Ally
Summer 2010
www.drugpolicy.org
In This Issue
3: New Mexico: A National Model for
Drug Policy Reform
4: De-funding the Drug War in California
Beating Back New Prohibitions
New Directions California:
A Public Health and Safety Approach
to Drug Policy
5: (Re-)Starting the Conversation: Heroin
Maintenance in the United States
Overdose Emerges as a
Major Legislative Issue
6: Balancing Act in the Nation’s Capital
U.S. Senate Approves Crack/Powder
Cocaine Reform Bill
7: DPA Supporters Gather in
San Francisco
Sting Teams Up with DPA
8: In Memoriam: Howard Lotsof,
1943-2010
Since We Last Spoke
Questions? Feedback?
We love to hear from our members.
Contact the Ally by writing to
Jag Davies, editor, at:
newsletter@drugpolicy.org
Want to share one of these
stories with a friend?
The Ally is online at:
www.drugpolicy.org/library/ally.cfm
We are the
Drug Policy Alliance
Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director
You may have noticed that DPA’s web-
site and publications like the one you’re
reading have a new look and feel.
These changes are about much more
than just our visual identity. They repre-
sent the once-unimaginable progress
that you and I have made over the past
decade to bring drug policy reform that
much closer to the tipping point. Now is
the time to make drug policy reform more
personal – creating an even greater
sense of moral urgency, connecting the
dots with more allies, and building on
the common interests of everyone who
makes up this movement. We can keep
chipping away at the drug war but it
won’t really end until a critical mass
of people, communities and elected
officials demand a new way of dealing
with drugs in our society. That’s why we
are the Drug Policy Alliance.
I’m often asked, “Who is this growing
drug policy reform movement?”
We vary of course in what brings us to
this cause. We are people who care
about fundamental freedoms, civil liber-
ties and human rights. We are people
who care about social and economic
justice. We are people who want to end
racism. We are people who want ad-
diction treated as a health issue rather
than a criminal justice problem. We are
people who want honest drug education
for our youth that fosters trust rather than
fear. And every one of us – no matter our
reason – believes that the war on drugs
is not the way to deal with the reality of
drugs in our society. That’s why we are
the Drug Policy Alliance.
We come from across the drug use
spectrum. We are people who consume
drugs responsibly, who don’t cause
problems for anyone else, and who
can’t stand being treated as criminals.
We are people who hate drugs and
who have seen the worst that drugs can
do – the addiction, disease, death and
destruction of families – but who none-
theless believe that the war on drugs is
doing far more harm than good. And
we are people who frankly don’t care
about drugs one way or the other – but
who do care about preserving the Bill of
Rights and our constitutional liberties,
who are disgusted by what our govern-
ment is doing with our tax dollars, and
who recoil at what the drug war is doing
not just in the U.S. but in Latin America,
Afghanistan and elsewhere. That’s why
we are the Drug Policy Alliance.
We come from across the drug law
spectrum. We are people who have
enforced these laws but now question
them. We are people who have been
punished by these laws and don’t want
others to suffer similarly. And we are
(continued)
 2 Summer 2010 www.drugpolicy.org
1 2
We are the Drug Policy Alliance (cont.)
people who have never encountered
these laws directly but who nonetheless
know that they are wrong. That’s why we
are the Drug Policy Alliance.
We are the people – African American,
Latino, young and poor – who over-
whelmingly bear the brunt of the war on
drugs. And we are everyone else –
European and Asian American, not
so young and not so poor – who are
stigmatized for our drug use, who live in
fear, and who have suffered the many
indignities and injustices of the drug war.
We are Americans who are embarrassed
and disgusted that our nation leads
the world in incarceration. And we are
3 4
people from all around the world who
wish that the U.S. – and other govern-
ments as well – would ground their drug
policies in science, compassion, health
and human rights. We are people who
work tirelessly to advance the incremen-
tal drug policy reforms that can help
people today and tomorrow, and we are
the visionaries who never forget that our
struggle is ultimately about changing
the ways we deal with drugs in global
society. That’s why we are the Drug
Policy Alliance.
To me, our new look and feel is about
realizing and embracing the tremendous
scope of our struggle. It’s about facing
the reality that lasting change can only
be achieved by building on the common
interests of as many people as possible.
We are the Drug Policy Alliance
because only by working
together can we end the failed
war on drugs.
Ally
A1 Ken Larson, KMT Mission4Life
A2 Our new logo
A3 Carl Hart, PhD, DPA Board
Member, Departments of
Psychology and Psychiatry at
the College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Columbia University
A4 Katharine Celentano,
Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition
B1 Laresse Harvey,
A Better Way Foundation
B2 Nubia Legarda, UTEP Students
for Sensible Drug Policy
B3 Former New Mexico Governor
Gary Johnson
B4 Lynn M Paltrow, JD, National
Advocates for Pregnant Women
Ally
New Mexico: A National Model for
Drug Policy Reform
DPA Spearheads Legislation
that Weakens Unfair Barriers to
Employment for People with
Criminal Convictions
New Mexico has joined Minnesota as
the second state to pass “ban the
box” legislation. This removes a major
barrier to employment for people with
convictions – the question on govern-
ment job applications asking if a person
has ever been convicted of a crime.
Under the new law employers can still
ask the question during the final in-
terview and can conduct background
checks if required for the position.
However, it gives people convicted of
a crime equal footing by delaying the
inquiry about conviction status until the
interview process.
An estimated one in five Americans
has a criminal record. National research
has demonstrated that employment
can reduce the chance of recidivism
and is a key factor in ensuring success-
ful reentry of people leaving jail or
prison. Yet 40 percent of employers
won’t consider an application if the
candidate reveals that he or she has
a criminal record.
Now, thanks to your support, “banning
the box” gives people an opportunity to
get their foot in the door for an interview
and to be seen for their qualifications,
merits, and job experience – not just
as a person who checked a box. With
more than seven million people in the
U.S. currently under some form of crimi-
nal justice supervision, it is imperative
• Create and implement an innovative
that people with criminal convictions
have the opportunity to obtain legitimate
employment.
• Secure a $500,000 federal grant –
Summer 2010 www.drugpolicy.org
Sweeping Bill Proposing
Treatment Instead of
Incarceration Poised for
Passage Next Year
DPA has been working for almost a
decade to pass legislation requiring
treatment instead of incarceration for
people arrested for nonviolent drug
possession in New Mexico.
This one was a real heartbreaker. We
had the votes lined up. Governor Bill
Richardson supported the measure.
Unfortunately, New Mexico’s district
attorneys reneged on their compromises
with us and flipped several legislators
at the last minute by falsely claiming on
the morning of the Assembly vote that
New Mexico would lose federal funding
if the bill passed.
This year, DPA celebrates the
10th anniversary of the founding of
our New Mexico office. We have been
able to take on the full range of our
agenda more successfully in New
Mexico than in any other state. We’ve
not only helped pass dozens of good
bills, but also developed deep rela-
tionships with government officials,
community groups, and the people
most affected by the war on drugs.
Our New Mexico office has won more
drug policy reform victories than
anyone, anywhere – including suc-
cessful efforts to:
medical marijuana program, the first
in the nation with state-authorized
dispensaries;
the only government funding DPA
has ever received – to create
Just4Teens, a cutting-edge drug
education project;
3
But we almost won anyway. In New
Mexico, DPA has earned a reputation for
bringing back bills from the dead – we
did something similar in 2007 to pass
our medical marijuana bill – and this time
we almost pulled off a miracle again.
After the bill narrowly lost in the Assembly,
DPA was able to convince an opposing
member to present a Motion to Recon-
sider – and this time the bill passed the
Assembly. But with only minutes remaining
in New Mexico’s lightning-quick 30-day
session, a few Senate Republicans filibus-
tered and the bill failed to receive a full
vote on the Senate floor.
Building off of the momentum from the
2010 session, we’ll continue to advocate
for passage of this sweeping reform.
With your continued support, we’ll get this
bill passed next year and New Mexico
will continue to push the envelope as a
model for drug policy reform.
