Despite widespread recognition that the “War on Drugs” has been a tragic failure, many reform efforts have faltered. However, the recent drug sentencing bill enacted by the Washington State Legislature is a small step in the right direction, and the KCBA’s continuing drug policy reform effort is seeking to build on that success, hopefully leading to developments in Washington that may become a national model for drug law reform.
The KCBA Drug Policy Project is at a critical juncture and numerous initiatives are now underway, involving literally scores of busy professionals who are volunteering their time in the following groups:
LEGAL REFORM
The core initiative of the KCBA Drug Policy Project is its legal reform effort. Over two dozen participants in the Legal Frameworks Group, composed of lawyers, clinicians, scholars, current and former public officials and law enforcement agents, spent over three years researching and debating alternatives to the “War on Drugs,” intending to lay the foundation for the development of a new legal framework to control psychoactive substances. The Group considered the host of complex practical questions around manufacturing, quality control, labeling, distribution, point-of-sale, taxation, licensing, medical prescriptions, criminal enforcement, third-party liability and the use of drug testing. The main guiding principle of the group’s work was that the degree of state control over a particular substance should be commensurate with the known potential for primary harm and for problematic use associated with that substance.
Arising from the Legal Frameworks Group recommendations, the King County Bar Association approved a Resolution in 2005 calling on the Washington State Legislature to establish a consultative group of experts to discuss the feasibility of creating a state-level regulatory system to control those psychoactive substances that are currently produced and distributed exclusively in illegal markets. Such a system could serve Washington’s citizens better than the current drug control regime and as a model that could be replicated in other states. The premise for developing a state-level drug control policy is that federal law should yield to the primacy of the states, permitting the development of their own drug control systems and restoring the balance allowing states to be the laboratories to change and improve law and public policy.
Underlying the Resolution was the release of a major new report in early 2005, Effective Drug Control: Toward a New Legal Framework, which recounts the history of drug use and drug control efforts across the ages, surveys innovative approaches to substance abuse coming from Europe, Canada and elsewhere, describes the current drug control scheme and alternative models, analyzes the “states’ rights” argument for more local drug control efforts and, finally, sets forth the parameters of a new legal framework of drug control as a workable alternative to drug prohibition, and as a model that could be used in other states.
PREVENTION
The KCBA’s Drug Abuse Prevention/Drug Education Working Group has attracted state experts in the prevention field, including the leadership of the Governor’s Council on Substance Abuse, the state Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, the state PTA and local school systems. The Prevention Working Group is evaluating opportunities and obstacles to the implementation of evidence-based prevention programs in schools, working towards recommending improvements in the state’s prevention and drug education strategies to focus on programs for high-risk youth and greater use of harm reduction measures.
TREATMENT
Four working groups are currently operating in the area of drug addiction treatment:
The Treatment Policy and Funding Task Force has brought together judges, prosecutors, treatment professionals and King County Drug Court staff to address questions raised by the implementation of the state’s new drug sentencing system. The group is broadly examining the issue of eligibility for treatment-in-lieu-of-incarceration, prosecutorial and judicial discretion and the “right” to treatment, and is also attempting to define "treatment" in the context of a court-supervised system, including what treatment modalities are appropriate and how non-addicted drug users can also avoid criminal records and incarceration. The Task Force recently published its report to the KCBA Board of Trustees entitled, Drug-Related Crime and Disorder: Practical Policy Options, with numerous recommendations for more effective treatment intervention and minimization of criminal justice exposure for drug addicted individuals.
The Opiate Substitution Working Group serves as a forum for over two dozen addiction treatment professionals, including doctors, treatment clinic directors and state and local public officials in the chemical dependency field. The group recently issued a statement on funding for methadone treatment, has worked successfully with the King County Council to increase methadone funding and is currently working with the state legislature to provide full funding for opiate substitution treatment under the state’s Medicaid program.
The Insurance Working Group is examining issues related insurance coverage for chemical dependency treatment, with a current focus on the barriers to access to treatment. Participants include the director of the state Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, the executive director of the state Board of Health, the former state Insurance Commissioner, a union official, private attorneys and a number of private treatment clinic directors.
The Juvenile Treatment Working Group has brought together scholars from the University of Washington, attorneys who represent children in juvenile justice proceedings, officials from King County’s Juvenile Drug Court and addiction treatment professionals who specialize in children’s issues. The group is identifying obstacles to effective treatment for children and is developing recommendations to improve access to and the quality of treatment for juveniles.
RACIAL AND CLASS DISPARITIES
Begun during the first phase of the KCBA Drug Policy Project, the Task Force on Racial and Class Disparities had been studying the extent to which current drug policies have had a disproportionately adverse impact on racial minorities and the poor. The Task Force will release its own report with recommendations to help make drug policy more humane and less discriminatory. The Task Force hosted an all-day, standing-room-only, public forum to foster substantive discussion of these issues, bringing together public officials and police with civic leaders, community organizers and national experts in drug policy.
PUBLIC INFORMATION AND EVENTS
The KCBA Drug Policy Project has sponsored a number of public meetings, legal education seminars and news conferences and other public forums, and further Continuing Legal Education programs are being planned.
The Drug Policy Speakers’ Bureau has been established, including over a dozen participants in the KCBA Drug Policy Project who are available to give presentations to civic, business, professional and educational organizations.
PROJECT EVALUATION AND AWARDS
The KCBA Drug Policy Project has met with considerable success, as the KCBA membership has become enthusiastic and activated on drug policy issues, relationships between lawyers, doctors, pharmacists and other professionals has been markedly improved and the KCBA has achieved a much more prominent voice in the policy-making process. The KCBA Drug Policy Project was named as one of the “Best Projects” by the National Conference of Bar Presidents in 2002, 2003, and 2004 and the King County Bar Foundation, which supports pro bono legal programs and minority law school scholarships, awarded the KCBA Drug Policy Project the “Champion of Justice Award” for 2003.
For more information, contact the Drug Policy Project at DPP@KCBA.org or by telephone at (206) 267-7001
