 criticism of Clinton's drug war techniques," by Salon's = Janelle=20 Brown, pointed out that "we need to be candid" about the = situation=20 confronting America's youth. Being candid, however, has not = been one=20 of the drug czar's strong suits.

If Walters were = truly=20 candid he would talk about the billions of dollars wasted on = the war=20 on drugs; he would talk about the succession of cynical = anti-drug=20 advertising campaigns run by high-powered and well-connected = ad=20 agencies whose only success has been in lining its own = pockets with=20 tax-payer funds; and he would talk about the hundreds of = thousands=20 of people languishing in prisons because of = marijuana-related=20 convictions.

In May, 2002, the Village Voice's = Cynthia Cotts=20 reported that a Wall Street Journal article citing the = results of a=20 Walters-authorized survey -- conducted by the private = research firm=20 Westat and the University of Pennsylvania -- "shows the = government's=20 anti-drug ads have completely failed to slow down teen drug = use.=20 Over the past five years," Cotts writes, "the feds spent = $929=20 million to spread the message, and what did they get? A = quarter of=20 high school seniors still use illegal drugs, and after = seeing the=20 ads, some 13-year-old girls started smoking pot."

If = the new=20 emphasis on faith-based interventions sounds like the = repackaging of=20 an old idea, well, that's because it very well might be. = Last year,=20 when the president announced his National Drug Control = Strategy,=20 FY-2003, "compassionate coercion" was the term coined and = touted as=20 a key element for success. Under the heading "Healing = America's Drug=20 Users" a White House fact sheet said: "Getting people into = treatment=20 -- including programs that call upon the power of faith -- = will=20 require us to create a new climate of =91compassionate = coercion,=92=20 which begins with family, friends, employers, and the = community.=20 Compassionate coercion also uses the criminal justice system = to get=20 people into treatment."

Bush's advocacy of = "religious hiring=20 rights" and the administration's grafting of faith-based=20 organizations onto the drug wars cuts to the heart of = church/state=20 separation, says Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans = United=20 for Separation of Church and State. According to Lynn, this = new=20 anti-drug effort is another administration attempt to blur = those=20 lines. In a Press Release issued by Americans United Lynn = said, "The=20 Bush administration seems to think there's a 'faith-based' = solution=20 to every social and medical problem in America. The project=20 announced today is one very small part of a larger crusade = that=20 raises troubling constitutional concerns."

"The = White House=20 is ignoring vital constitutional safeguards," continued = Lynn. "The=20 Constitution calls for a separation between religion and = government,=20 not a merger."

Lynn pointed out that Walters = recently=20 appeared at a Riverside, Calif. "Teen Challenge" facility = whose=20 treatment program "relies on conversion to fundamentalist=20 Christianity as its form of treatment." Only evangelical = Christians=20 are hired to carry out its work. In testimony before = Congress in=20 2001, a Teen Challenge official noted that some Jews who = participate=20 in the program convert to Christianity, becoming what he = called=20 "completed Jews." Many Jewish leaders found the term = offensive, the=20 AU Press Release pointed out.

This far, says Jeremy = Leaming,=20 Communications Associate at Americans United, government = funds have=20 not been awarded to Teen Challenge or any other religious=20 organizations for John Walter's new anti-drug initiative. = "But," he=20 added, "we are watching the situation closely." =

"Bush's=20 whole drug policy is in reality one gigantic faith-based=20 initiative," Bruce Mirken, the Marijuana Policy Project's = director=20 of communications, commented in a recent e-mail. "It's sure = not=20 based on science or data, particularly in regard to = marijuana. The=20 government's own figures show that marijuana use by kids = under 21=20 has gone up over 2000% since marijuana was banned, and a = National=20 Research Council study commissioned by the Drug Czar's = office=20 reported in 2001 that the evidence shows little or no = relationship=20 between the severity of criminal sanctions and rates or = frequency of=20 drug use.

"If the government announced a program to = reduce=20 unemployment, and unemployment subsequently rose 2000%, that = policy=20 would be toast faster than you can say 'Bill Bennett loves = to=20 gamble,'" Mirken pointed out. "But the administration = believes, with=20 deep religious conviction that drugs are bad and must be = banned.=20 It's truly a faith based drug policy, and it ruins lives = every day."=20

Bill Berkowitz is a longtime observer of the = conservative=20 movement. His WorkingForChange column Conservative Watch = documents=20 the strategies, players, institutions, victories and defeats = of the=20 American Right.

