Latest

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                     

MARCH 9, 2010

Group Cries Foul Over U.N. Anti-Drug Agency Meddling with State Laws in the U.S.

International Narcotic Control Board says it is “deeply concerned” that states’ medical marijuana laws send “wrong message to other countries”

CONTACT: Aaron Houston, MPP director of government relations …… 202-905-2009 or [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Marijuana Policy Project today denounced efforts by the United Nations’ International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) — currently meeting in Vienna, Austria — to meddle in marijuana reform in the United States. In a recent report, the INCB said they were “deeply concerned” that the country’s 14 state medical marijuana laws are sending the “wrong message to other countries.”

         Additionally, the INCB is “concerned over the ongoing discussion in several states on legalizing and taxing the ‘recreational’ use of cannabis, which would be a serious contravention of the 1961 convention.” However, the Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs treaty explicitly grants exception for any country to make laws that agree with its constitutional and legal requirements; therefore, the U.S. is complying with the treaty.

         “The last thing the INCB should be doing is meddling in our states’ affairs,” stated Aaron Houston, MPP director of government relations. “We are a federalist society and our states are granted the right to decide their own policy—not the federal government, and certainly not the United Nations. Who is the U.N. to tell Texas, Mississippi, Ohio or any other state what to do?”

         The INCB has also criticized several Latin American countries (Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina) for decriminalizing possession of some narcotics, including marijuana.

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

####

DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE

www.drugpolicy.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          Contact: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli (213) 291-4190
March 8, 2010                                                       or Tommy McDonald (510)229-5215

$90 Million in Federal Funds Going to California Counties
for Drug Treatment & Probation

Advocates Applaud Investment in Crime Prevention

Top-Receiving Counties are Los Angeles, San Diego & Orange

SACRAMENTO – California’s 58 counties are in line to receive almost $90 million in federal funds for community-based drug treatment and probation supervision. Local advocates applauded the investment in crime prevention, which is expected to reduce recidivism and associated criminal justice costs, and called on the Legislature to repeat the investment in next year’s budget.

In 2010, Los Angeles County, 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 these annual federal funds. The State Legislature has yet to determine how to spend the next batch of these federal resources.

“Investing in the front-end of California’s public safety continuum is good for public safety and the budget. Alcohol and drug treatment reduces problematic drug use and prevents crime, which means fewer crime victims and lower costs throughout the criminal justice system – from policing and courts to incarceration and re-entry,” says Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance in Southern California.

As drug treatment funding is slashed and probation departments struggle to provide adequate supervision, advocates are concerned that the county-level crime prevention network is breaking down. Individuals on felony probation who do not succeed – many of them with untreated drug problems – are sent to prison at a cost to taxpayers of $49,000 per person per year. In contrast, drug treatment and probation cost a fraction of that amount.

“It’s essential that California maintain community services like drug treatment in order to prevent crime and cut costs. More federal dollars are coming to California. The question for the Legislature is simple: do we want to spend $5,000 for drug treatment and probation or $50,000 for a year in prison? Drug treatment can make the difference between success and failure for many people. Let’s keep investing in success,” Dooley-Sammuli continued.

The federal funds came to California through the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. In the next few months, California will receive another $35 million in federal JAG funds and the Legislature will determine how to spend it. Advocates are urging the Legislature to direct these new monies to treatment and probation systems in order to prevent crime and cut costs. According to UCLA researchers, each $1 invested in California’s ten-year-old, voter-approved treatment-instead-of-incarceration law, Proposition 36, cuts state costs by $2-$4.

###