Pubdate: Wed, 18 Dec 2004 Source: Sun-Reporter (San Francisco, CA) Copyright: 2004 Sun-Reporter Publishing Company Contact: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3645 Website: http://www.sunreporter.com/ Author: Chauncey Bailey Cited: National Black Caucus of State Legislators http://www.nbcsl.com/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?140 (Rockefeller Drug Laws) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) BLACK LEGISLATORS: DRUG WAR HAS FAILED Eyeing the failure of California voters to repeal Three Strikes laws, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators has approved a resolution condemning the "war on drugs" and calling for "alternatives to failed polices." Among their suggestions: work to repeal mandatory minimum sentences, and divert non-violent drug offenders into treatment programs. "The National Black Caucus of State Legislators made history last weekend by passing a resolution that both condemns the war on drugs and commits the lawmakers to developing alternatives," said a statement to the media. "The resolution was sponsored by Delegate Salima Marriott of Maryland. Specifically, it singles out issues like reform of mandatory minimum sentences and diversion of nonviolent drug offenders into treatment." The resolution states, in part, "The war on drugs has failed and while states have continually increased their expenditures to wage the war on drugs, policies which rely heavily on arrest and incarceration have proved costly and ineffective at addressing these issues." The move was echoed by others. "The war on drugs is failing everybody, but no one is being devastated by it like African Americans," said Michael Blain, director of public policy at the Drug Policy Alliance. "That's why it's so historic that the people who represent the communities who have the most to gain from reform are taking the lead in addressing this problem, and finding solutions." Critics of the war on drugs point out the extreme racial disparities in application of drug laws. According to Human Rights Watch, while Blacks and whites have similar rates of drug use, Blacks go to jail at 13 times the rate of whites. Although African Americans comprise only 12.2 percent of the population, they make up 38 percent of those arrested for drug offenses and 59 percent of those convicted of drug offenses. In New York, 93 percent of those incarcerated under the state's Rockefeller drug laws are African American and Latino. The resolution says: "The war on drugs has failed: every community in the U.S. contends with the harmful effects of drug misuse and related problems, and while states have continually increased their expenditures to wage the war on drugs, policies which rely heavily on arrest and incarceration have proved costly and ineffective at addressing these issues," said the statement from Black lawmakers. "The war on drugs is a major force driving the incarceration of over 2.1 million people in the United States, with African Americans disproportionately represented in our country's overflowing jails and prisons and the war on drugs perpetuates mandatory minimums, felony disfranchisement, disproportionate over-incarceration, poor access to health care, under funded public education, widespread unemployment, and the general criminalization of communities of color in the U.S. "And paying for the war on drugs means spending limited tax dollars on failed policies instead of proven solutions. Americans spend approxi- mately $140 billion annually on prisons and jails including $24 billion spent on incarcerating over 1.2 million non-violent offenders. In many states (such as New York and California), spending on prisons far surpasses spending on education." The legislators also noted the need for "access to affordable community-based drug treatment, along with educational and economic opportunities,"which have shown to be successful at reducing the harms of drug misuse, "yet more than half of those Americans in need of drug treatment do not have access to it." African Americans are less likely to sell or misuse illicit drugs than white Americans, said the Black lawmakers "but African Americans experience highly dis- proportionate levels of death, disease, crime and suffering due both to drug misuse and to misguided drug policies." The resolution also noted: "our common goal is to advocate those policies which increase the health and welfare of our communities, and to reduce the unacceptable racial disparities both in criminal justice and in access to drug treatment and other services." The legislations vowed to take steps to reduce the incarceration of non-violent offenders and increase the availability of treatment because "it not only makes fiscal sense, but is sound public policy that is being implemented in states throughout the country (such as Maryland and California)." The 28th annual Legislative Conference of the National Black Caucus of State Legislastors met in Philadephia. Attendees also called for ways to ensure that new legislation includes "quantifiable, measurable goals, and is measured by a standard that reduces the effects of substance abuse and addiction and the harm of unjust drug policies while increasing public safety, thereby creating a New Bottom Line. They also want to create state task forces "to research and report on the allocation of state expenditures for all public education and health services and the war on drugs so that states can understand the real cost of the war on drugs in the state budgets and in their communities and work with the Drug Policy Alliance to create seminars that provide a thorough overview on harm reduction principles and legislative reform initiatives." They also want to advance a drug policy agenda that prioritizes a public health, not a criminal justice approach, to drug policy.