• Establish the nation’s first “Good
Samaritan” policy to reduce drug-
related overdose deaths;
• Authorize the sale of syringes in
pharmacies to adults without a
prescription to prevent the spread
of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C
• Ban racial profiling in law
enforcement;
• Establish the Women’s Re-entry Drug
Court program to reduce recidivism;
• Reform habitual offender (also known
as “three strikes”) laws;
• Reform civil asset forfeiture laws to
protect basic property rights;
• Opt New Mexico out of the federal
lifetime ban on public assistance
benefits for people convicted of
drug offenses;
• Allocate more than $10 million in new
funding for drug treatment programs.
4 Summer 2010 www.drugpolicy.org
De-funding the Drug War in California
Sometimes it feels like working on
drug policy reform in California is
like re-arranging the chairs on the
Titanic – except that the captain’s on
a suicide mission.
In 2000, DPA led the effort to pass
Proposition 36, the landmark treatment-
instead-of-incarceration law, which has
diverted more than 250,000 Californians
from incarceration and reduced
state costs by more than $2 billion.
Unfortunately, recent state budget
cuts have emasculated Prop. 36 by
drastically cutting treatment funding.
So, what are we doing now? Becoming
ever-more resourceful by re-directing
drug war money to fund drug treatment
New Directions
California:
A Public Health
and Safety
Approach to
Drug Policy
Thursday, July 8, 2010
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
The Center for Healthy
Communities at
The California Endowment
Los Angeles, CA
Co-hosted by the Drug Policy
Alliance and the California Society of
Addiction Medicine, New Directions
California will convene a range
of stakeholders and explore a
comprehensive, balanced approach
to drug policy that includes drug
abuse prevention, harm reduction,
treatment and public safety.
and probation systems – and in doing so
creating a model that can be replicated
in all 50 states.
In 2009, California received $225 million
in federal Justice Assistance Grants
(JAG) funding (formerly known as the
Byrne grant program). Historically, JAG
funding has fueled many of the worst
drug war practices in all 50 states, so
we led a successful, precedent-setting
campaign to redirect the funds.
Our effort is now paying off for the state’s
58 counties, which are in line to receive
$100 million for community-based drug
treatment, probation and re-entry courts
– money that could otherwise have been
used to finance the costly and wasteful
arrest of some 30,000 Californians.
Beating Back
New Prohibitions
DPA Urges Sensible Regulation of
“Imitation Marijuana” Products
In recent months, an herbal product
known as “K2” or “Spice” that is said
to simulate the psychoactive effects
of marijuana has come to the attention
of lawmakers across the nation. Even
though K2 is relatively new in the U.S.,
sensational news media reports have
raised its profile and mystique.
In January 2009, the DEA identified it as
a “drug of concern.” In March, Kansas
became the first state to criminalize K2,
and several other states are considering
proposals to prohibit it.
DPA is fighting back, urging sensible
legislative responses to K2 such as
regulatory controls on sale and posses-
sion. Similarly, last year DPA worked to
ensure that California and Maine passed
Ally
Los Angeles, the state’s largest county,
will receive $10.6 million for community
treatment and $11.2 million for probation
supervision, according to the California
Emergency Management Agency, which
administers the distribution of the funds.
In the first half of 2010, California is
likely to receive another $35 million in
federal JAG funds and the Legislature
will determine how to spend it. DPA is
again urging the Legislature to direct
these resources to treatment instead
of more arrests and incarceration.
model legislation that formally regulates
and taxes adult sales of salvia divinorum,
while banning sales to minors.
DPA has harnessed the media’s interest
– several staff gave interviews and DPA
Federal Policy Coordinator Grant Smith
made the case for sensible regulation in
a widely-read CNN.com opinion piece.
Smith argued that the recent emergence
of K2 in the U.S. is testing lawmakers to
see if they’ve been paying attention to
the failures of marijuana prohibition.
The criminalization of K2 demonstrates
that the prohibitionist mindset is still an
ample threat. We will continue to work
to ensure that lawmakers learn from the
lessons of the past by passing laws that
will actually regulate and control K2.
Ally
(Re-)Starting the Conversation:
Heroin Maintenance in the United States
Heroin maintenance allows people
who are addicted to illegal heroin and
have not succeeded in other programs
to obtain pharmaceutical-grade heroin
legally from clinics. Empirical studies
demonstrate that this cutting edge
treatment innovation, as part of a com-
prehensive treatment strategy, provide
substantial benefits to long-term heroin
users who have not been responsive
to other treatments.
