[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4825-4826]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              WAR ON DRUGS

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I just returned from the United Nations

[[Page 4826]]

where there is a special session on the drug problems. This is a 
serious and complex issue, but the war on drugs, where we have spent 
over $1 trillion, has been an abject failure.
  Drugs are still readily plentiful in the United States, the cost is 
down, and we have caught hundreds of thousands of innocent people in 
Latin American countries in the crossfire. Yet, the United States is on 
the sidelines here. There are countries that are stepping forward for 
reform, for harm reduction, trying to deal with the death penalty. Yet, 
the United States is trying to balance out the reformers of seeking a 
middle ground between them and Iran and China and Russia.
  That is not what the United States should be doing. We should be 
involved in reform. We should minimize the danger that is a result of 
misguided practice. We can deescalate this and make a difference for 
people around the world and, in fact, do a better job of dealing with 
the drug problem in America.

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