51st General Assembly
November l97l
Los Angeles, CA

WHEREAS the use and abuse of drugs has become a grave menace in the United States, Canada, and other societies;

1. Recognize the great problem of drug use and abuse within our own families and to create congregational programs that shall guide parents in establishing meaningful relationships with their children, helping them to avoid this tragic experience;
2. Involve their synagogues in intelligent and in-depth educational programming to help them understand drug use and abuse in the light of the Jewish tradition and materials issued by the UAHC and other agencies;

3. Serve as catalysts in their cities and towns to initiate community-wide efforts in use and abuse education and treatment and to participate in community-wide programs now in progress; AND BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of American Hebrew Congregations
4. Urges extensive reform of existing federal and state narcotics and dangerous drug legislation so that they will lead to education, treatment, and therapy rather than the false security of stringent penalties for drug abuse;
5. Urges new legislation drawn to distinguish between various drugs and the legal consequences attached to "possession," "use" and "furnishing";

6. Urges federal government to subsidize new and intensify existing research and evaluation programs to study the long-term effects of marijuana and narcotics, to conduct experiments, and to adequately fund various alternatives in drug treatment programs; and

7. Encourages and strengthens the cooperative efforts of the Union and the Central Conference of American Rabbis in their work in this field.