Citizen-Based Global Affairs Agendas

Drug Policy Reform

Crowded prisons, the failure of government-sponsored drug education programs, and the militarization of overseas drug control programs have sparked new citizen initiatives to reform federal, state, and local drug control laws. Among the core convictions of this reform movement are that the "war on drugs" targets the poor and minorities, fosters violence, and infringes on individual liberties. Drug abuse should be regarded as a medical and social problem rather than as a criminal or military one. Reformers advocate harm reduction measures, such as needle exchange programs, and they call for the end of such policies as mandatory prison terms, racial profiling, and "three strikes and you're out" sentencing. Citizen movements have spearheaded ballot initiatives across the country to decriminalize personal drug use. Internationally, they advocate that crop eradication, interdiction, and military aid programs be halted, replaced by a new commitment to addressing the demand problem in the United States. At home and abroad, reform groups charge that current drug control programs lead to the abuse of human rights while doing little to stop the use and flow of drugs.

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Sources for More Information about U.S. Drug Policy:

Common Sense for Drug Policy
http://www.csdp.org/active.htm

Criminal Justice Policy Foundation:
The Coalition for Jubilee Clemency
http://www.cjpf.org/clemency/index.html

Drug Policy Alliance
Email: nyc@drugpolicy.org
Website: http://www.drugpolicy.org/

Drug Reform Coordination Network
Email: drcnet@drcnet.org
Website: http://www.drcnet.org/

Harm Reduction Coalition
http://www.harmreduction.org/

Human Rights and the Drug War
http://www.hr95.org/action.htm

Institute for Policy Studies:
Drug Policy Project
http://www.ips-dc.org/drugpolicy.htm

NORML
http://www.norml.org/

ReconsiDer: forum on drug policy
http://www.reconsider.org/

Students for Sensible Drug Policy
http://www.ssdp.org/