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Drug Policy Reforms in the USA



by Suzanne Wills, Drug Policy Chair

The United States has been fighting the drug war fiercely for thirty years, since the DEA was formed. Changes in policy are few, but some states are trying.

In 1996, California voted to allow patients to use Cannabis as a medicine. That same year Arizona voted to allow physicians to prescribe any drug they saw fit regardless of federal law. Since then Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Maine and the District of Columbia have voted to allow use of medical Cannabis. These laws cannot take effect because the federal government will revoke the license of any physician who implements them. The federal government has gone to the Supreme Court to block any legal distribution of Cannabis in a medical setting, except in its own medical Cannabis program which has seven patients. The federal government won a class action suit by hundreds of other patients who sued for the right to join the program. California has been the most assertive state in implementing its law. Since September, 2001 the DEA has been raiding Cannabis distribution clinics there seizing computers, plants and patient records.

New Mexico passed three reform bills during the 2001 legislative session, legal syringe sales in pharmacies, needle exchange and limited liability for persons who administer naloxone. In Holland, where there is a needle exchange in every police station, the rate of HIV infection among injection drug users is 4%. In the U.S., where needle exchange programs are largely illegal, the rate of HIV infection among injection drug users is 36%. They pass the infection to the their sexual partners, to their infants, into our prisons and, at least monetarily, into our public health system. HIV is the leading cause of death in the U. S. for people between the ages of 25 and 44.

None of the people who died near Plano a few years ago or near Austin recently should have died. It takes about 3 hours to die of a heroin reaction. An injection of naloxone reverses the effects of heroin in 2 to 3 minutes. Adverse effects from naloxone are extremely rare, but the threat of a lawsuit is always a concern. New Mexico law limits the liability of family members, police officers and others who inject naloxone in good faith to save a drug reaction victim.

More reforms were passed during the 2002 session of the New Mexico legislature. A civil asset forfeiture reform bill will prohibit the government from seizing assets, such as a car or cash until the owner is convicted of a crime. It is common practice in most states, including Texas, for police to seize assets when a person is accused of certain crimes, most commonly possession of illegal drugs. New Mexico law will no longer require that drug offenders serve extra time in prison if they have prior convictions. Judges will now have flexibility to add extra time or keep sentences the same. New Mexico will now be able to request a waiver to allow convicted drug offenders to qualify for federal benefits such as Medicaid, welfare assistance or food stamps. Other reform bills failed. They were allowing use of Cannabis for medical purposes, decriminalizing possession of small amounts of Cannabis and treatment rather than prison for defendants convicted on first and second time drug possession charges.

In Texas use of Cannabis for medical purposes is not only illegal, a defendant accused of possession of Cannabis may not give testimony concerning his/her medical condition. During the last session of the Texas legislature Rep. Terry Keel introduced a bill that would have allowed medical Cannabis patients and their physicians to testify at trial that the defendant used Cannabis for medical purposes. Rep. Keel’s bill failed for lack of a Senate sponsor. The bill is expected to be reintroduced in the 2003 legislative session. Sen. Royce West and/or Sen. Rodney Ellis are expected to sponsor a companion bill in the Senate.

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