Pubdate: Thu, 16 Jun 2011 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2011 San Jose Mercury News Contact: http://www.mercurynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390 Author: Daniel Abrahamson, Director of Legal Affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance and co-author of Proposition 36, California's treatment-instead-of-incarceration law. He wrote this for this newspaper. THE FAILED WAR ON DRUGS IS WHAT'S PACKING CALIFORNIA'S PRISONS This month marks 40 years since President Richard Nixon inauspiciously declared a "war on drugs," setting America on a catastrophic course that has cost more than a trillion dollars and destroyed millions of lives. The consequences of this 40-year "war" have been especially harsh in California -- punctuated by last month's United States Supreme Court decision ordering the state to reduce its bloated prison population by more than 33,000. To commemorate this notorious anniversary, advocates across the country -- and throughout California -- are demanding a fundamental change in drug policy and an exit strategy from this futile war. The anniversary comes on the heels of a scathing report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy. The Commission is composed of international dignitaries, including former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and prestigious American figures, including former Secretary of State George Shultz and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. They acknowledged that the "global war on drugs has failed." Their authoritative report, which has made waves around the world, calls for a paradigm shift in drug policy, beginning by decriminalizing drug use and recognizing that drug problems are "health and social challenges to be managed, rather than a war to be won." Drug war statistics are grim by any measure. More than 1.4 million Americans were arrested for drug possession in 2009 alone, and about half of those arrests were for marijuana. Yet drugs are actually cheaper, purer and more accessible than ever before. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Americans have been allowed to die of overdoses and AIDS, hepatitis and other diseases because the drug war has prevented us from treating addiction to certain drugs as a matter of health rather than criminal justice. California's overcrowded prisons exemplify the harms of our failed drug laws. Currently, more than 140,000 people are incarcerated in California state prisons, though these facilities were designed to house only 80,000. Such extreme overcrowding is fueled largely by the drug war and has created unconstitutionally abysmal conditions, denying people adequate health care. In 2009, suicide rates in California's prisons were 80 percent higher than the national average, while roughly one inmate a week died because of constitutionally deficient medical care. Confronted with this crisis, the United States Supreme Court, in Brown v. Plata, required California to reduce its prison population to 110,000 within two years. The court's decision presents an extraordinary opportunity for reform. The California Legislature should immediately amend sentencing practices for low-level offenses, including drug possession, in order to safely and sustainably reduce the state's prison population. The people of California support this type of sentencing reform. According to a survey by Lake Research conducted in March, California voters, regardless of geography, ethnicity or political affiliation, want changes to the state's sentencing laws. The survey showed that an incredible 72 percent of voters support reducing the penalty for petty drug offenses from a felony to a misdemeanor. This modest reform would reap major rewards. By simply reducing the penalty for drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor, the state would save $400 million a year and reduce the prison population by more than 8,500. But as long as California continues to incarcerate thousands of people each year for petty offenses, the state's prisons will remain overcrowded and dangerous. The 40th anniversary of the failed war on drugs is not an occasion for celebration. But it does warrant a frank assessment of the harms of drug prohibition and the crafting of effective, evidence-based drug policies that will improve, not undermine, California's public safety and health. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.