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This advertisement appeared in the National Review, the The New Republic, the Weekly Standard, The Nation, Reason Magazine and The Progressive, fall 2000.

On November 7, millions won't be allowed to vote! Suffrage, the bedrock of the Constitution, is being eroded in the name of the War on Drugs. There are nearly four million persons currently or permanently disenfranchised as a result of laws that take away the voting rights of felons and ex-felons. No other democracy besides the U.S. disenfranchises convicted offenders for life. Many democratic nations, including Denmark, France, Israel, and Poland, permit prisoners to vote as well. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of the disenfranchised are not in prison but are on probation, on parole or have completed their sentences. 1.4 million African American men -- 13 percent of the adult African American male population -- have lost the right to vote, a rate of disenfranchisement that is seven times the national average. By comparison, in the 1996 general election 4.6 million African American men voted. In Florida one in three African American men has permanently lost the right to vote. In five states Iowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, Virginia, and Wyoming one in four black men (24% to 28%) have permanently lost the right to vote. Can we expect people to be responsible citizens if they are treated as second class citizens? Common Sense for Drug Policy, Kevin B. Zeese, President 703-354-9050, 703-354-5695 (fax), info@csdp.org, www.csdp.org Sources: Fellner, Jamie and Mauer, Marc, "Losing the Vote: The Impact of Felony Disenfranchisement Laws in the United States (Washington, DC: Human Rights Watch & The Sentencing Project, 1998). Mauer, Marc and Allard, Patricia, "Regaining the Vote: An Assessment of Activity Relating to Felon Disenfranchisement Laws" (Washington, DC: Sentencing Project, January 2000), from the web at http://www.sentencingproject.org/news/regainvote.htm, last accessed Sept. 27, 2000.

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		Introduction Supreme Court Justice Questions Marijuana Policy Meet the Drug War Winners and Losers Iraq Vets Victims of the Drug War A Letter to Mom The Blue Ribbon Report Richard Nixon Chose to Bury Good News for Doctors and Pain Patients The Man Who Gave Us the Drug War The Devil Weed and Harry Anslinger Why Not Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Is It Sound Policy to Jail Expectant Mothers A Riveting 12-Minute Documentary Mexico Is Becoming the Next Colombia Suffering from Chronic Pain Another Drug Baby Media Scare Methamphetamine Crisis - Hype Or Fact They're telling the Attorney General to butt out How can judges and jurors dispense justice and mercy without relevant information? Urine drug testing fails at school and work Isn't rewarding achievement the American way? Are we addicted to drug war money? Who says we are winning the drug war? Shafer Commission 30th Anniversary The public is saying 'No More Drug War!' Now we are in a real war . . . isn't it time to abandon the war on ourselves? Is the funding of terrorism another unintended consequence of drug prohibition? Should Coerced Treatment Replace Prison For First Time, Non-Violent Drug Offenders? Change of Tune on drug policy? UK Police End Cannabis Seizures White Kids Use and Sell, Black Kids Go To Prison Time for the Government to Provide Safe Access to Medical Marijuana Annual Causes of Deaths in the US Pregnant Women: Drug War Casualties? Bush Offers Hope Clinton Interview Drug Czar Wanted Voting Rights Drug Courts A Real War in Colombia? What We Know About Ecstasy How We Judge a Fallen Hero Crooked Cops Findings of the British Police Foundation Just Say Not Guilty? The More We Escalate, The More Die Protecting Kids? What Should We Tell Our Kids? Happy Valentine's Day? McCaffrey Resign Drug Problem in Perspective Ending the Drug War Is Popular Time to admit the War on Drugs has failed Mandatory Sentencing is Bad Controlled Access to Heroin Do Drug Laws Focus on the Dangerous Drugs? Arizona Stops Jailing Drug Users We Are Deeply Troubled A Police View on the War on Drugs Dutch Drug Policy Even More Effective Treatment More Effective Than Enforcement It's as Simple as 123 Has the Drug Czar Bought the Media? Compromising Integrity and Prestige? Constitution a Victim of the Drug War? Marijuana Myths/Marijuana Facts Dutch Drug Policy Works Pinocchio McCaffrey