In January, DPA and the George
Washington University School of Public
Health and Health Services convened
a public forum to discuss heroin
maintenance. DPA staff was joined by
researchers from Germany and Canada,
scholars, students, activists, journalists
and elected officials.
Overdose Emerges as a
Major Legislative Issue
Since 1990, overdose deaths have
quadrupled in the U.S. and it is now the
second-leading cause of injury-related
death. DPA is leading the way to take on
this crisis.
More than a dozen states across the
country are currently considering legisla-
tion to slow the growing overdose crisis.
DPA is fighting to ensure safe access
to pain medications while working with
elected officials to expand access to the
overdose reversal drug, naloxone, and
community-based overdose prevention
programs.
Washington recently became the second
state in the country to pass a life-saving
911 Good Samaritan bill, which includes
a component permitting the use of
Summer 2010 www.drugpolicy.org
DPA has been at the forefront of such
conversations in the U.S. for over a
decade. Studies from Germany, England,
the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain and
Canada show that heroin maintenance
programs are cost-effective, successful
at reducing criminality and problematic
drug use, and improve the mental and
physical health of participants.
While a research trial in the U.S. remains
several years away, it is a high priority for
us to initiate similar trials in the U.S. We
will continue to bring together leading
authorities on drug abuse, prevention,
treatment, epidemiology, criminal justice
and law enforcement to discuss the
benefits and obstacles of implementing
a heroin maintenance program in the
U.S. The science is there and – as this
event proved – the political will is not
far behind.
naloxone to save lives. The first, we’re
proud to say, was passed in New Mexico
in 2007 – a direct result of DPA’s efforts.
States are working to address the
overdose crisis, and so is Congress.
Sixteen Members of Congress are now
co-sponsors of the Drug Overdose
Reduction Act, a federal bill drafted
and supported by DPA. The overdose
bill would direct federal dollars to over-
dose prevention programs, research
efforts and data collection systems.
On the advocacy front, we’ve been
busier than ever. In May, DPA held a
federal briefing on Capitol Hill to educate
lawmakers and their staff about policy
solutions to the crisis. Since last year,
DPA has been hosting an ongoing
series of conference calls to educate
5
Washington, D.C., councilmember Tommy
Wells gave opening remarks at the forum. “I am
proud that my city is hosting this event and am
interested to learn more about the positive impact
that heroin-assisted treatment has shown on
problematic heroin use, HIV/AIDS, and street
crime,” said Wells.
the public about advocating for this
lifesaving legislation. We created
an overdose legislation advocacy
guide, available for download at
www.drugpolicy.org/overdose, to
teach interested members of the
general public how to become effective
advocates. And our major report,
Preventing Overdose, Saving Lives,
has been shaping the debate about
harm reduction approaches to the
epidemic.
We’re committed to fighting for real
solutions to the problem of accidental
drug overdose. We’re educating
legislators, elected officials and
members of the public about overdose
prevention like never before. Together,
we’re beginning to make a difference.
6 Summer 2010 www.drugpolicy.org
Balancing Act in the Nation’s Capital
Despite Unprecedented Gains,
Obama’s Budget and DEA
Nomination Confirm War on Drugs is
Alive and Well
It is often said that our nation’s capital
will be the last place to adopt drug policy
reform, but this year is beginning to
prove conventional wisdom wrong.
The Obama Administration has stepped
up in many ways, including calling for
drug use to be treated more as a health
issue and appointing a drug czar who
has called for treatment instead of incar-
ceration for nonviolent drug users.
We’re working closely with longtime ally
Denis Kucinich, who chairs the key
subcommittee with oversight of the
U.S. Senate Approves
Crack/Powder Cocaine Reform Bill
Bipartisan Legislation Reduces –
But Does Not Eliminate – Racially
Unjust Sentencing Law
For years, DPA has advocated for federal
sentencing reform, and this year our
work paid off.
While they squabble over just about
every other issue, U.S. Senators have
agreed that U.S. drug sentencing
laws are too harsh. The U.S. Senate
unanimously approved bi-partisan leg-
islation reforming the two-decades-old
policy of punishing crack cocaine
offenses 100 times more severely than
powder cocaine offenses – a major
source of racial disparities in the federal
justice system.
