Mr. MICA. I would like to recognize next Mr. Scott Ehlers, senior policy analyst with the Drug Policy Foundation. Mr. EHLERS. Thank you. I have a full statement that I would like to introduce into the record. Mr. MICA. Without objection, that will be made part of the record. Thank you. Mr. EHLERS. Thank you. Chairman Mica, Representative Mink and other distinguished members of the subcommittee, once again my name is Scott Ehlers, senior policy analyst for the Drug Policy Foundation. Thank you for inviting me to testify about our Nation's drug policies. I am proud to say that the Drug Policy Foundation has been on the forefront of reform since 1986. I am sorry to say that over the last two decades, the drug war's strain on the justice system has gone up significantly. Drug arrests are up from 580,000 in 1980 to nearly 1.6 million in 1997. The number of drug offenders in prison is 22 times larger today than in 1980. We are creating, in the words of General Barry McCaffrey, a "drug gulag." One of those prisoners is Dorothy Gaines, a mother of three from Mobile, AL. Dorothy calls me every week to tell me how she misses her children and how she would be willing to wear an ankle bracelet for the rest of her life if she could just go home. Dorothy is serving 19 years in Federal prison on a crack cocaine conspiracy charge. No evidence of drugs were ever found in her home. She has no previous arrests. She is an upstanding, church-going citizen. There is so little evidence that the State court threw the case out. But the Federal prosecutor took it anyway. She was convicted merely on the testimony of drug dealers who lied so they could get a reduced sentence. The kingpin is going to get out of prison 8 years before Dorothy because she didn't know anyone to snitch on. But it is not only Dorothy serving time. So is her son Phillip who wrote the trial judge to strike a deal: "Dear Judge, would you help my mom? I don't have anyone to take care of me and my sisters. My birthday is coming up in October, and I need my mom to be here. I will cut your grass, I will wash your car every day. Just don't send my mom off. Please, please, don't send her off." Other families are being torn apart just like Dorothy's, many of whom are in this book, "Shattered Lives," which I am sending to each of you. And if there have been other books entered into the record, I am wondering if this is a possibility as well. Mr. MICA. Without objection, it will be noted and made part of the record. Mr. EHLERS. Thank you. [NOTE.-The information referred to may be found in subcommittee files.] Mr. EHLERS. Have the mass incarcerations made drugs less available? Cocaine is half as expensive today as in 1981, and heroin is five times as pure. In 1975, 87 percent of high school seniors said it was easy to get marijuana. Today, that figure is 90.4 percent. Clearly, our Nation's current drug strategy is not achieving its intended goals. We think there is a better way, based on the following principles and reforms. No. 1, drug use and addiction should be treated as public health issues, not criminal justice problems. With the threat of criminal sanctions gone, many more people with substance abuse problems would seek medical assistance rather than hiding out of fear of arrest. No. 2, prevention should address the root causes of drug use and abuse. Community development, job training programs, and afterschool programs should receive more support. No. 3, drug policy should be based on science and research, not ideology. Research shows that treatment is more cost effective than prison. Marijuana is an effective medicine, and syringe exchange reduces the spread of HIV. No. 4, drug policy should be based on a respect for the Constitution, civil liberties and property rights. Unfortunately, Representatives Barr and Cummings aren't here. I was going to thank them for cosponsoring the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, which we are supporting, that would protect property owners. No. 5, Federal drug policy should respect democracy and States' rights. The Federal Government should respect State initiatives that have supported drug policy reforms. No. 6, mandatory minimums should be repealed, drug sentences reduced and alternatives to incarceration implemented. Congress should support Representative Waters in passing her H.R. 1681 which would repeal mandatory minimums for drug offenses. We also support General McCaffrey's call to reduce drug prisoners by 250,000. No. 7, the regulation and control of currently illicit drugs must be included as one of the drug policy options that is discussed. What would these regulations look like? Would the government, doctors, or special drugstores dispense the drugs? Would all currently illicit drugs be sold in the regulated market or are some unacceptably dangerous? Would drugs be regulated over 1 year or 20 years? All of these questions have to be answered by the American public. Why must regulation be considered? Because prohibition and the resulting black market enrich criminals and terrorists around the world, encourages the recruitment of youth to sell drugs, provides youth with easier access to drugs, corrupts government officials, and undermines the rule of law. We must also acknowledge the potential benefits of regulating the drug market, including taking the profit out of the hands of criminals and putting