Our Victories

Most Recent Victories

NYPD Ordered to Stop Wrongful Marijuana Charges. In September 2011, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly ordered all NYPD officers to stop charging people with misdemeanor marijuana violations based on improper searches. This could lead to the reduction of tens of thousands of marijuana arrests every year in NYC. Since New York decriminalized small amounts of marijuana  over three decades, possessing under 25 grams is only a criminal offense if it is publicly visible. Since the mid-1990s, officers have abused this legal loophole by tricking people – mostly young people of color –  into publicly revealing marijuana concealed in a pocket or handbag by demanding they “empty their pockets." The police then make the arrest for “public view” for what should legally be a non-criminal civil citation. The new policy directive comes on the heels of a 2011 DPA report highlighting the enormous costs of marijuana arrests in New York and a public pressure campaign led by the Drug Policy Alliance, the Institute for Juvenile Justice Reform (IJJRA) and Alternatives, and VOCAL New York.

Medical Marijuana in New Jersey. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie green-lighted implementation of the state’s medical marijuana legislation in July 2011 after delaying it over concerns about federal interference. DPA’s New Jersey office spearheaded an effort to urge the governor to move forward with the program and protect patients.

Global Commission on Drug Policy and the 40th Anniversary of the War on Drugs. The Global Commission on Drug Policy and the 40th anniversary of the war on drugs generated unprec­edented media coverage and debate about the need for fundamental reforms of the global prohibition regime. The Global Commission is composed of Kofi Annan, former U.N. Secretary General; George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State; Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve; the former Presidents of Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Switzerland; Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group; and several other distinguished world leaders. Never before has such a prominent group called for such far-reaching changes in global drug policy – including not just alternatives to incar­ceration and greater emphasis on public health approaches to drug use, but also decriminalization and experiments in legal regulation. 

DPA has played a pivotal behind-the-scenes role in the commission since its inception. We helped shape the Commission’s formation and recommen­dations – identifying and assembling the Commission’s membership, developing the content of their report, and spearheading the Commission’s media outreach.

Then, on June 17, just two weeks after the Commission launched its report, we “celebrated” the 40th anniversary of President Nixon’s speech when he declared drug abuse “public enemy number one” and committed to waging “a new, all-out offensive.” This moment is widely regarded as the unofficial launch of America’s spectacularly unsuccessful and costly global war on drugs. DPA organized allies in a “day of action” with dozens of events throughout the country, in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, and dozens of other cities. The day of action was highlighted by large-scale events in Washington D.C., where we were joined by elected officials, civil rights leaders, and celebrities.
 
In all, the Global Commission and the drug war’s 40th an­niversary generated more than 4,000 news stories around the world, not just in Latin America and Europe but also parts of Asia and Africa where these issues had rarely if ever been aired. This represented a significant leap forward in terms of expanding and le­gitimizing the global debate over drug policy, prohibition and legalization.
 
Medical Marijuana in New Mexico. During the 2011 legislative session, a freshman legislator introduced a bill to repeal New Mexico's medical marijuana program -- a move that would have deprived thousands of seriously ill patients of their medicine. DPA's New Mexico office mobilized to block this heartless legislation, alerting medical marijuana supporters to the threat and urging them to contact the legislature. After a huge response from New Mexico residents, the legislator withdrew the repeal bill.

911 Good Samaritan Law in New York. DPA has worked across the country to pass 911 Good Samaritan immunity laws to curtail preventable overdose deaths. New York was the most recent state to pass this lifesaving legislation. The first of these laws was enacted in New Mexico, where DPA wrote and led the successful campaign in 2007 to pass a lifesaving law that encourages people who witness an overdose to call 911. The law provides limited immunity from drug possession charges when a drug-related overdose victim or a witness to an overdose seeks medical assistance.

Other Major Victories

  • Beginning in 1996 with California’s landmark medical marijuana law, Proposition 215, DPA affiliates were primarily responsible in California (1996), Alaska (1998), Oregon (1998), Washington (1998), Maine (1999), Colorado (2000), Nevada (1998 and 2000), New Mexico (2007) and New Jersey (2010) for passing laws that make cannabis legally available to seriously ill patients and reduce criminal penalties for possession, objectives supported by roughly three out of four Americans. As a result, millions of people who suffer from cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other serious illnesses are no longer criminals under state law for using marijuana as medicine.
     
  • DPA’s outstanding victory was California’s landmark treatment-not-incarceration law Proposition 36, approved via ballot initiatives by 61 percent of California voters in November 2000. Prop. 36 allows first- and second-time nonviolent drug offenders the opportunity to receive substance abuse treatment instead of jail time.  Since the law’s passage, more than 300,000 people have been diverted from conventional sentencing to drug treatment, saving taxpayers more than $2.5 billion.
  • DPA spearheaded the successful campaign to enact major reforms of New York’s notorious Rockefeller Drug Laws. The reforms, signed into law by Gov. David Paterson in 2010, include eliminating mandatory minimum sentences and returning judicial discretion in many drug cases; reforming the state’s sentencing structure; expanding drug treatment and alternatives to incarceration; and allowing resentencing of people serving sentences under the old laws.
  • DPA has built broad coalitions to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing (in Alabama, New York, Maryland and Wisconsin) and racially biased crack/cocaine sentencing schemes at the state (in Connecticut and California) and federal levels. DPA played a crucial role in the 2010 passage of the federal Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced the crack/powder sentencing disparity and repealed a mandatory minimum sentence for the first time since 1970.
  • The DPA office in New Jersey was responsible for the “Blood-borne Pathogen Harm Reduction Act,” which was signed into law in 2006. The law allows up to six cities to establish syringe access programs to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases. Previously, DPA played a pivotal role in successful efforts to make syringes legally available in New York (2000) and California (2004), and supported successful efforts in Connecticut, Illinois and other states.