Expressing Sense of House of Representatives that a National Mathamphetamine Prevention Week Should be Established
EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT A NATIONAL METHAMPHETAMINE PREVENTION WEEK SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED -- (House of Representatives - April 05, 2006)
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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 556, a resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a National Methamphetamine Prevention Week should be established to increase awareness of methamphetamine and to educate the public on ways to help prevent the use of that damaging narcotic.
Meth addiction is a growing problem in the United States and one that is destroying lives, families and towns.
I agree that the United States must face this problem head on. However, there are many drugs that are equally as damaging and should not be overlooked.
Crack cocaine has ravaged our cities for more than 20 years. Crack is very addictive, and after even a small amount of use can cause significant damage to a user's health.
One way the U.S. Government attempted to fight the crack epidemic was to impose mandatory minimum prison sentences. Under the terms of these mandatory minimum sentences, someone caught carrying just 5 grams of crack received an automatic 5-year prison sentence. To receive the same sentence for powder cocaine, a person must be caught with 500 grams of powder cocaine under current law.
As Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) notes, mandatory minimum sentences affect people of color disproportionately in three ways: More arrests for drug crimes, overall increases in the severity of drug sentences, and harsher treatment compared to white arrestees.
This sad fact is clearly revealed in our Nation's prison statistics: Two-thirds of the 2 million Americans in jail or prison are African American or Hispanic. African Americans make up approximately 12 percent of the population and are 13 percent of the drug users, yet they constitute 38 percent of all drug arrests and 59 percent of those convicted of drug offenses. Nationwide, African American males sentenced in State courts on drug felonies receive prison sentences 52 percent of the time, while white males are sentenced to prison 34 percent of the time.
Mr. Speaker, as Congress debates how best to address the meth problem, I urge my colleagues to resist the simple answer of ``more jail time.'' Mandatory prison sentences do not work and do not provide hope for our Nation's drug users.
Instead, we should push education, as this resolution calls for. We should also substantially increase funding for treatment and job training because without these tools, addiction will be a vicious cycle for most people.
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