The Women’s League of Voters and the Drug Policy Forum of Texas came to the Women’s Center on Thursday to present an information session on the U.S. drug policy. The group’s principle concept explores medicine as the remedy of the drug addiction problem. The members of the forum disagree with the idea that drugs are the basis for high crime rates in the U.S. They contend that the growing drug problem is not a crime but rather a science that requires medical attention. Members of the forum suspect the government and various lobbying businesses of using the prison system for economic gain and using the drug problem as the cover.

“In the last 30 years the United States has created the largest prison system in the history of the world,” said Drug Policy Forum of Texas representative Suzanne Wills at a drug policy informative.

While the average citizen believes taxpayers are the supporters of inmates, the Drug Policy Forum of Texas, founded by Alan Robinson in 1995, believes that the government has placed too much emphasis on drugs in relation to crime. The Drug Policy Forum named Chevron, IBM, Motorola, Compaq, Texas Instruments, Honeywell, Microsoft, Victoria’s Secret and Boeing as participating in using prison laborers. The drug war is believed to share a strong correlation with the rising drug and violent crime dilemma in America.

They suggest that the War on Drugs is more political than the public is aware of.

“Since 1986,” Wills continued, “Texas has increased general-fund spending on higher education by 40 percent, while increasing spending on corrections by 300 percent.”

Wills is a spokesperson for the non-profit educational organization that argues the War on drugs is doing more harm than good by creating an unjust and angry society. Studies show that once inmates are released from prison after serving drug-related sentences they are often undereducated, unskilled, emotionally ill, more aggressive, alienated and overworked. Federal laws impose a lifetime ban on student loans, grant, food stamps, and welfare for prisoners convicted of felonies.

The SMU League of Women Voters pushed forward the issue of drug policy for consideration as one of their two-year course study issues. Many of the league’s members expressed interest in America’s growing drug problem and diminishing prison systems. The league contacted a representative from The Drug Policy Forum of Texas to speak at the information session.

“Texas has a large number of prisons and executions for violent and drug-related crimes,” said Rebecca Bergstresser, the SMU Women’s Symposium Coordinator.

If long prison sentences and putting people to death worked we would have the lowest crime rate in the world. It is not working,” The drug policy informative is only one of a few events that the League of Women Voters have been involved in this year. They have already held an information session in Amarillo on drug policy, and other scheduled events include lectures and information sessions on transportation issues.

For more information visit the Women’s Center at http://www.smu.edu/womencenter or the Drug Policy Forum of Texas Web site at http://www.dpft.org.