Winnable Issues

The Correctional Association of New York (which is a criminal justice reform nonprofit) has a good item on its website right now looking at 5 areas in New York law that the association considers "winnable issues."  Those issues are:

• Repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws
• Provide Treatment for Inmates with Mental Illness
• Stop Locking Up Sexually Exploited Girls and Boys
• Make Alternatives to Detention Available for Youth
• Grant Merit Time Eligibility for Domestic Violence Survivors in Prison

This list is a model, in my opinion, for the kind of move that drug policy advocates need to be making in 2007. We spend so much time cataloging the horrors of the war on drugs and making easy judgments about the obvious shortcomings of our public officials. Far less time is spent on the more difficult task of identifying "winnable" areas where laws could realistically change and proposing specific, concrete ways that those laws might be enacted.

Making the shift from drug-horror documentarians to legislative advocates involves coming down to earth from our theoretical pedestals and attempting to engage with a system that is very slow-moving and complicated. But it's the only way that a progressive agenda will actually advance. And just the effort of locating and focusing on "winnable" or potentially winnable areas sometimes has the real-world effect of transforming what seemed like lost causes into viable opportunities. Daily Kos, along with its many allies in the progressive blogosphere and in the broader Democratic political structure, achieved something like this feat in the 2006 election by pushing for Democratic candidates to run even in districts that had previously seemed like "safe" Republican seats. By waging a battle for actual power, and not just fighting a war of words from the safety of the Internet, these bloggers and advocates made a difference in real outcomes.

So the question, I think, is this: what are the "winnable" issues for advocates of drug law reform? Not just here in California, but on the national level as well. Is there any way, for example, to get California municipalities to stop cracking down on medical marijuana dispensaries in a manner that seems to be directly opposed to the will of California voters? At the federal level, is there any chance that the vote tally on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment could be pushed closer to victory?

Once these issues are identified, the question is who can push for change. Who are the legislators with spine, who will stand up for a position that might seem radical to some voters? Who are the legislators whose regressive politics can be a point of vulnerability for them? Who are the judges, academics or correctional officials who will write op-eds calling for change? And can the intiative process, as screwed up as it is, be a useful tool for creating better laws, as it was in the context of Prop. 36?

This blog is an advocate, on the theoretical level, for a total end to the War on Drugs, which (as pretty much everybody knows) is ripping apart this country and stacking up people in prison as if they were so much cordwood. But a total end to prohibition is the theory, and reality is another, more complicated question. When it comes to reality, you look for winnable issues. You look for victories that will advance the cause even if they don't produce the perfect outcome that you think would be best.

Comments

[monkeylicious]

At the federal level, is there any chance that the vote tally on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment could be pushed closer to victory?

Someone should show Nancy Pelosi the public opinion data on Medical Marijuana. Some 70%+ of Americans support mmj legalization, IIRC.

This should be a slam dunk after the Democrat Congressional victory. Let George "Compassionate Conservative" Bush try to veto a bill for meliorative care for old people. Anyone who's watched an old person die is more likely than not to be sympathetic to the idea of getting medicine to the dying. This should not be a liberal-conservative issue.

Here is my list of Top 5 winnable issues on the Drug War:

* No random drug tests in schools. Our children are students, not prisoners.

* Hinchey-Rohrabacher, as mentioned above.

* Reschedule Marijuana under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Listing marijuana as more dangerous than cocaine or heroin is an embarassment--for the Drug Warriors. It doesn't pass the laugh test. Ironically, this is one situation in which Prohibitionists and Legalizers can get together. It's a gambit. If they focus less on dope, they can focus more on the harder stuff. (It's wrong to do that but slightly less wrong than a War on Marijuana.)

* Until last year, Alaska had decrim for up to 8 oz. of MJ. Now after a bad law and a slightly better court ruling, it's down to 4 oz. If we can get it back up to 8 oz., that would be more than enough to stock a little impromptu "Cannabis Cafe." Now, what if you sponsored trips up to Alaska for West Coast weed-heads? Cheaper than Amsterdam and better scenery, too! If you got enough of an industry going, you might be able to buy enough politicians to keep them from shutting it down. And if you kept this up long enough, Alaska could be a demonstration project for the rest of America.

(Alternately, promote "Ohio-style" marijuana laws--no jail for under 3oz., only civil citation.)

* Expand access to clean needles to lower the spread of AIDS and Hep: saving lives, saving families, saving money.

[Tom]

We have a VERY good chance of repealing the ban on college financial aid for students with drug convictions during the 110th Congress.

We need your help, though: http://www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com