“What we hope to do is shift public resources into education, prevention, treatment and research programs that have proven more effective in reducing drug abuse rather than through the use of expensive criminal sanctions. We are trying to focus on the health issues of these people rather than criminalizing the behavior,” said Clyde E. Bailey.
NAADPC membership includes a broad base of black professional organizations, including the National Bar Association; the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; Howard University School of Law; the National Association of Black Sociologists; the National Association of Black Psychologists; the National Association of Black Social Workers; the National Black Nurses Association; the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; the National Dental Association; and the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.
Since 1994, the disparity between white and non white prisoners as a percentage of the total prison population has widened dramatically. State prison incarceration rates for African Americans for drug law violations are almost 20 times those of whites. Although whites account for 69% of drug offense arrestee=s and blacks 29%, blacks are disproportionately convicted and comprise 48% of the U.S. prison population, while they are only 12.5% of the general population. In 1998, 3% of all black men were in prison on any given day. And one out of three Black men aged 20 -29 were under some form of criminal justice control, which are more black men than were in college. The jailing of so many young men (and increasingly young women) stunts the vitality of communities and contributes to family dissolution, single-parent households, increased incidence of HIV/AIDS and reduces job prospects and political participation.
Much of the disparity in incarceration rates can be attributed to the insidious inequality of the Mandatory Minimum Sentences (MMS) passed by Congress in 1986. Federal Mandatory Minimum Sentences are determined solely by the weight of the drug, or the presence of a firearm during a felony offense. The prisoner must serve 85% of this sentence, and there is no parole available. A judge must impose the sentence, regardless of the defendant=s role in the offense, his likelihood of rehabilitation or any other mitigating factors.
Treatment works and is an effective alternative to incarceration. The drug problem is becoming an increasingly smaller part of the public conscience. While more and more drug addicts are incarcerated for the crime of addiction, we see vast resources being consumed with no positive outcomes. Public health should guide our policies on addiction, not criminal justice.
Kurt Schmoke, the dean of Howard University Law School, and former Baltimore mayor, calls drug addiction a public health problem and advocates medical treatment for addicts instead of jail time. Schmoke said he wants to help fix what he calls “one of the most important issues affecting the quality of life in urban America. I strongly believe that this war on drugs should be a public health war.”
Our misguided drug policies cause havoc in all communities, especially our black urban communities. The war on drugs has nourished a ruthless underground economy, fed the growth of both international drug cartels and domestic gang warfare, and endangered Americans’ civil liberties.
Arthur L. Burnett, a retired Washington, D.C. superior court judge, who is the full-time executive director of the Coalition, stated “Drug courts are fine, but they are only dealing with an infinitesimal amount of people. They don’t have all the resources needed to deal with all of the people who really need help. Effective treatment will reduce the number of crimes which would otherwise have been committed by these individuals, thus making the community safer and reducing the costs of law enforcement and the courts.”
Drug policy affects more than dealers and addicts, it impacts the entire community, the family, employment, and political participation. We can do better, and we must do better. Treatment works and needs to be our first line of defense.
To learn more about working with mandated clients, preventing relapse, and understanding the challenges of returning inmates, join us on January 13 – 15 2005, for Relapse Prevention Update.
For information, including home studies and trainings on Post Incarceration Syndrome, Treating Chemically Dependent Offenders, or Managing Antisocial Personality Traits visit www.cenaps.com or call 1-352-596-8000.
For information on publications, please visit Herald House Independence Press at www.relapse.org, or call 1-800-767-8181.
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