questions at this time, i know this is going to be an item that will continue to be before us, whether through another hearing or through the budget, and there's a lot of things to be ironed out still. so if we could continue this item to the call of the chair. we will continue this item that objection. are there other items before us? >> that completes the agenda. supervisor chu: thank you. we are adjourned.

>> it is a privilege to be here this evening for a special meeting focused on the war on drugs. please read the roll. but we will call this meeting to order. [roll-call] we have a quorum. >> i want to thank everyone for joining us. this is a special hearing. this hearing is a product of a partnership of the human rights commission kickoff this year

with new c. hastings college of law went to students region with two students. she is moving so quickly she is already moving to new york, where she is going to do a special project. it was the work of these students the main this hearing happen, -- that made this hearing happen. i want to thank them and their professor. these students took a particular interest in what the war on drugs looks like, and this critical effort they put into organizing this meeting as well as the artwork and materials they created were essential to this project, and without it, we would not be here this evening. i want to thank our city

partners for joining us this evening. the department of public health and mental health board members, the san francisco youth commission, the director of san francisco collaborative justice program, and the san francisco police department, and i would like to acknowledge the police chief who is with us this evening. thank you. before we start, i want to make one other acknowledgment. is cecilia's still here? cecilia has been on the commission for the last seven years. she was appointed last week, and our loss is the health

commission postgame. this is the fifth -- the house commissions gain. this is the first time she will not be here, and i want to thank her for all her efforts and wish her the best in her new position, and i want to call on two commissioners who will be leaving this hearing. -- leading this hearing. why don't you take over at this point? >> i am susan christian.

good evening. thank you for coming tonight. i am probably the newest member, and it is an honor for me to serve on this commission for the city and county of san francisco. i just want to say a few words before we get going. first, we are here to listen. from a number of experts and from any public speakers interested in addressing the topic of this hearing. tonight we are not going to take up the question of whether drugs or narcotics should be legalized. what we want to look at is the affect of criminalization and the sanctions that have been placed on narcotics use and abuse. we want to hear what these

things have done to our communities. i worked as a prosecutor in san francisco, and i feel privileged to do so, given the fact that i was hired by harris and that i continue to have the pleasure to work with the district attorney. both of these leaders have progressive visions about what crime is and how to deal with it in a community as diverse as san francisco. we are talking about a war on drugs tonight, and that is a federal creation, but it means different things to different people, and that is one thing we are going to talk about tonight. we all understand while drug use is pretty much the same across many demographics, enforcement tends to fall most heavily on communities of color and

communities that have not been in the majority. we need to look at that, and we need to understand what those negative affects have been, so one thing we are looking at tonight is finding out what has been going on and how we can improve care of our communities in ways that perhaps do not cause so much harm in what san francisco can do to create a new model. there is a national dialogue going on that has been in parts ignited by professor alexander and her new book, the new jim crow, and we want to begin a public dialogue from where we think critically about the effects of what has been called the war on drugs in our communities. thank you for coming, and i am going to turn the microphone over to commissioner davis.

>> before we get started, thank you all for coming out, and in the western division where i work, we do a lot of work with families that have been impacted by this war on drugs, and we have seen a wide range of that impact. i want to it knowledges the chief of juvenile probation and thank him for being here as well. for 40 years as a nation we have waived this widespread war on drugs, and there has been an increase focus on drug-related crimes, and with major increases in funding to law enforcement and criminalization in communities of color and this increase in prison and jail population, we really want to examine it and take a closer look. this is an opportunity to take

part in a critical and honest dialogue about the impact of the war on drugs and what we are doing right to address it and what we can do better, so in order to make this dialogue meaningful and effective, we have invited testimony from researchers and experts in the field as well as service providers and community organizers. the community in general and people most severely impacted. we have also a lot of time for audience members to comment, so we look forward to hearing from the various speakers and ultimately from the public as well. >> i would like to welcome and a knowledge sheriff hennessy for being with us tonight. as noted, we have a number of scheduled speakers. each of those will be speaking

for five minutes each. during that time there will be limited opportunity for commissioners to ask questions of those scheduled speakers, questions we might feel are important for the record. commissioner davis and i are going to ask our colleagues to bear in mind lack of time. after a scheduled speakers are finished, there will be an opportunity for public comment, two minutes each, and the last people to stay on the topic that we are here for tonight. first i would like to welcome alice hoffman. she is the president of the national association for the advancement of colored people in california.

welcome. [applause] >> thank you to the commissioners and the co-chair. as a national board member of the n.a.a.c.p., to have an opportunity to discuss this issue, and i want to go on record to say that we are pleased to get at second it -- the commission in los angeles to pass a resolution to end the war on drugs. we have all come to realize the war on drugs as a failed war. i am probably speaking to the choir, but sometimes that is how you get salvation, because we know this war has failed, get a lot of resources are still

going toward it. i am pleased to be here with the commission, to finally have a human rights commission connect this with human rights and criminalization that is going on. that is a profound step forward. people want to talk -- very few people want to talk about the humanity and the depletion of human resources going on across this country. i have heard this linked to human rights, and i want to applaud you for that and remind your when we talk about rights, first of all, there are the rights we are entitled to from the bill of rights, and they found out in alcohol prohibition it did not work and

they could not tell adults what to do with their bodies and they finally gave up, and we have the same thing going on with marijuana and drugs, that is one right we will eventually have to come to terms with, and not pass judgment on those who use drugs but that should be my right to decide, and then there is the right of the community, and sometimes when you get the war on drugs, that is borne out of racism, when you go look at the history of when this was called, it was called by the people in washington who decided musicians are getting high on pot and certain women were fraternizing which those musicians, and it had to be

fixed. that is hough no war on drugs began. it mushroomed over the years until it is not even recognizable. i think we have to understand prohibition is not the answer. you want to know how bad this has been for our community and? if you look at what has happened for us and education, the amount of money they are putting into prisons instead of educational institutions is robbing us of developing the talent we need to keep california and this nation in the forefront of innovation and viable people participating in economic mainstream. you cannot take the majority population.

some people like to say we ethnic minorities are a minority, but we are not a minority in california, and you cannot complete your future by locking up your people over these low-level crimes and think you're not complete in your future as favre as a talent you are going to need down the road, plus when you do not treat your assistance as schumahuman, whenu get a problem, they should not lose their lives through criminalization. they should be put in an environment, council, and do what ever it takes to get them healed. if you are addicted, you are not necessarily a criminal. you are an ill person, but if you get caught with a joint, you might get a felony. you might reach someone, and you

might never get caught because they are so busy -- you might rape someone, and you might never get caught because they are so busy arresting low-level drug users. this war on drugs has cost billions of american dollars, and the family structure of african-americans and latinos is being a eroded because they are locking up more women and more children are now going to foster homes. black women and latinos are the fastest-growing. >> i think we can give you a little more time. >> i will summarize. i was just starting to have a good time. i will say in summary, because i know you have an agenda, that we do have to change the direction of this country. we have to work towards

policies that will stop this crazy spending. i know there are people who believes the war on drugs protects them. i will submit to you the war on drugs has destroyed many african-american women and men. if you are my age and you went through the war on drugs the it was protecting you, and you looked at the results and find out all it did was a complete our community, and it might have made the prison system very popular, but it has not held us that all. i commend you, and i urge you to keep looking at this as a human problem and to keep exploring ways we can all work