California

Legalizing Marijuana for Adults in California
 
With a devastating economic downturn and increasing violence associated with criminal drug syndicates, DPA believes it is time to end marijuana prohibition outright and replace it with sensible regulations for adult marijuana consumption, sales, and cultivation. We are a leading advocate of efforts to regulate marijuana in California (such as Proposition 19, which drew 4.6 million votes on the 2010 ballot) and to highlight the wasteful, punitive, racist effects of marijuana prohibition.
 
Expanding Access to Sterile Syringes
 
DPA is dedicated to expanding access to sterile syringes in order to help prevent blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C among injection drug users, their sexual partners, and their children.
 
Preventing Overdose Deaths
 
California has the highest number of overdose deaths in the country, they are on the rise, and DPA is working to promote effective prevention efforts. We are sponsoring legislation that would address the new reality that prescription opioids – such as Vicodin, OxyContin, and methadone – account for an increasingly large number of preventable overdose deaths.
 
Reducing Penalties for Drug Law Violations
 
The Drug Policy Alliance is working to reduce criminal penalties for drug possession in California from a felony to a misdemeanor (or an infraction, if we can get there!) in order to move our drug policies toward a health-centered approach, to cut wasteful drug war spending and to reduce the life-long barriers that follow a drug conviction. 
 
Expanding Access to Help in the Community
 
The Drug Policy Alliance is working to move California drug policies toward a health approach in order to improve the lives of individuals who use drugs (whether or not they struggle with problematic drug use), their families and communities, and to reduce the barriers to treatment posed by the criminalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs.