Am 11. Januar 2009 hat die amerikanische Cannabis-Legalisierungs-Organisation NORML den untenstehenden Aufruf veröffentlicht, um Professor Louk Hulsman von der Universität Rotterdam und das holländische Ministerium für Gesundheit, Wohlfahrt und Sport für den Friedensnobelpreis zu nominieren.
Dies in Anerkennung der bahnbrechenden Leistung der Holländer, mit ihrer Drogenpolitik seit 30 Jahren Menschenleben zu retten, die Gesundheit der Bevölkerung zu verbessern und die Gesellschaft sicherer zu machen. Ganz im Gegensatz zur amerikanischen Drogenpolitik, die mit ihrer sektiererischen Ausrichtung auf Repression seit Jahrzehnten Hunderttausende von Opfern fordert.
Hier der NORML-Aufruf im Wortlaut:
Dear NORML Supporters and Allies:
Netherlands For Nobel
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is
beginning the New Year by coordinating the nomination of the Netherlands
for a Nobel Prize for its achievements in minimizing drug use in its
citizens, while at the same time restricting imprisonment.
With few peers at the international level and despite tremendous pressure
from the United States, the Dutch government and its people have proven
for more than 30 years that it is more cost effective, humane, and
practical to be „smart on drugs“ rather than „tough on drugs.“
The following quotes from physician Stephen H. Frye’s book ‚Twenty-five
Reasons to Legalize Drugs – We Really Lost This War!‘
(http://25reasons.org/) document the validity and appropriateness of this
nomination:
„The drug war, not the drugs, kills people.
This is now a real war. Although it started out as political rhetoric,
it’s become a genuinely deadly conflict…It has caused hundreds of
thousands of unnecessary deaths and untold misery, especially to our
children, teens, women, and minorities. And like all wars, it’s been
hugely expensive and wasteful; to date, it has cost more than a trillion
dollars. And this is just in the United States; the international
devastation is incomprehensible. Furthermore, like many wars, it’s based
on lies.
„The few deaths that are caused by the drugs are due to impurities,
dosages that are not standardized, and reluctance to call 911 when someone
overdoses out of fear of being arrested. Replacing prohibition with
sensible health-oriented alternatives, including legalizing currently
illicit drugs, can eliminate these drug-related deaths.
„The Dutch should be recognized for their remarkable human rights
achievement of regulating and decriminalizing drugs and equally important,
offering comprehensive treatment to its affected citizens. The number of
lives they have saved, as well as assaults, robberies, rapes, child abuse,
and other prohibition-related criminal activities that they’ve prevented,
is a major humanitarian and public health accomplishment. Their success in
minimizing the catastrophic effects of the War on Drugs cannot be
overstated. For example, the U.S. has six times as many people in prisons
as the Netherlands per capita, and still we have four times their murder
rate. Compared to ours, the Dutch prison population is negligible and they
actually provide education and rehabilitation for their inmates.
Furthermore, their incidence of AIDS and hepatitis is a fraction of ours.
„Taken together, these groundbreaking medical, human rights and
humanitarian accomplishments are of unprecedented magnitude. They not only
serve as an inspiration to the rest of the world, they also demand
emulation. Because of this, it is recommended that Louk Hulsman, Professor
Emeritus of Criminal Law at the University of Rotterdam, who was
originally responsible for crafting the forward-thinking drug policy in
the Netherlands and the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, who
administer their very successful current drug policies, be nominated for a
Nobel Peace Prize.“
The world owes a great debt of gratitude to them, along with many
thousands of activists, academics, and religious and business leaders, for
demonstrating that a scientifically-crafted harm reduction drug policy
based on researched public health models, not an unyielding prohibition,
prison oriented model, results in a healthier, safer, and less imprisoned
population—that also uses fewer drugs.
The deadline for submission is February 1, 2009, and according to the
Nobel Prize webpage, people from every country can nominate, but it is
limited to members of national assemblies, governments, and international
courts of law; university chancellors, professors of social science,
history, philosophy, law and theology; leaders of peace research
institutes and institutes of foreign affairs; Nobel Peace Prize Laureates
of previous years; board members of organizations that have received the
Nobel Peace Prize; present and past members of the Norwegian Nobel
Committee; and former advisors of the Nobel Institute.
–Nobel Nomination Process Information–
All that is necessary is for a qualified nominator, as listed above, to
send a letter to Geir Lundestad, Ph.D., Director, Norwegian Nobel
Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, NO-0255, Oslo, Norway, indicating the
names of those nominated and the reason for the nomination, and it must be
received by February 1, 2009.
Dr. Frye has also documented that not only is this very real War on Drugs
far more devastating and deadly than the drugs themselves, but prison is
also much more destructive, catastrophic and even more deadly than the
drugs.
The Dutch have shown us the path to peace and now is the time to recognize
their achievement.
While NORML is a cannabis-only reform organization, by nominating and
educating the world about the success of the Netherlands’s drug policy, we
are committed to using this public campaign as the first high impact
project for worldwide drug policy reform in this New Year. This e-mail is
being sent to U.S. and international drug policy organizations, seeking
the names and contacts of qualified Nobel Prize nominators. The email is
also being sent to organizations for children, teens, women, minorities,
and the environment, as all these people and the environment are severely
harmed and actually killed by the drug war.
It is time to stimulate this crucially important worldwide conversation,
and this is a project all drug policy reform and civic-minded groups,
regardless of their mission statements, can support. The webpage and other
promotional campaigns in support of this nomination have been launched,
but gathering qualified nominators needs to be the first step as there is
a short deadline. Please ask nominators to send their letters directly to
the Nobel Institute, and also notify NORML at nobel@norml.org as we are
coordinating and tracking this campaign.
Also, please feel free to forward this email notice to all relevant
organizations and anyone you feel can assist this ‘Netherlands For Nobel’
movement—especially qualified Nobel Peace Prize nominators.
It is truly time to end the drug war and start the peace process. Thank
you in advance and best wishes for an exciting 2009 pursuing the Nobel
Peace Prize for this most noble cause.
Cannabem liberemus,
-Allen St. Pierre
Executive Director
NORML/NORML Foundation
Washington, DC
director@norml.org
http://www.norml.org
http://www.Netherlands4Nobel.org
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