DPA Report Outlines Successes of California's Prop 36
The Drug Policy Alliance released a report in which Prop 36, California's drug sentencing reform law, is examined for its effectiveness. Prop 36 allows for first- and second-time drug possession convictions to be sentenced with treatment, rather than incarceration. The DPA announces that "Prop. 36 has become the most significant piece of sentencing reform – in terms of the number of people diverted from prison and dollars saved – since the repeal of alcohol Prohibition in 1933." Within the first four years after the bill passed, more than 70,000 people entered treatment for the first time. The legislation also called for an independent research team at UCLA to release reports about the effectiveness of the policy--one of which can be found here.
Comments
This strikes me as encouraging news. The drugs laws are as much a plague, likely worse so, than illicit drugs themselves. Isn't it clear by now that the so-called war on drugs does not alleviate but exacerbates the problem?
Posted by: richie | March 17, 2006 11:36 PM
It should be apparent that for most of the illicit drugs, more harm comes from their black markets than from their actual use. However, it seems to me that the public (and moreover, policy-makers) sees the market violence as affirmation about the dangers of drugs and doesn't see the difference between the dangers created by policy and the dangers created by the chemicals themselves.
Posted by: Matt Nazareth | March 19, 2006 05:56 PM