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Adopted Resolutions
June 2007
A NEW BOTTOM LINE IN REDUCING THE HARMS OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE
[p. 47]
WHEREAS, the United States Conference of Mayors has long been
concerned about substance abuse and its impacts on cities of all
sizes; and
WHEREAS, this Conference recognizes that addiction is a chronic
medical illness that is treatable, and drug treatment success
rates exceed those of many cancer therapies; and
WHEREAS, according to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and
Health, an estimated 112,085,000 Americans aged 12 or over
(46.1% of the US population aged 12 and over) have used an
illicit drug at least once; and
WHEREAS, the United States has 5% of the world’s population, but
25% of the world’s prisoners, incarcerating more than 2.3
million citizens in its prisons and jails, at a rate of one in
every 136 U.S. residents—the highest rate of incarceration in
the world; and
WHEREAS, 55% of all federal and over 20% of all state prisoners
are convicted of drug law violations, many serving mandatory
minimum sentences for simple possession offenses; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution at
its 74 Annual Meeting opposing mandatory minimum sentencing on
both the state and federal levels and urging the creation of
fair and effective sentencing policies; and
WHEREAS, drug treatment is cost-effective: a study by the RAND
Corporation found that every additional dollar invested in
substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.46 in societal
costs, a reduction that would cost 15 times as much in law
enforcement expenditure to achieve; and
WHEREAS, the National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study
shows substantial reductions in criminal behavior, with a 64%
decrease in all arrests after treatment, making public safety a
primary beneficiary of effective drug treatment programs; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a “Comprehensive
National Substance Abuse Strategy” at its 69 Annual Meeting,
and a “Comprehensive Drug Prevention and Treatment Policy” at
its 66 Annual Meeting, both of which called for treatment to be
made available to any American who struggles with drug abuse;
and
WHEREAS, federal, state, and local costs of the war on drugs
exceed $40 billion annually, yet drugs are still widely
available in every community, drug use and demand have not
decreased, and most drug prices have fallen while purity levels
have increased dramatically; and
WHEREAS, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy
(ONDCP), only 35% percent of the federal drug control budget is
spent on education, prevention and treatment combined, with the
remaining 65% devoted to law enforcement efforts; and
WHEREAS, over one-third of all HIV/AIDS cases and nearly two-
thirds of all new cases of hepatitis C in the U.S. are linked to
injection drug use with contaminated syringes, now the single
largest factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS in the U.S.; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has, on three separate
occasions, adopted resolutions in support of expanded access to
sterile syringes by people who inject drugs as a public health
strategy to decrease the transmission of blood-borne diseases
and provide links to treatment without increasing drug use; and
WHEREAS, virtually all independent analyses have found ONDCP’s
drug prevention programs to be costly and ineffective: the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently found that both
the National Youth Anti-Drug Media campaign and the Drug Abuse
Resistance Education (DARE) program have not only failed to
reduce drug use, but instead might lead to unintended negative
consequences; and
WHEREAS, blacks, Latinos and other minorities use drugs at rates
comparable to whites, yet face disproportionate rates of arrest
and incarceration for drug law violations: among persons
convicted of drug felonies in state courts, 33% of convicted
white defendants received a prison sentence, while 51% of black
defendants received prison sentences; and
WHEREAS, women are the fastest growing prison population in the
U.S., increasing by over 700% since 1977, to 98,600 at the end
of 2005. Drug law violations now account for nearly one-third
of incarcerated women, compared to one-fifth of men; and
WHEREAS, at year end 2005, over 7 million U.S. residents—about
3.2% of the adult population, or 1 in every 32 adults—were
incarcerated or on probation or parole, of whom 28% were under
correctional supervision for a drug law violation; and
WHEREAS, at its 73 and 72 Annual Meetings, the U.S. Conference
of Mayors adopted a resolution to promote the successful reentry
of people leaving prison or jail, through job training,
transitional housing, family reunification, drug abuse and
mental health treatment, and the restoration of voting rights;
and
WHEREAS, the cost of local law enforcement and of providing
services to formerly incarcerated residents is borne primarily
by local governments; and
WHEREAS, cities across the country have experienced a rise in
violent crime and must prioritize scarce law enforcement
resources, yet the nation’s police arrested a record 786,545
individuals on marijuana related charges in 2005—almost 90% for
simple possession alone—far exceeding the total number of
arrests for all violent crimes combined; and
WHEREAS, there is no easy, “one-size-fits-all” solution to
substance abuse and drug-related harms: individual cities,
counties, and states face unique challenges and therefore
require local flexibility to pursue those policies that best
meet their specific needs;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the United States Conference
of Mayors believes the war on drugs has failed and calls for a
New Bottom Line in U.S. drug policy, a public health approach
that concentrates more fully on reducing the negative
consequences associated with drug abuse, while ensuring that our
policies do not exacerbate these problems or create new social
problems of their own; establishes quantifiable, short- and
long-term objectives for drug policy; saves taxpayer money; and
holds state and federal agencies accountable; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that U.S. policy should not be measured
solely on drug use levels or number of people imprisoned, but
rather on the amount of drug-related harm reduced. At a
minimum, this includes: reducing drug overdose fatalities, the
spread of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis, the number of nonviolent drug
law offenders behind bars, and the racial disparities created or
exacerbated by the criminal justice system; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that short- and long-term goals should be
set for reducing the problems associated with both drugs and the
war on drugs; and federal, state, and local drug agencies should
be judged – and funded – according to their ability to meet
specific performance indicators, with targets linked to local
conditions. A greater percentage of drug war funding should be
spent evaluating the efficacy of various strategies for reducing
drug related-harm; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a wide range of effective drug abuse
treatment options and supporting services must be made available
to all who need them, including: greater access to methadone and
other maintenance therapies; specially-tailored, integrated
services for families, minorities, rural communities and
individuals suffering from co-occurring disorders; and
effective, community-based drug treatment and other alternatives
to incarceration for nonviolent drug law offenders, policies
that reduce public spending while improving public safety; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conference supports preventing
the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other infectious diseases
by eliminating the federal ban on funding of sterile syringe
exchange programs and encourages the adoption of local overdose
prevention strategies to reduce the harms of drug abuse; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the impact of drug use and drug policies
is most acutely felt on the local communities, and therefore
local needs and priorities of drug policy can be best
identified, implemented and assessed at the local level. A
successful national strategy to reduce substance abuse and
related harms must invest in the health of our cities and give
cities, counties, and states the flexibility they need to find
the most effective way to deal with drugs, save taxpayer dollars
and keep their communities safe.
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Original URL, see page 47 et seq.:
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