Pubdate: Fri, 26 Jul 2002
Source: Washington City Paper (DC)
Copyright: 2002 Washington Free Weekly Inc.
Contact:  http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/489
Author: Chris Shott

TRICK OR TREATMENT

A D.C. Drug Initiative Would Throw Cocaine Users Into Rehab, Pot Smokers 
Behind Bars

If it becomes law, Initiative 62 on this fall's ballot- "Treatment Instead 
of Jail for Certain Non-Violent Drug Offenders"- will offer speed and 
cocaine offenders in the District the option of going into rehab instead of 
facing a trial and prison. But pot smokers and ecstasy users will continue 
to be put behind bars.

The disparity is a product of the ongoing battle between D.C. drug-reform 
advocates and congressional overseers. In the past, Congress has stopped 
the District from enacting liberal-minded drug-law reforms and, at one 
point, even enjoined the city from counting the results of a 
medical-marijuana initiative.

Proponents of Initiative 62, ever mindful of Capitol Hill's big-footing 
ways, have fashioned their measure to appease Congress. The measure 
excludes people charged with possessing or using Schedule I controlled 
substances-which include marijuana, ecstasy, and LSD- from taking advantage 
of the drug-treatment option.

"We didn't want to poke a finger in Congress' eye," explains Bill McColl, 
president of the D.C. Campaign for Treatment and director of national 
affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. "We've drafted our law specifically 
to conform to Congress' concerns. We think that's still going to reach 
quite a number of people who really could use treatment."

At issue is the so-called "Barr Amendment," spearheaded by Georgia 
Republican Rep. Bob Barr to block implementation of the District's 1998 
ballot issue- approved by nearly 69 percent of D.C. voters-to decriminalize 
marijuana for medical purposes. Barr's measure prohibited the D.C. Board of 
Elections and Ethics from certifying the results of any ballot initiative 
that aimed to reduce penalties for Schedule I drug offenses.

On March 24, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan struck down the Barr 
Amendment, declaring it an unconstitutional infringement on free speech. 
But the Bush administration has challenged Sullivan's ruling, with its 
appeal to be heard in September. If the government wins on appeal, the 
current medical-marijuana measure could be thwarted before the ballot 
booths even open.

To avoid the risk of having their own measure shot down, Initiative 62's 
backers removed Schedule I offenders from eligibility for treatment. The 
drugs categorized under Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances 
Act-which also overs heroin and PCP- are deemed by the U.S. Drug 
Enforcement Agency (DEA) to have the highest potential for abuse and no 
accepted medical value.

Chemical classified under Schedule II, such as cocaine, codeine, morphine, 
oxycontin, and methamphetamine, are also ripe for abuse but remain widely 
recognized for their usefulness in medicine. TO surgeons, for instance, 
cocaine can serve as an effective anesthetic.

An effort to reclassify marijuana for its apparent uses as a painkiller and 
appetite stimulator was rejected by the DEA and ultimately by the U.S. 
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on May 24.

Initiative 62 drafter Dave Fratello admits that the decision to eliminate 
Schedule I drugs from the ballot issue was "one of the hardest choices" 
that organizers had to make. "Protect some, or try to cover everyone and 
risk losing. It's a terrible position to be in, " says Fratello, political 
director for the Los Angeles-based Campaign for New Drug Policies.

But with many imprisoned offenders in the District doing time for cocaine, 
McColl says, the initiative can serve as "an incremental measure that's 
going to help some people right now."

Other drug-law reformers say the deletion sends a mixed message.

"I understand they're trying to make some accommodations for Capitol Hill," 
says Keith Stroup, executive director of the National Organization for the 
Reform of Marijuana Laws. "On the other hand, it does seem a little 
selective to say, 'We're gonna switch from a criminal response to 
nonviolent drug use to a treatment mode, but for marijuana, we're going to 
continue to arrest you.'"

Though most marijuana offenders in the District don't spend much time in 
jail, Stroup says, their lives are nonetheless disrupted upon arrest. Some 
lose their jobs. Others spend thousands of dollars on attorneys' fees to 
stay out of jail. Though most pot puffers "aren't sick," and therefore 
don't need treatment, he says, some might favor rehabilitation over 
fighting charges in court. Offenders themselves should make that choice, he 
says.

"clearly, it's a step forward if we stop jailing some people and start 
getting them treatment," Stroup says. "But most illicit drug users don't 
use cocaine and amphetamines-they smoke marijuana. So in some ways, it 
seems to me, Initiative 62 is ignoring the 800-pound gorilla in the room."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens