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 link