Working to End the War on Drugs
Since President Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” in 1971, the United States has treated drug use primarily as a crime rather than a public health matter. Emphasizing punishment over regulation, education, and treatment has produced devastating results.
- Our nation, which represents 5 percent of the world’s population, now houses 25 percent of the world’s inmates. Roughly 20 percent of U.S. inmates are behind bars for drug offenses.
- Although drug use rates are pretty much the same across races and ethnicities, people of color are arrested, prosecuted, and jailed for drug offenses at much higher rates.
- Unconstitutional searches and seizures, entrapment, electronic surveillance, and other undesirable police practices have become commonplace.
- An immensely profitable and unregulated black market has developed, contributing significantly to the growth and prosperity of organized criminal groups.
- Trillions of tax dollars have gone to enforce existing drug laws, but escalating enforcement has not led to a corresponding reduction in either drug use or availability.
- Millions of Americans have been subjected to excessive criminal punishment and the loss of civil rights – like the right to vote – simply because of drug use.
Ending the “war on Drugs” is essential if we are to improve public health and safety, eliminate racial injustices, and restore our civil rights and liberties.
What We Do
Our goal is to replace reliance on criminal sanctions with approaches that treat drug use as a public health concern and at the same time respect civil liberties, reduce incarceration, and promote racial justice. The Project engages in a range of activities.
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Providing Information, Promoting Dialogue
Open and informed public discussion of the War on Drugs and possible alternatives is essential to reforming our laws and policies.
Marijuana: It’s Time for a Conversation
The Project is collaborating with travel writer Rick Steves on a campaign to spark public conversations about our marijuana laws. Tens of thousands of people have viewed our award-winning video on television, at public forums, and on the Internet. Our website www.MarijuanaConversation.org has received over 400,000 hits.
Policy Research and Projects
Project staff played a leading role in producing the Seattle City Council’s Marijuana Policy Review Panel report on the impacts of implementation of Initiative 75, which made adult marijuana use the city’s lowest law enforcement priority.
We commissioned “The Consequences and Costs of Marijuana prohibition,” a research report conducted by two University of Washington faculty. The study found that treating marijuana use as a crime was very costly in both financial and human terms, and failed to achieve the government’s goals of reducing availability and use.
Project staff provides strategic advice and assistance to organizations launching and operating demonstration projects that explore alternatives to jailing low-level drug offenders. We served on an advisory group to Seattle City Council staff examining the impact such approaches could have on the need to build a new jail.
Project staff is working with the University of Washington Department of Sociology to examine racial disparities in Seattle’s marijuana law enforcement. Legislative Reform
The ACLU of Washington works with decision-makers to address the harms fl owing from the War on Drugs, and to shift from reliance on criminal sanctions toward prevention and treatment of drug abuse.
Medical Use of Marijuana
We supported successful efforts that made it easier for physicians to authorize the medical use of marijuana; helped friends and family members be recognized as designated providers; and clarified what a “60-day supply” is.
We support further reform to improve patient access to safe and reliable sources of marijuana.
Saving Lives from Overdoses
We are promoting efforts to eliminate penalties for drug users who call 911 in overdose situations. Fear of punishment is the number one reason people hesitate to seek emergency medical care.
Decriminalizing Marijuana Possession
We support a move to reclassify adult possession of marijuana from a crime carrying mandatory jail time to a civil infraction imposing a $100 penalty payable by mail. Doing so would save Washington $16 million annually and generate $1 million in new revenue each year. Over half of the new revenue would go to underfunded treatment and prevention services. These changes would also end the unfair consequences of misdemeanor marijuana convictions, which disproportionately impact people of color and young people.-
Litigation
The ACLU represents individuals and groups in cases that will have a broad impact.
Protecting Patient Privacy
The ACLU of Washington teamed with the ACLU’s national Drug Law Reform Project to quash a federal grand jury subpoena for medical marijuana patient records. The court found that protecting a state’s medical marijuana law, the confidentiality of patient records, and the doctor-patient relationship outweighed the federal government’s need for the sensitive records. (In Re: The Matter of the Grand Jury Subpoena for THCF Medical Clinic Records, 2007)
Ending Suspicionless Student Drug Testing
The ACLU fought an 8-year battle on behalf of two families and gained a landmark decision ending a degrading practice that treated student athletes as suspects. The Washington Supreme Court found that suspicionless urine testing of students who participate in extracurricular athletic activities is unconstitutional. (York v. Wahkiakum School District, 2008)
Challenging Improper Searches
The Washington Supreme Court is considering whether police should be allowed to search the home of a medical marijuana patient who has presented proof of a doctor’s authorization. The ACLU has teamed with the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in a friend-of-thecourt brief on behalf of the patient. (State of Washington v. Fry, decision pending)
How You Can Help
Start a Conversation
The most important action you can take as an American concerned about the War on Drugs is to exercise your right to freedom of speech. Start a conversation!
The ACLU of Washington offers several resources to help you get started:
- Free “Marijuana: It’s Time for a Conversation” video, booklets, and website buttons and banners at www.MarijuanaConversation.org
- “Drug Policy” pages on our website at www.aclu-wa.org, where you can also sign up to be notified of opportunities for action via the E-mail Activist Network
- Publications on drug policy issues available for download at www.aclu-wa. org/publications
- Public speakers available free for presentations to your professional, community, and civic organizations
Support The ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union is our nation’s guardian of liberty. We work daily in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution guarantees everyone in this country. The ACLU is nonprofit and nonpartisan, with more than500,000 members and supporters nationwide and more than 20,000 in Washington.
It takes a lot of time, resources, and dedicated volunteers to safeguard liberty. We hope you’ll join with others in supporting the work of the ACLU. To learn how, please visit us on the web at www.aclu-wa.org.
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Prepared by the ACLU of Washington Foundation, September 2009
