sept02emails

 From :    
"melanie murphy" <acydicrose@hotmail.com>  
    
To :    
writeprotect@hotmail.com  
   
Subject :    
denny's  
   
Date :    
Wed, 04 Sep 2002 18:31:02 -0400  
   
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Alright, I'm emailing you, now fill me in on your plan.  By the way, money is still a necessity of life.  What happened??
 

From :    
SNG998@aol.com  
    
To :    
fool@raelyn.org, WoTAddict@aol.com, Andromeda827@aol.com, austintm@swbell.net, goofyaggie24@tamu.edu, writeprotect@hotmail.com  
   
Subject :    
10 reasons to legalize drugs  
   
Date :    
Thu, 5 Sep 2002 14:26:56 EDT  
   
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1 Address the real issues
For too long policy makers have used prohibition as a smoke screen to avoid addressing the social and economic factors that lead people to use drugs. Most illegal and legal drug use is recreational. Poverty and despair are at the root of most problematic drug use and it is only by addressing these underlying causes that we can hope to significantly decrease the number of problematic users.

2 Eliminate the criminal market place. The market for drugs is demand-led and millions of people demand illegal drugs. Making the production, supply and use of some drugs illegal creates a vacuum into which organized crime moves. The profits are worth billions of pounds. Legalization forces organized crime from the drugs trade, starves them of income and enables us to regulate and control the market (i.e., prescription, licensing, laws on sales to minors, advertising regulations, etc.)

3 Massively reduce crime
The price of illegal drugs is determined by a demand-led, unregulated market. Using illegal drugs is very expensive. This means that some dependent users resort to stealing to raise funds (accounting for 50% of UK property crime - estimated at £2 billion a year). Most of the violence associated with illegal drug dealing is caused by its illegality Legalization would enable us to regulate the market, determine a much lower price and remove users need to raise funds through crime. Our legal system would be freed up and our prison population dramatically reduced, saving billions. Because of the low price, cigarette smokers do not have to steal to support their habits. There is also no violence associated with the legal tobacco market.

4 Drug users are a majority
Recent research shows that nearly half of all 15-16 year olds have used an illegal drug. Up to one and a half million people use ecstasy every weekend. Amongst young people, illegal drug use is seen as normal. Intensifying the 'war on drugs' is not reducing demand. In Holland, where cannabis laws are far less harsh, drug usage is amongst the lowest in Europe.  Legalization accepts that drug use is normal and that it is a social issue, not a criminal justice one. How we deal with it is up to all of us to decide. In 1970 there were 9000 convictions or cautions for drug offenses and 15% of young people had used an illegal drug. In 1995 the figures were 94,000 and 45%. Prohibition doesn't work.

5 Provide access to truthful information and education
A wealth of disinformation about drugs and drug use is given to us by ignorant and prejudiced policy-makers and media who peddle myths upon lies for their own ends. This creates many of the risks and dangers associated with drug use. Legalization would help us to disseminate open, honest and truthful information to users and nonusers to help them to make decisions about whether and how to use. We could begin research again on presently illicit drugs to discover all their uses and effects - both positive and negative.

6 Make all drug use safer
Prohibition has led to the stigmatization and marginalisation of drug users. Countries that operate ultra-prohibitionist policies have very high rates of HIV infection amongst injecting users. Hepatitis C rates amongst users in the UK are increasing substantially. In the UK in the '80's clean needles for injecting users and safer sex education for young people were made available in response to fears of HIV. Harm reduction policies are in direct opposition to prohibitionist laws.

7 Restore our rights and responsibilities
Prohibition unnecessarily criminalizes millions of otherwise law-abiding people. It removes the responsibility for distribution of drugs from policy makers and hands it over to unregulated, sometimes violent dealers. Legalization restores our right to use drugs responsibly to change the way we think and feel. It enables controls and regulations to be put in place to protect the vulnerable.

8 Race and Drugs
Black people are over ten times more likely to be imprisoned for drug offenses than whites. Arrests for drug offenses are notoriously discretionary allowing enforcement to easily target a particular ethnic group. Prohibition has fostered this stereotyping of black people. Legalization removes a whole set of laws that are used to disproportionately bring black people into contact with the criminal justice system. It would help to redress the over representation of black drug offenders in prison.

