CJPF & News Activities
On January 23rd, Eric E. Sterling's letter to the editor was published in the Washington Post, in response to Al Kamen’s Jan. 18 column, “ Reefer Madness’ for the YouTube Generation."
From January 4-6th, 2012, CJPF and Students for Sensible Drug Policy kicked off the year by sponsoring College Convention 2012 in Concord, NH, a political conference held right before the New Hampshire Presidential Primary. CJPF and SSDP members spent the rest of the week capturing presidential candidates' answers to questions about drug policy reform on video. CJPF's Chief of Staff and SSDP Board Chair, Irina Alexander, confronted Romney, Santorum, Gingrich, and Paul. Eric Sterling spoke to the entire conference on "Drug Policy and the Presidency." He also moderated a panel discussion of law enforcement officers (including members of LEAP) regarding drug prohibition.
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On December 15th, 2011, Eric E. Sterling's letter to the editor about the effect of the slashed mental health service budget on policing was published in The Washington Post.
On November 20th, Eric E. Sterling was featured on the Cultural Baggage Radio Show, where he debriefed his Drug Policy Alliance conference experience.
On November 14th, Eric E. Sterling served as the legal expert at the Society of Inquiry and University of Maryland Students for Sensible Drug Policy's co-sponsored meeting titled, "The Drug War: Mythbusted!"
On November 3rd, Eric E. Sterling spoke on a panel at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference titled, "The Recovery Movement and its Role in Ending the Failed War on Drugs."
On November 2nd, Eric E. Sterling was invited to lecture at Pomona College by the school's history department. His speech was titled, "Obama: Drug War Hawk or Dove? Current Policy and Prospects for Change." Click here to see a video of the speech.
On November 1st, The Huffington Post published a piece by Eric E. Sterling, "Congress on Speed: Partisan Conflict Led to Many Problems in 1986 Drug Law."
On October 21st, Eric E. Sterling spoke on a panel with Jasmine Tyler from the Drug Policy Alliance at Students for Sensible Drug Policy's Mid-Atlantic conference.
On September 19th, the NYPD issued an order forbidding officers from the practice of arresting people for the misdemeanor of public display of marijuana by ordering people to empty their pockets. Read about CJPF's original complaint sent to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights here.
On September 14th, Eric E. Sterling was quoted in a Drug War Chronicle article discussing current drug policy legislation.
On August 1st, Eric E. Sterling was quoted in an article from The Indypendent titled, "If Prohibition is a Failure, What Would Legalization Look Like?"
On June 20th, Eric E. Sterling was featured in a 17-minute interview on NPR's "Talk of the Nation."
On June 19th, Eric E. Sterling was interviewed by Salon's Jonathan Easley about Len Bias's death and its connection to harsh drug laws. The interview is titled, "The Day the Drug War Really Started."
On June 16th, Eric E. Sterling was featured on Culture Shocks, a program hosted by Reverend Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
On June 15th, AlterNet published "40 Years of Drug War Hasn't Worked; 'Time for a Change,' Says 9-Year Veteran," a piece by Eric E. Sterling about the birth of the drug war, its failure, and what we need to do now.
On June 14th, Eric E. Sterling joined members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition at a press conference at the National Press Club, followed by a march to the Office of National Drug Control Policy headquarters to deliver LEAP's newest report about the failed war on drugs. Eric E. Sterling was interviewed by Press TV outside of ONDCP.
On June 12th, Eric E. Sterling was quoted by nationally syndicated columnist, Debra J. Saunders, in the San Francisco Chronicle article, "At Least 4 Good Reasons to End the War on Drugs."
On March 24th, Eric E. Sterling presented at the University of the District of Columbia's David A. Clarke School of Law's "2011 Annual Law Review Symposium: Life After the War on Drugs." Eric E. Sterling's written speech is available here, with a video of the presentation below:
UDC Law Symposium from Criminal Justice Policy on Vimeo.
Patricia M. Spottedcrow, mother of four, received a 12-year prison sentence for selling $31 worth of marijuana in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Eric E. Sterling comments on the case in Tulsa World on March 22nd.
On March 19, 2011 Students for Sensible Drug Policy honored Eric E. Sterling as the recipeint of the Stuart Ableson Goodwill Award.
March 19, 2011- A room was quickly filled with students as Eric E. Sterling engaged in an impromptu open dialogue with SSDP members from Kent State University and other chapters near the end of the 2011 Students for Sensible Drug Policy Training Conference inside the Stamp Student Union at the University of Maryland.
On March 4, 2011, Eric E. Sterling spoke with ten judges and judicial advisors from francophone Africa through the International Visitor Leadership Program, examining the unconstitutional nature of our government's war on drugs.
On January 26th, Eric E. Sterling was quoted in the Boston Phoenix article, "Strange bedfellows: The right and left team up on criminal-justice reform."
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