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Delbert O. Lewis was one of tens
of thousands of American children stricken by infantile
polio myelitis before improved hygiene and vaccinations all
but eradicated the terrible disease. His legs and, to a
lesser extent, his arms were frozen at a child’s size. His
life was lived from a wheelchair until his mid-forties, when
the ravages of post-polio syndrome trapped him increasingly
in his bed. He died in 2001 unexpectedly from complications
of treatment for diabetes.
There was nothing wrong with
Del’s mind, however, and he pursued his education and a
career in public service. His voracious appetite for
learning led him to advocacy on behalf of all persons with
disabilities. His work on accessibility resulted in improved
handicap parking, ramp incline, and many other features of
public property that previously had constituted an
impossible barrier to those who could not walk or climb
stairs.
Drug policy advocacy was Del’s
last cause, which he embraced with his characteristic energy
and intense curiosity. He was among the first to join
efforts to allow legal medical use of marijuana in Arkansas,
having learned from experience that this natural substance
was an effective medication for him in relieving the pain
and muscle spasm produced by post-polio syndrome. From his
bed, surrounded by books, television, and computer, Del
pored over research supporting reform and made information
available to fellow reformers any way he could.
Delbert O. Lewis explored the
extensive literature of drug policy and drug research books.
It was his dream that copies of such materials would be made
available to the public. In a difficult journey a year
before his death, he joined representatives of Drug Policy
Education Group to visit Little Rock’s Main Library to
assist in donating a few books.
Those of us who worked with
Delbert found him difficult at times, but remarkably
dedicated to his work. He never failed to unearth new bits
of important information, new pathways to action, new ideas
for projects. With pride in his role among the growing group
of drug policy reformers in Arkansas, Delbert encouraged the
organization to expand its outreach by providing tools of
learning to the people of the state. His review of the
literature served as an important guide in our determination
of a final selection for the first year of this project.
And so we proudly launch the
Delbert O. Lewis Memorial Library Project, providing an
assortment of materials to each of Arkansas’ regional
library systems, the libraries of all its main cities, and
the libraries of its colleges and universities. In all, 52
libraries will receive a collection of seven books, a video,
eleven booklets, and four articles. With the first round of
2002 paid for by a generous grant from the Tides Foundation,
with a project grant from Marijuana Policy Project, and
supplemented by donations by Common Sense for Drug Policy,
Drug Policy Alliance, and the Criminal Justice Policy
Foundation and by contributions from Arkansas people, the
Delbert O. Lewis Memorial Library Project will hopefully
continue in future years, adding more and more items to the
collections, so that citizens in any corner of the state can
learn what they want to know about drugs and more effective
and humane drug policies.
Books:
An Analytic Assessment of U.
S. Drug Policy,
by David Boyum and Peter Reuter; 2005: AEI Press
Why the Drug War Has Failed and What We
Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on
Drugs, Judge James P. Gray;
2001: Temple University Press.
Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts,
Lynn Zimmer, PhD & John Morgan, MD; 1997: Lindesmith
Center.
Cannabis in Medical Practice: A Legal,
Historical, & Pharmacological Overview of the
Therapeutic Use of Marijuana,
Mary Lynn Mathre, Editor; 1997: McFarland & Company:
Jefferson, NC
Is Marijuana the Right Medicine for You? – A Factual Guide to Medical Uses of Marijuana,
Bill Zimmerman et al; 1998: McGraw Hill – NTC.
The Marijuana Conviction: A History of
Marijuana Prohibition in the United States,
Richard J. Bonnie & Charles H. Whitebread; 1974: The
University Press: Charlottesville VA.
Shattered Lives: Portraits from America’s
Drug War, Mikki Norris et al;
1998: Xpressions.
Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and
How We Can Get Out, Mike Gray;
2000: Routledge.
Drug War Facts,
4th Edition; Douglas A. McVay, Editor; Common Sense for
Drug Policy 2004.
Prescription Pot: A Leading Advocate's
Heroic Battle to Legalize Medical Marijuana;
George McMahon and Christopher Largen, New Horizon Press
2003
Legalize This! The case
for decriminalizing drugs; a book by Donald Husak. A
Practical Ethics Series edited by Colin McGinn. 2002.
Verso: New York.
Video:
“Illegal Healthcare: Medical
Marijuana and Arkansas,” 2002: Drug Policy Education
Group, Inc.
"Hemp and
the Rule of Law," a 2004 documentary film (55 minutes – DVD)
by Kevin Balling and produced by Tin Roof Video.
"Busted! A
Citizen's Guide for Surviving Police Encounters," a
45-minute instructional video by Flex Your Rights
Foundation, 2005.
"Speaker
Presentations by Members of Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition (LEAP), 12-minutes 2005.
Booklets:
Drug Testing– A Bad Investment,
ACLU 1999
Drug War Facts: A compilation of useful facts
with citations from authoritative sources,
Douglas McVay, Editor; 5th Edition, 2006, Common Sense for Drug
Policy
Safety First: A Reality-Based Approach to
Teens, Drugs, & Drug Education
Marsha Rosenbaum, PhD.; 1999 The Lindesmith Center
Heroin Maintenance, Heroin Overdose, Cocaine
and Pregnancy, Methadone Maintenance, Syringe Availability,
About Methadone,and Safer
Injection Rooms, Staff Publications, Lindesmith Center
“The Education Issue,”
ReconsiDer Quarterly Winter 2001-02; ReconsiDer, 205
Onondaga Avenue, Syracuse, NY.
"Making Sense of Student
Drug Testing: Why Educators Are Saying No," a 28 page
booklet published in 2005 by Drug Policy Alliance, New York.
Article Reprints:
“U.S. Drug Policy: Failure at
Home” by Eric Sterling. Foreign Policy in Focus Nov.
1999; Interhemispheric Resource Center and Institute for
Policy Studies; POB 4506, Albuquerque NM.
“Rethinking the War on Drugs
from a Quaker Perspective,” by Eric Sterling, Friendly
Fire Spring 2000; reprinted by Criminal Justice Policy
Foundation: Washington DC.
“A Crime Prevention Vision,” by
Eric Sterling, CJPF
On Balance, a
newsletter of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation.
"Going to Pot:
The growing movement toward ending America's irrational
marijuana prohibition," by Ethan Nadelmann, National
Review July 12, 2004.
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