The devastating effects of criminal prosecutions for drug related offenses continue long after an individual has served his or her sentence. Most public benefits can be revoked, reduced, or denied on the basis of a previous or current drug conviction. This policy imposes an unfair restriction on individuals whose only crime may be possession and is a restriction applied only to drug-related offenses, singling those out above other serious, violent crimes. This creates a severe barrier for people who are struggling with drug problems to regain and maintain control in their lives and keep families together. These are often the individuals most in need of additional support to help them create stability in their lives.

Public benefits often denied to individuals on the basis of a drug conviction or drug use include welfare, educational loans, and public housing. Although Federal law authorizes these policies, several states have begun to reject such punitive measures. So far, 32 states have opted out or modified the drug felony ban on TANF welfare recipients, the most recent of which were the Drug Policy Alliance-led efforts in New Mexico and California.

The Drug Policy Alliance has been involved in litigation challenging these restrictions to public benefits. The Office of Legal Affairs submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in the case Marchwinski v. Howard, (see the ACLU's page on this case, as well as the DPA's friend-of-the-court brief) which challenges Michigan's mandatory drug testing policy. This policy denies welfare to applicants who fail to complete drug treatment.

The Office also submitted a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Rucker v. Oakland Housing Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing challenging the one-strike policy which evicts any public housing tenant whose family member or guest uses drugs within several blocks of the premises, regardless of whether or not the tenant was aware of the drug use. For more information about forced evictions, see our page on this topic.

Such policies are applied unfairly and create significant obstacles at a time when the public benefits could be instrumental in an individual's effort to complete drug treatment and achieve self-sufficiency.

See also: Fact Sheet on the Barriers to Re-Entry for Convicted Drug Offenders