DPA’s supporters agree that the war on drugs is among the most disastrous policies the United States has pursued. Together we work to ensure that our nation no longer arrests, incarcerates, punishes, and otherwise harms hundreds of millions of people around the world in the name of its drug war.

• Eliminating criminal penalties for possession of drugs for personal use and ending the vast array of other punishments – in both criminal and civil systems – people face for involvement with drugs.
• Building alternative approaches to drug use that further people’s wellbeing and health, by providing support to those who need it and adopting practices that reduce the harms – such as death from overdose – associated with both drug use and drug prohibition.
• Ending marijuana prohibition and creating sensible regulations for adult use that protect health and public safety.
• Advancing racial justice through all our reforms and repairing the harms of decades of unequal and excessive enforcement of drug laws against communities of color and other oppressed people.

Ending the War on Drugs
While Building the Future

The criminalization of drug possession for personal use is the foundation on which the U.S. drug war stands. Simple possession is by far the single most arrested offense in the United States, with 1.4 million arrests in 2018, entangling more people in the criminal legal system than any other offense.

At the same time, drug overdose is now the leading cause of death for people under the age of 50, creating a crisis in communities across the country, with more than 68,000 dead in 2018 alone.

This is no coincidence. These lost lives are the inevitable outcome of decades of the war on drugs, and its policies and practices that put punishment ahead of compassion and drive drug use underground.

Nor is it a coincidence that criminalization disproportionately impacts Black and Brown people, who are three times more likely to be arrested for drug possession than white people, despite using drugs at the same rates. The war on drugs has served as an excuse for over-policing communities of color, even while it has done nothing to meaningfully achieve its stated aims of reducing the supply or use of drugs.

People who are struggling with problematic drug use need help and services, if they so choose – not handcuffs and prisons. All people, whether they use drugs or not, deserve to be treated with respect for their dignity and autonomy. The drug war must end, and given the horrifying impact of the twin crises of mass criminalization and overdose, it must end now.

Thanks to donor support, DPA is hastening the end of the drug war and starting to shape a future in which drug policy is grounded in science, compassion, health, and human rights.

Right now, the centerpiece of that work involves advancing a groundbreaking 2020 ballot initiative in Oregon. The Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act would significantly expand drug treatment and health services infrastructure in Oregon using excess tax revenue from marijuana legalization, and it would eliminate criminal penalties for the possession of all drugs for personal use. The idea behind the initiative is straightforward: instead of arresting and punishing people for drug possession, Oregon would take a truly health-based approach to drug use. The campaign has been building for well over a year and is on track to launch in early 2020. This effort builds on our successful 2014 collaboration to reform marijuana laws in that state.

DPA’s federal policy firsts have not been limited to marijuana and Congress. When the Justice Department filed suit to block a local Philadelphia organization from establishing a supervised consumption site – a critical harm reduction measure in a city that has been devastated by overdose deaths – DPA mounted a major friend-of-the-court effort, coordinating legal briefs signed by more than 100 organizations. In October, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled for the first time that establishing such a site would not violate the Controlled Substances Act. This victory is a powerful rebuke to the federal overreach – and if upheld, will help prevent overdose deaths and save lives.

In the same month, we rolled out Safety First, a first-of-its-kind harm reduction-based drug education curriculum aimed at providing high school students with honest, accurate, and balanced information about drugs and drug policy. The program provides teens with essential information to keep them and their friends safe.

While it is critical to continue breaking new ground, we must also help other parts of the country play catch-up. The places with the most challenging political environments often have the worst drug policies – with the most damaging consequences for the people living there.

That is why we are expanding our efforts into the hardest-hit states.

In Florida, we played a pivotal role in the 2019 passage of a bill to authorize syringe exchange programs statewide. The bill was approved unanimously by the Senate, near-unanimously by the House, and signed into law by the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis. We worked in close partnership with the IDEA Exchange, a syringe exchange in Miami for which we had previously helped secure authorization, and which has had a remarkable impact in combatting the spread of HIV/AIDS and even preventing overdose deaths.

In Mississippi, we are supporting a 2020 ballot initiative campaign to legalize medical marijuana. The measure has officially qualified for the November ballot. If it passes, it will be a remarkable step forward in one of the U.S. regions that have been hardest hit by the drug war, and may open the door for other reforms in the Deep South.

And in Missouri, we hosted more than 1,300 people for the 2019 International Drug Policy Reform Conference, in part to bolster exciting movement toward drug policy reform that we are starting to see around St. Louis and throughout the state.

These victories – and many more this past year, detailed in this report – add up to an impressive slate of wins for our movement.

But let us not forget that this work is about more than policy change. We are fighting for values and ideals essential to a just society.

Together we can build a future where people are treated with respect and compassion, where health and wellbeing are priorities, and where people are no longer punished in the name of the drug war.

The next chapter of our struggle begins with advocates like you. We can’t thank you enough for standing with us.

Thank you for making
this work possible.

Hundreds of thousands of people endure incarceration for drug possession and other low-level drug offenses, and face multiple consequences from those convictions, including barriers to employment, housing, and education.

The criminalization of drug possession drives drug use underground and discourages people from seeking drug treatment and other services, which in turn fuels rates of addiction and overdose. It also increases prison, jail, and law enforcement costs. The ripple effects harm entire communities, disproportionately impacting people of color. Black and Brown people in the U.S. are three times as likely as white people to be arrested for drug possession for personal use, despite using drugs at a similar rate.