Office of National Drug Control Policy
(ONDCP), also known as the drug czar’s
office. In April, DPA Executive Director
Ethan Nadelmann testified before
Congress during hearings on ONDCP.
DPA also worked closely with Kucinich’s
office to craft ONDCP reform legislation
that would change the way the federal
government evaluates its drug policies.
The administration’s current drug war
budget, however, is almost identical
to President Bush’s budget. Two-thirds
of the funding is going toward police,
prisons and the Latin American drug
war, and very little is going to treatment
and prevention.
Adding insult to injury, President Obama
has nominated Michele Leonhart to head
the Drug Enforcement Administration.
This is the most significant drug
sentencing reform bill to pass the
U.S. Senate in decades, and the first
to explicitly lower a drug sentence in
decades. Tellingly, the bill passed the
Senate under a process designed to
move uncontroversial bills.
The original Senate bill and the bill
already passed by the House Judiciary
committee completely eliminated the
disparity, but to get bipartisan and
unanimous support it was amended in
committee to just reduce the 100 to 1
disparity to 18 to 1. We’re disappointed
it’s not full elimination, but it is a critical
step in the right direction.
DPA Deputy Director of National
Affairs, Jasmine Tyler, was quoted in
an Associated Press story that ran in
dozens of newspapers around the
country. “Today is a bittersweet day.
Ally
Leonhart is a Bush holdover responsible
for obstructing scientific research and for
raids on medical marijuana patients and
caregivers.
In a nutshell, DPA is supporting
Congress and the Administration when
they work to pass meaningful drug policy
reforms, but holding them accountable
when they’re perpetuating the failed
policies of the past. We’re educating
Senators and the public on Leonhart’s
positions, with the goal of either blocking
her nomination or changing the DEA’s
conduct. At the same time, we’re working
with the chairs of several important com-
mittees to rewrite federal drug policy and
eliminate stupid drug war waste. It’s a
tricky balancing act, made possible only
by your courageous cooperation.
By not eliminating the disparity, the
Senate has proven how difficult it is to
ensure racial justice, even in 2010.”
As far as back as 1995, the U.S.
Sentencing Commission recommended
eliminating the crack/powder disparity.
In Connecticut in 2006, DPA played a
pivotal role in the first state-level elimina-
tion of the disparity.
Many families will benefit from the
change, but it obviously doesn’t go far
enough. Members of Congress need to
know that advocates consider this bill to
be only a down payment on completely
eliminating the disparity, and a stepping
stone to reforming punitive drug policies
more broadly. With your continued
support, reducing the crack/powder
disparity will be the first step of many
massive changes.
Ally
DPA Supporters
Gather in San Francisco
In March, over 150 people attended
an open house celebrating our move
to a new office location in downtown
San Francisco.
DPA Deputy State Director Laura
Thomas kicked off the event by high-
lighting why San Francisco has been
a model city for drug policy reform.
“San Francisco has consistently taken
the lead on implementing policies that
respect human dignity, appropriately
allocate scarce resources, and protect
public safety… We hope to see the first
supervised injection facility here in the
U.S. in San Francisco.”
California State Senator Mark Leno presented
DPA Deputy State Director Laura Thomas with an
official certificate of recognition, congratulating us
on our new location. “I commend your continued
efforts to reduce harm, reform criminal justice
policies and improve public safety. I further
commend your dedication to providing national
leadership in the dialogue on drug policy
changes. It is through the continued efforts of
organizations such as yours that many individual
lives are made better.”
Summer 2010 www.drugpolicy.org
Ethan Nadelmann put San Francisco’s
unique history into context and issued a
challenge. “San Francisco is a pioneer.
This city was among the first munici-
palities to create guidelines for medical
marijuana, and has demonstrated a
commitment to reduce the spread of
disease among injection drug users by
supporting programs like clean needle
exchange. It’s the perfect place to
create a model city for drug policy.
At this point, Vancouver has leapfrogged
San Francisco – now it’s time for
San Francisco to leapfrog Vancouver.”
7
Sting Teams
Up with DPA
Sting, the internationally renowned
musician and activist, is teaming up
with the Drug Policy Alliance to call for
an end to the failed war on drugs.
