2022 Drug Policy Alternatives: Changing our Failing Drug Laws
UUs for Drug Policy Reform

Our country’s "War on Drugs" is an absolute and utter failure.

This is the message delivered by Mr. Sanho Tree, a Fellow with the Drug Policy Project in Washington, D.C. and Judge James P. Gray, author of Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It--A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs.

Both Mr. Tree and Judge Gray have studied extensively the current U.S. drug policies and have concluded that continuing current policies will only serve to further over-populate our prison and judicial systems, line the pockets of corrupt officials and drug lords, and allow the illicit drug trade to flourish worldwide.

Further, the "war" paradigm is itself flawed. A war is typically defined as a brute force attack against rational actors who have the ability to capitulate when overwhelmed. The drug trade has no single rational actor. It is a multi-headed Hydra. Mr. Tree described our current "war" as a version of the carnival game "Whack-a-mole," wherein a little creature’s head pops up, you whack it with a hammer, then another little head pops up from another hole, ad infinitum. This approach on this issue cannot have a positive outcome.

Mr. Tree stated that the continuing escalation in the trafficking of these drugs is a direct function of economics. In Columbia, more than two-thirds of the population lives on less than US$2 per day. Over one-third live on less than US$1 per day. By raising the coca leaves and converting them to coca paste, Columbian farmers can earn enough money to support their families for months.

Many well-intentioned people suggest that these farmers convert to a different crop such as corn, bananas or pineapples. A major drawback to this idea is that the majority of Columbia has no infrastructure to support the transport of these crops to market. A farmer can easily load one mule with enough coca paste to support his family for months. This is not a viable option for the farmer growing pineapples or corn.

According to Judge Gray, the current "War on Drugs" is in fact putting our children in harm’s way. Number one: It is easier for our children to gain access to illicit drugs than alcohol or tobacco. The drug pushers will find our children. One doesn’t typically find a youngster on the playground offering his buddies a free sample of wine. Number two: By allowing the drug trade to grow, it undercuts our children’s work ethic. Selling drugs is a quick way to make a lot of money. For some, it may beat mowing lawns for $7. And, number three: Those higher up in the drug trade are more and more seeking out our children to act as lookouts, couriers, and eventually pushers taking advantage of our country’s juvenile court system.

Their research, supported by the research of other independent institutes, indicates that there are tried and tested programs that are much more effective and humane in addressing this issue. They presented several of these options.

#1. Mr. Tree and Judge Gray agree that the best way to eliminate the drug problem is to bring these drugs under regulatory control in much the same way alcohol and tobacco are regulated. History has shown that prohibition does not work, yet that is exactly how our government is approaching the current drug problem.

#2. Learn from the experiences of other countries. Switzerland started a three year pilot program in 1996 in which addicts were provided controlled dosages of their drugs at clinics staffed by a social worker, a nurse and a physician. The program had unintended side effects: Crime, particularly property crimes like thefts, dropped dramatically in the target communities. Further, many of the addicts were able to gain access to programs to help them stop using. This program was so successful that after the first year, the Swiss government decided to expand the program to dozens of other cities. This program continues to thrive and show remarkable results today.

#3. Take the federal government out of the picture. Let each individual state set its own laws and regulations. With fifty states trying differing approaches, might not the best approach be found? Then that information, that experience, could be shared.

#4. Legitimize the discussion. Currently our politicians and law enforcement personnel are afraid to publicly discuss these rational alternatives. It is much easier for a politician to be re-elected on a "get tough on crime" stance. It’s easier to stand before a microphone and, in a five second sound bite, support increasing sentences to punish users, instead of having to spend thirty seconds discussing the true reasons for this problem.

Both Judge Gray and Mr. Tree support the UUA "Alternatives to the ‘War on Drugs’" Statement of Conscience. It is their opinion that if more people understand this issue, truly effective solutions may begin.

For more information, please visit the Institute for Policy Studies at www.ips-dc.org or Judge James Gray’s web site at www.judgejimgray.com.

Sanho Tree

About Sanho Tree
Current Work: Sanho is pursuing drug policy reform by reaching out to non-traditional allies and employing innovative tactics to promote a sustainable, constitutional, and humane drug control policy. The project's mission is to help foster a paradigm shift replacing the punitive and coercive "social control model" of drug policy with a public health and community economic development model.

Sanho has worked as a military and diplomatic historian and co-authored with Dr. Gar Alperovitz "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth" (Knopf, 1995). From 1996-97, he assisted entertainer Harry Belafonte in drafting his memoirs and continues to work as a consultant for him on various public policy issues. From 1997-98, he was Associate Editor of CAQ, an award-winning magazine of investigative journalism. In the late 1980s he worked at the International Human Rights Law Group in Washington. He currently chairs the International and Border Affairs Committee of the National Coalition for Effective Drug Policy (NCEDP).

Judge James Gray

About Judge James Gray
Cited on numerous occasions for his work in the areas of both social reform and civic philanthropy, Judge James P. Gray currently presides over the civil trial calendar for the Superior Court of Orange County.

Judge Gray was appointed to the Santa Ana Municipal Court in 1983 by Governor George Deukmejian, and, in 1989, Deukmejian elevated Gray to his post with the Superior Court. Throughout his 25-year career within the legal and judicial community, not only has Jim Gray donated hundreds of hours of volunteer time to existing community service-oriented activities, he has also created and implemented a number of innovative and successful programs of his own.

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