Decriminalizing the possession of drugs for personal use prioritizes health and safety over punishment, reduces the stigma around drug use, encourages people to seek support, and saves money and resources.

In close partnership, DPA and local allies in Oregon are working on a groundbreaking ballot initiative that is based on best policies from around the country and the world, and tailored specifically to Oregon. If passed, this initiative will establish a more humane, equitable, and effective approach to drugs.

DPA has stepped up its advocacy for drug decriminalization in recent years. In 2017, we published a report offering a roadmap for how to decriminalize drug use and possession in the U.S., informed by a comprehensive review of domestic and international policy and literature. In 2018, we led a delegation of 70 U.S. advocates representing more than 35 advocacy and community organizations to Portugal, which decriminalized drug possession in 2001; the delegation overwhelmingly felt that it was transformative to learn about a national drug policy firmly founded on respecting the dignity and well-being of people who use drugs.

The Oregon ballot initiative marks the beginning of our strategy to build power and momentum to advance innovative approaches across the country. Victory would show the rest of the country that a new approach to drugs is feasible, safe, and smart.

Countering the Drug War's Harms Beyond the Criminal Legal System

In addition to possible incarceration, arrests for drug law violations create barriers to accessing housing, education, and employment that systematically oppress entire populations.

But the drug war also punishes people who have never been arrested, in insidious ways that shape multiple systems. We are now finalizing a major report on the ways in which drug use is used as a justification for punishing people, particularly in Black and Brown communities, in many cases even absent an arrest.

As part of our effort to eliminate some of these harms, DPA helped found the Unlock Higher Ed Coalition, a national group of organizations fighting to increase educational access for people with criminal convictions and centers people directly impacted by these educational barriers in advocacy efforts. The coalition is advancing legislation that would eliminate the question about prior drug convictions on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form that students must complete to obtain financial aid for higher education, as well as restore Pell Grants for incarcerated students.

Another great example of this type of work is in New York City, where, following years of advocacy by DPA and our allies, the NYC Council passed two vital resolutions in 2019: one that prevents children from being taken from their families based on their guardians’ marijuana possession or use, and another that establishes fair regulations for hospitals on drug testing people who are pregnant or giving birth – including informing patients of their rights before any discussion of drug use or drug testing.

Challenging Harsh Sentencing

In December, DPA released a groundbreaking report making the case for rethinking the way the United States responds to the “drug dealer.” Beyond being merely ineffective, the harsh criminalization of supply-side drug market activity actually makes drug use more dangerous, increasing overdose deaths and leading to more violence in communities.

We are also countering policy proposals that seek to escalate the war on drugs. The administration of President Donald Trump is seizing the overdose crisis to stoke fear and xenophobia, and to propose a range of destructive policies – including increased mandatory minimums and harsh sentencing, deportations, and even the death penalty for drug offenses. DPA is spearheading the Washington, D.C. advocacy community’s push against the government’s increasingly regressive approach.

The coalition has its origins in the fall of 2018, and includes the ACLU, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Center for American Progress, Human Rights Watch, and others, alongside DPA.

“A new Congress created viable opportunities to pass marijuana legislation,” Queen said. “But we needed to broaden our allies in this space to see meaningful reforms.”

A conviction for simple marijuana possession can cause lifelong barriers to employment, housing, federal financial aid, nutritional assistance, voting, and even a valid driver’s license in some states. It can also create harsh immigration-related consequences for non-citizens. Black and Brown people are disproportionately impacted, being four times more likely to be arrested for possession of marijuana than white people despite equal rates of consumption.

Through our Grants and Partnerships program, we have invested enormously in supporting grassroots activists across the United States, in ways that have lasting impact. For example, we were among the first funders to support the leadership of formerly incarcerated people, who in turn are now on the front lines of the fight for criminal justice and drug policy reform and ending felony disenfranchisement.

Longtime DPA partner Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity works at the intersection of spirituality and social justice, to mobilize congregations to take a stand on issues like immigration and mass incarceration. Through the Promoting Policy Change grants programs, DPA has provided more than $60,000 since 2017 in support of the organization’s work to engage people of faith, including those formerly incarcerated, to develop their own leadership to stand up against the racism and discrimination that permeate the drug war.

Partners in a Movement

Our relationship with DPA is deeper than funding. It’s a conversation. DPA provides us with resources and expertise to build our capacity and helps us network with organizations doing similar work across the country. We are also included in their planning and strategy for campaigns like Prop 47 and other policy campaigns. It’s helpful to be a part of a larger movement and know that our wisdom and experience are being valued.

Building Capacity for Social Change

DPA’s support for capacity building has been especially important. The faith-based community is an integral part of the movement to address the harms that have been done through the criminalization of drug use, and of people of color overall. With DPA’s help, we have built a strong local organizing base and developed long-term community support to advocate for reforms to the criminal legal system, such as bail reform and the realignment of law enforcement priorities to reinvest in effective re-entry programs.

Significant Victories and More to Come

Our Justice Not Jails project seeks to dismantle the system of mass incarceration and criminalization in Los Angeles County, home to the world’s largest jail system. Justice Not Jails could have been a flash in a pan, but DPA enabled us to create space to think larger and longer term about what the LA County criminal justice system should look like. Since then we have successfully prevented any new jail construction in LA County. We are now focusing on Measure R, which would grant a civilian oversight committee subpoena power to investigate criminal justice complaints and create non-carceral solutions to address mental health and homelessness.