9 Global Implications
The illegal drugs market makes up 8% of all world trade (around £300 billion a year). Whole countries are run under the corrupting influence of drug cartels. Prohibition also enables developed countries to wield vast political power over producer nations under the auspices of drug control programmes.  Legalization returns lost revenue to the legitimate taxed economy and removes some of the high-level corruption. It also removes a tool of political interference by foreign countries against producer nations.

10 Prohibition doesn't work
There is no evidence to show that prohibition is succeeding. The question we must ask ourselves is, "What are the benefits of criminalizing any drug?" If, after examining all the available evidence, we find that the costs outweigh the benefits, then we must seek an alternative policy. Legalization is not a cure-all but it does allow us to address many of the problems associated with drug use, and those created by prohibition. The time has come for an effective and pragmatic drug policy.

(Please pass this on and do your part)  

From :    
"Marie Flores" <smilingfighter09@hotmail.com>  
    
To :    
writeprotect@hotmail.com  
   
Subject :    
Victor, "The Story Teller"  
   
Date :    
Sat, 14 Sep 2002 10:14:54 -0500  
   
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Once in a far away land the was a girl who's name was Tristeza. She was sad and lonely girl, even though she lived with her happy parents and she had a huge family who loved her very much. She never really knew why she was so unhappy; she had friends at school, she had friends at work, and she had a best friend, Rosa. She had her whole life ahead of her, but she couldn't figure out how to be truly happy. Then one day she couldn't take it in her home anymore, so she climbed out of the window of her room and started walking. It seemed like she walked forever. She was just walking, and thinking of what to do next. She thought about her life, and she was also in awe of the beautiful environment around her. After about three or four miles she could see a figure in the distance. A tall dark figure, and as she drew new the figure turned into a dark man with a cane.
"Should I just pass him up? Should I say hello?" She thought to herself.
"Hello there!" The man said. "Why is such a young girl like you walking this late? It’s dangerous you know? You should go out in the middle of the night."
"I know sir, but I just had to get out. I felt so trapped, and I needed to find something better, but I don't know what."
"Come, walk with me and I'll tell you a story. The story that's going to change the world as you know it."
They end up walking along to his home down the alley. In about thirty minute they get to his house, and they walking inside. It wasn't much of a home; all it had was a chair and a desk. As you go more inside you can see piles and piles of books and papers all over his house.
"Wow, you must be pretty smart."
"I tend to think I am. I've read all those books, and I've written five of my own."
"Can I read them?"
"All in time...What's your name?"
"My name...My name is Tristeza De La Guerra."
"Tristeza. Nice to meet you Tristeza."
"Likewise Sir...What's your name?"
"I am the unknown...Let me tell you the story that's going to change the world...I am going to make you happy. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but I'm going to make you happy." As he hugs her he says, "Everything is going to be okay."
They end up talking for hours about everything. To Tristeza, it seemed like they went over every subject.
When the sun started rising, she thought it was time to go home. So, she got up and gave him a hug.
"I never got your name."
"Me? I am the story teller."
She looks at him, "The story teller?"
"Yes, I tell stories of a different and better life, but no one ever believes me. That's why I'm the story teller."
"I believe you. Life could be better. If it can't, then I wouldn't wake up in the morning."
"Thank you."
At that, she left. She walk all the way back home and slept for the whole day. She started to notice that the Story Teller forever changed her life; she was happy now. And that is the Story Teller's victory.



"The Sadness of the War"
-L. Marie Flores 9/14/02
 

From :    
"Ada Torres" <torres141@hotmail.com>  
    
To :    
writeprotect@hotmail.com  
   
Subject :    
Hola  
   
Date :    
Tue, 17 Sep 2002 18:24:18 -0500  
   
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En realidad no me importa si no crees que no leí tu carta.  La borré y no pensé perder mi tiempo leyendo una carta para Franklin.  No inventaste la algo me dice que "deep down" sabes que no la leí porque enviaste tu e-mail como "I'm sorry"  para que lo abriera.  Fíjate que resultó porque como iba dirigido a mí, lo abrí.

Sé que no tengo que probarte nada pero por si acaso, lee a continuación la carta que le escribí a mi gran amiga Joan en la cual uso la famosa palabra mucho antes de recibirla de ti.  Que Dios te bendiga y te ayude a proveer lo que necesitas.  Si algun día necesitas comunicarte, hazlo mediante una de tus hermanas pues tu dirección electrónica ya no está en mi lista.  No deseo leer más insultos de quien no se considera mi hijo.