Herdt: Changing course on drug policy Herdt: Changing course on drug policy

Voters in California and across the nation had some very interesting things to say about drugs in last week's election. It appears they've decided that a criminal justice-based war on drugs hasn't worked, and that perhaps it's time to start treating drug usage as a public health issue.

In California, voters strongly backed Proposition 47, with 58.5 percent support. The initiative makes possession for personal use of any illegal drug a misdemeanor. It further specifies that two-thirds of the savings from reduced prison costs be spent instead on mental health and drug treatment programs.

The remainder of the criminal justice-related savings, estimated by the Legislative Analyst's Office to be in the 'low hundreds of millions of dollars annually,' will go to school truancy programs and victims' services grants.

While that was happening on the West Coast, voters in New Jersey approved a bail reform measure that is expected to reduce the number of people who spend time behind bars for low-level drug violations.

And, of course, voters in Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C., approved the legal recreational use of marijuana, joining Colorado and Washington state.

The vote on Proposition 47, unlike votes on measures that were promoted or opposed with noisy and misleading ballot campaigns, seems like a pure expression of voter sentiment. There was no paid advertising for either side; decisions were made based on the ballot title and summary, some grass-roots advocacy and the voters' best judgment.

And their judgment appears to show that they have grown weary of treating drug use with arrest and imprisonment, rather than counseling and medical treatment.

Proposition 47 passed in 35 of the state's 58 counties and in every county along the coast. It failed only in the Central Valley; it was supported in such conservative counties as Orange and San Luis Obispo.

Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, said the ballot victories on drug measures were particularly significant, given the Republican partisan wave that covered the country on Election Day.

'Even in a year when Democrats were resoundingly trounced by Republicans, all these drug policy reforms succeeded,' he said. 'Drug policy reform has truly come of age in American politics, It's impossible to see how this momentum is going to be turned around.'

He noted that the one notable reform that failed to pass on Tuesday — legalization of medical marijuana in Florida — went down only because that state requires 60 percent voter approval for ballot measures. Were it not for that requirement, the 58 percent support for the measure would have made Florida the first Southern state to approve medical use of marijuana.

Of note in California was the support of Latinos — a voting bloc that has historically opposed any measure that might be seen as soft on the kinds of crime that beset low-income neighborhoods. A poll by Latino Decisions showed that Latino voters backed Proposition 47 by a ratio of better than 2-to-1.

Marcos Vargas, executive director of the Ventura County-based community organizing group CAUSE, which advocates for low-income communities, was among Proposition 47s most committed supporters.

In an email to supporters late Tuesday, Vargas noted that organizers from CAUSE talked to 10,000 voters on the Central Coast, encouraging their support for Proposition 47.

'With the passage of Proposition 47,' Vargas wrote, 'California is choosing to invest in schools instead of prisons and prioritizing mental health and drug rehabilitation services rather than locking people up for years for drug possession, shoplifting or writing a bad check.'

While the big political story today, appropriately, is the Republican tide that led to gaining GOP control of the U.S. Senate and expanding the party's majority in the House of Representatives, it is also true that the partisan pendulum swings regularly in American politics.

A transition of drug policies away from a crime-and-punishment approach to a public health approach could be something more lasting and significant.

It won't work unless it is accompanied by at least an equal amount of public resources being devoted to rehabilitation and treatment as has been devoted to prosecution and incarceration. Unless policymakers commit to that, it could in fact lead to increased criminal activity that could swing the pendulum on this issue as well.

As Edelmann said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, 'The public is increasingly willing to support prison-reduction measures — as long as it doesn't reduce public safety.'

The existing approach hasn't worked very well on that score. It seems that voters have collectively decided it's time to give some other approach to drug policy a try.

Timm Herdt is a columnist for the Ventura County Star.

Voters in California and across the nation had some very interesting things to say about drugs in last week's election. It appears they've decided that a criminal justice-based war on drugs hasn't worked, and that perhaps it's time to start treating drug usage as a public health issue.

In California, voters strongly backed Proposition 47, with 58.5 percent support. The initiative makes possession for personal use of any illegal drug a misdemeanor. It further specifies that two-thirds of the savings from reduced prison costs be spent instead on mental health and drug treatment programs.

The remainder of the criminal justice-related savings, estimated by the Legislative Analyst's Office to be in the 'low hundreds of millions of dollars annually,' will go to school truancy programs and victims' services grants.

While that was happening on the West Coast, voters in New Jersey approved a bail reform measure that is expected to reduce the number of people who spend time behind bars for low-level drug violations.

And, of course, voters in Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C., approved the legal recreational use of marijuana, joining Colorado and Washington state.

The vote on Proposition 47, unlike votes on measures that were promoted or opposed with noisy and misleading ballot campaigns, seems like a pure expression of voter sentiment. There was no paid advertising for either side; decisions were made based on the ballot title and summary, some grass-roots advocacy and the voters' best judgment.

And their judgment appears to show that they have grown weary of treating drug use with arrest and imprisonment, rather than counseling and medical treatment.

Proposition 47 passed in 35 of the state's 58 counties and in every county along the coast. It failed only in the Central Valley; it was supported in such conservative counties as Orange and San Luis Obispo.

Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, said the ballot victories on drug measures were particularly significant, given the Republican partisan wave that covered the country on Election Day.

'Even in a year when Democrats were resoundingly trounced by Republicans, all these drug policy reforms succeeded,' he said. 'Drug policy reform has truly come of age in American politics, It's impossible to see how this momentum is going to be turned around.'

He noted that the one notable reform that failed to pass on Tuesday — legalization of medical marijuana in Florida — went down only because that state requires 60 percent voter approval for ballot measures. Were it not for that requirement, the 58 percent support for the measure would have made Florida the first Southern state to approve medical use of marijuana.

Of note in California was the support of Latinos — a voting bloc that has historically opposed any measure that might be seen as soft on the kinds of crime that beset low-income neighborhoods. A poll by Latino Decisions showed that Latino voters backed Proposition 47 by a ratio of better than 2-to-1.

Marcos Vargas, executive director of the Ventura County-based community organizing group CAUSE, which advocates for low-income communities, was among Proposition 47s most committed supporters.

In an email to supporters late Tuesday, Vargas noted that organizers from CAUSE talked to 10,000 voters on the Central Coast, encouraging their support for Proposition 47.

'With the passage of Proposition 47,' Vargas wrote, 'California is choosing to invest in schools instead of prisons and prioritizing mental health and drug rehabilitation services rather than locking people up for years for drug possession, shoplifting or writing a bad check.'

While the big political story today, appropriately, is the Republican tide that led to gaining GOP control of the U.S. Senate and expanding the party's majority in the House of Representatives, it is also true that the partisan pendulum swings regularly in American politics.

A transition of drug policies away from a crime-and-punishment approach to a public health approach could be something more lasting and significant.

It won't work unless it is accompanied by at least an equal amount of public resources being devoted to rehabilitation and treatment as has been devoted to prosecution and incarceration. Unless policymakers commit to that, it could in fact lead to increased criminal activity that could swing the pendulum on this issue as well.

As Edelmann said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, 'The public is increasingly willing to support prison-reduction measures — as long as it doesn't reduce public safety.'

The existing approach hasn't worked very well on that score. It seems that voters have collectively decided it's time to give some other approach to drug policy a try.

Timm Herdt is a columnist for the Ventura County Star.