Sting published a passionate op-ed
in the Huffington Post laying out the
devastating consequences of the drug
war and urging people to support DPA
in advocating for sensible drug polices.
DPA is also using a letter by Sting to
recruit new members.
“For too long, the War on Drugs has
been a sacrosanct undertaking that was
virtually immune from criticism in the
public realm,” wrote Sting. “But recently,
I discovered just how much that’s chang-
ing – and that’s how I came to speak out
on behalf of an extraordinary organiza-
tion called the Drug Policy Alliance.”
Sting explains how he came across
DPA after reading an opinion piece by
Ethan Nadelmann in the Wall Street
Journal about the failures of drug pro-
hibition. Ethan’s article “dared to say in
print – in a thoughtful, meticulous argu-
ment – what everyone who has seriously
looked at the issue has known for years:
the war on drugs is an absolute failure
whose cost to society is increasingly
unbearable and absolutely unjustifiable.”
Last year, Sting became a member of
DPA’s honorary board. He joins other
honorary board members including
Arianna Huffington, former U.S. Attorney
General Nicholas deB. Katzenbach,
former U.S. Secretary of State George
P. Shultz, former President of the Czech
Republic Václav Havel and several for-
mer mayors, judges and police chiefs.
8 Summer 2010 www.drugpolicy.org
In Memoriam:
Howard Lotsof, 1943-2010
Dedicated Career to Mainstream
Scientific Acceptance of Ibogaine
Howard S. Lotsof, discoverer of the
anti-addictive effect of ibogaine, died of
liver cancer in January at the age of 66.
Ibogaine is a psychedelic rainforest plant
found primarily in Gabon that is used in
puberty initiation rites in the Bwiti religion.
Although it is banned in the U.S., it is
legal in most countries including Canada
and Mexico. The use of ibogaine for the
treatment of addiction continues to ex-
pand in medical and non-medical settings
around the world, and ibogaine continues
to be studied as a paradigm for funda-
mental research and the development of
new treatments for addiction.
Lotsof originated patents for the use of
ibogaine in treating people who are ad-
dicted to opioids, cocaine, amphetamine,
alcohol and nicotine. His work initiated
substantial research into ibogaine and
Since We Last Spoke
In March, a California initiative that
would legalize personal marijuana
possession and allow regulated
sales of marijuana to adults qualified
for the state’s November general elec-
tion ballot. Oakland-based activists
gathered 690,000 signatures, well over
the 434,000 required to qualify. DPA
assisted with drafting the initiative and
has worked with the media to frame
the debate. In March, an interview with
DPA California State Director Stephen
Gutwillig was featured on NBC Nightly
News and Gutwillig was quoted in
dozens of front page articles around
the country.
related compounds in the mainstream
scientific community. He also provided
pilot data to the National Institute on
Drug Abuse that became the basis for
a program of research on ibogaine that
A documentary about DPA Honorary
Board member Sasha Shulgin called
Dirty Pictures had its World Premiere
in March at the SXSW film festival.
Using himself and his wife Ann as
test subjects, Shulgin discovered
the effects of MDMA (aka “Ecstasy”)
and over 200 other mind-altering
drugs. This brought him into conflict
with the law, but earned him a
reputation among many as one of the
great chemists of the 20th century
and made him a worldwide under-
ground hero.
Ally
Last November,
DPA honored Howard
Lotsof by presenting
him with the Robert
C. Randall Award for
Achievement in the
Field of Citizen Action
at the International
Drug Policy Reform
Conference.
generated scores of peer-reviewed
publications and led to the approval by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
of a Phase 1 clinical trial.
Do you know what your rights are if
you’re stopped by police? Most people
don’t, and the consequences can be
severe. From simple misunderstand-
ings to illegal searches and excessive
force, a bad police encounter can
happen to anyone. In March, thanks to
DPA’s critical support, Flex Your Rights
released their new educational drama,
10 Rules for Dealing with Police.
Narrated by the legendary trial lawyer
William “Billy” Murphy, Jr. (from HBO’s
The Wire), 10 Rules depicts innocent
people dealing with the heavy-handed
policing tactics used every day in the
U.S. After watching 10 Rules, you’ll be
more confident and better prepared to
handle every kind of police situation.