[an error occurred while processing this directive] Press Release: Cummings Convenes Congressional Field Hearing on Drugs and Crime in Baltimore City - [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                 Contact: Jennifer Kohl
October 1, 2007                                                                           202.225.4289 or 202.225.4025
                                                                                                     Trudy Perkins
                                                                                                     410.685.9199 or 202.225.4641
 
Cummings Convenes Congressional Field Hearing on Drugs and Crime in Baltimore City
 
Baltimore, Md.—Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (Md.-07), member of the House Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, joined Chairman Dennis Kucinich (Oh.-10), for a field hearing entitled “Combating Drug Abuse and Drug-Related Crime: What is Working in Baltimore?” to examine innovative approaches and best practices to combat drug use and drug-related violence.
 
“Drug abuse and drug-related violence have destroyed whole generations in our community and in too many other communities across the nation,” Congressman Cummings said. “These destructive forces know no bounds, and it is critical that we do everything possible to prevent them from causing any additional harm.”
 
The hearing, held at the University of Maryland School of Law, contained testimony from experts regarding Baltimore City’s innovative drug treatment and prevention strategies, including:
  • The Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, a groundbreaking effort that has been in the forefront of drug abuse reduction efforts, through such measures as the distribution of the highly effective, low-risk opiate dependency treatment buprenorphine.
  • The State of Maryland’s drug treatment court model, whose comprehensive drug treatment services to non-violent offenders has been shown to stop drug-related violence before it starts.
  • The emergence of other problem-solving courts, such as truancy and teen courts that aim to address the needs of at-risk youth.
Additionally, the hearing addressed the difficulties in combating drug use and drug-related violence without proper funding from the federal government.
 
“Today’s hearing showed us, as we have seen in the past, that inadequate and inconsistent federal funding has negatively impacted Baltimore’s ability to provide comprehensive services and treatment on request,” Congressman Cummings said. “It is absolutely unconscionable that we are spending billions of taxpayer dollars a month fighting terrorism overseas while neglecting to address the terrorism in our own backyards.”
 
Congressman Cummings is a founder and Co-Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Drug Policy and served as the Ranking Democrat on the former House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources. He has been a leader in the battle against gang violence and drug-related crimes, including through the introduction of such legislation as the Witness Security and Protection Act, H.R. 933.
 
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