it into government coffers for expanding prevention and treatment efforts. In conclusion, there are a wide variety of drug policy innovations that would save tax dollars, protect children and improve public health, but we must first realize that police and prisons are not the solution to our social problems. As a free society, we should seriously consider all the options to determine the best drug policy for our country. Thank you again for giving me this opportunity. Mr. MICA. Thank you for your testimony. [The prepared statement of Mr. Ehlers follows:] Statement of Scott Ehlers Senior Policy Analyst Drug Policy Foundation - Washington, D.C. Before Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources Hearing on "Drug Legalization, Criminalization, and Harm Reduction" June 16, 1999 The Drug Policy Foundation Chairman Mica, Rep. Mink, and other Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee: My name is Scott Ehlers and I am the Senior Policy Analyst for the Drug Policy Foundation in Washington, D.C. Thank you for inviting me to testify about our nation's drug policies and the growing movement to bring about drug policy reform. I am proud to say that the Drug Policy Foundation has been on the forefront of these efforts since the organization's inception in 1986. I am sorry to say that over the last two decades, the drug-war strain on the criminal justice system has gone up significantly, from 580,900 drug arrests in 1980 to nearly 1.6 million in 1997, the highest level in our nation's history.' The number of drug offenders in state and federal prisons has skyrocketed from 12,475 in 1980 to 281,419 in 1997, a 2,155% increase.2 INCREASED ARRESTS, PRISONERS DO NOT REDUCE DRUG AVAILABILITY Has the U.S. attempt to incarcerate its way out of the drug problem made drugs less available or increased their price on the street? Not at all. According to the DEA, since 1981, cocaine and heroin prices are at historically low levels today, and purity is very high.3 There has been little change in the amount of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana available for consumption today compared with 10 years ago.* Disturbingly, the high number of drug arrests and prisoners has not reduced young people's access to illegal drugs. The Monitoring the Future Survey found that 87% of high school seniors said it was "easy" or "fairly easy" to get marijuana in 1975. Twenty-four years and millions of 1 FBI, 1997 Uniform Crime Reports, p. 222; FBI, 1980 Uniform Crime Reports, p. 191. 2 P Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 1997, August 1998, as cited in The National Drug Control Strategy, 1999, 129. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Correctional Populations in the United States, 1992, p. 58-9. In 1981, cocaine cost $378.70 per pure gram on the street. In 1998 it cost $169.25. Purity has risen from 40.02% in 1981 to 71.23% in 1998. Heroin cost $3,114.80 per pure gram in 1981 and $1,798.80 in 1998. Heroin purity has risen from 4.69% in 1981 to 24.49% in 1998. Source: System to Retrieve Information from Drug Evidence, DEA, 1981-98. See the 1997 NNICC Report and the 1999 National Drug Control Strategy, p. 131. arrests later, 90.4% of seniors said the drug was easily obtained in 1998. Similarly, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that it is much easier for high school students to buy marijuana than beer. Clearly, our nation's current drug strategy is not achieving its intended goal of increasing the price of drugs and reducing people's - especially youth's - access to them. How many people will we have to throw in prison before we declare victory in the war on drugs? How many of the 77 million Americans who have used illegal drugs should be rounded up and sent to jail? How many schools are we willing to neglect in order to expand our prison system? How many lives and billions of dollars are we going to waste before we realize, "There has to be a better way?" DRUG-FREE OR SIMPLY UN-FREE? What is that better way? First, we must recognize that a drug-free society has never existed in human history, and that the current attempts to create a drug-free society will simply result in an un-free society. Will we eliminate personal privacy, cut off foreign trade, institute populationwide random drug testing, wiretap all the phones, create an army of police and informants, monitor all financial transactions, and build a prison system big enough to hold every drug user before we recognize the folly of our ways? Unfortunately, this is the path on which we are currently traveling. MINIMIZE THE HARMS ASSOCIATED WITH DRUG USE AND DRUG POLICY If a drug-free society cannot be created, then what can be done? We can minimize the harms associated with drug use and our drug policies. Unfortunately, the drug war itself creates excessive amounts of harm including: the curtailment of civil liberties through heavy-handed police tactics; the ever-expanding role of the military in domestic law enforcement; large-scale imprisonment and disenfranchisement of the citizenry, particularly minorities; a growing 5 "Teens Report Cigarettes and Marijuana Easier to Buy Than Beer," CESAR Fax. October 28, 1996. Adapted from the National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse II: Teens and Their Parents, National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, September 1996. |