=20

National=20 Issues

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December 28, 2003

"It= 's=20 time to overrule the Supreme Court "
December = 23,=20 2003

"Di= ebold=20 email: 'Make vote printouts too costly for=20 MD'"
December 13, 2003

"Is= =20 Bush a "Dry Drunk"? This is a Serious, Not Just a Provocative = Question=20 "
November 19, 2003

"To= =20 Hell and Back "
November 19, 2003

"Co= ulter's=20 Right-Wing Drag "
October 29, 2003

"Se= nator=20 Byrd, major media spread coverage of Bush-Nazi=20 nexus"
October 21, 2003

"Ge= orge=20 W. and Alcoholism "
October 20, 2003

"Em= ails=20 Show Enron May Have Influenced FERC Probe On Calif Power Crisis,=20 Refunds"
October 13, 2003

"So= =20 Rush just wanted a =93Rush=94; Media accept Limbaugh spin on = illegal drug buys=20 and use without questions"
October 12, 2003

"Ge= orge=20 Bush, the Democrats, and Revisionist = History"
October=20 12, 2003

"Sc= hwarzenegger's=20 First Role As Governor-Elect of California: The=20 Deregulator"
October 9, 2003

"St= ay=20 in Bed "
October 8, 2003

"As= =20 Bush Implodes, 30 Ways Desperate Right Wingers Will Respond=20 "
October 8, 2003

"Co= ngressman=20 John Conyers asks Karl Rove to resign"
October = 8,=20 2003

"Si= ege=20 Heil: the Nazi Nexus*"
October 6, 2003

"Lo= yal=20 Opposition, Disloyal Regent "
October 1, = 2003

"Ti= me=20 to act"
September 30, 2003

"Na= tional=20 Missile Defense: Bad Science and Wasted=20 Taxes"
September 22, 2003

"Re= publicans=20 Seem to Want to Keep Computerized Voting Easily Corruptible=20 "
September 10, 2003

"Ho= w=20 We Lost The Vote - How To Get It Back Again=20 "
September 10, 2003

"We= =20 Can Win the War in Vietnam and other chestnuts from a = not-so-bygone=20 era"
September 5, 2003

"Lo= otocracy"
September=20 2, 2003

"Th= e=20 Business of E-Voting and How it Can Put the Wrong Candidate in=20 Officee"
September 1, 2003

"Af= ter=20 the Governor Sells Out On Requiring Electric and Hydrogen Cars in = CA The=20 Air Resources Board Reclassifies Gasoline Cars as=20 "Clean""
August 29, 2003

"Th= e=20 Ill-Begotten: Reflections of Unconstitutional Precedence=20 "
August 24, 2003

"St= orm=20 and Strife "
August 24, 2003

"A = New=20 Psychiatric Diagnostic Category; Politician Syndrome; DSM-IV = 333.333=20 "
August 23, 2003

"Fo= unding=20 Father of Neocon Philosophy Leo Strauss and Jefferson's = Impending=20 Death"
August 21, 2003

"Fa= ith-based=20 drug wars: Bush recruits religious youth groups as ground=20 troops"
August 21, 2003

"Vo= ting=20 Machine Fiasco"
August 20, 2003

"Bl= ackouts=20 Happen-California Power Crisis Should Have Been A Warning Sign To = U.S.=20 "
August 20, 2003

"Wh= o=20 is Michigan's Empire Man? Big Ten University President Does Bush's = Bidding"
August 18, 2003

"Po= wer=20 Failure; Bush Disaster"
August 15, 2003

"Ah= nuld,=20 Ken Lay, George Bush, Dick Cheney and Gray=20 Davis"
August 15, 2003

"Ou= r=20 President is a Criminal"
July 28, 2003

"Yo= =20 Democrats! Wake Up!"
June 2, 2003

Related = Journal=20 articles:=20

"Lighten=20 up liberals! Michael Moore advises"
December 2, = 2003

"A=20 message from Leonard Peltier"
December 2, = 2003

"'Democracy=20 brief' calls on courts to eliminate corporate 'personhood' and = bill of=20 rights protection"
December 2, 2003

"Kids=20 should get Big Bird, not Big Mac"
December 2, = 2003

"The=20 Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride"
September 21, = 2003

"A=20 question almost unthinkable"
September 20,=20 2003

Read Articles by Year:
2005=20 2004=20 2003=20
2002=20 2001=20 2000

All content =A9 1970-2009
The Columbus Free=20 Press
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