Reformers' resolution.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob

The original signers of the Hoover Resolution, which calls for a reexamination of national drug policy, seemed to be the usual suspects: 21 critics of the war on drugs, including such familiar names as Milton Friedman, Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, and former Secretary of State George Schultz.

But since February the resolution has attracted support from a wide range of people, many of them not previously identified with the reform movement. Signers include more than a dozen state and federal judges, several state legislators, four police chiefs, and the mayors of San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and Upland, California.

The Hoover Resolution criticizes the attempt "to resolve drug abuse problems through the criminal justice system" and calls for "medical and social solutions" instead. It asks the president and Congress to appoint "an objective commission...to recommend revision of the drug laws...in order to reduce the harm our current policies are causing."

Clifford Schaffer, the California computer consultant who helped organize the resolution, says it is designed to attract a broad coalition of people who don't like the current approach to drug policy. By emphasizing "harm reduction" and calling for an objective study, the resolution has attracted support...