Netherlands 4 Nobel Peace Prize

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   Dear NORML Supporter and Allies: 
Netherlands For Nobel Peace Prize
Inspired
by the recent success of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in
awakening the world to the dangers of global warming by receiving the
Nobel Peace Prize for his advocacy work, 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 Peace 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 and the United Nations, 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! 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 killed more Americans than
all of our other wars combined. 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 Web page,
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.
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. Web pages (www.Netherlands4Nobel.org),
blogs, and other promotional campaigns in support of this nomination
are in the works, 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 or send
a copy to Sabrina Fendrick 202-483-5500 in our Washington office as she is 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. 
Aspire Higher in 09, 
Allen St. Pierre 
Executive Director 
NORML/NORML Foundation 
Washington, DC