THE FAILED WAR ON DRUGS IS WHAT'S PACKING CALIFORNIA'S PRISONS

This month marks 40 years since President Richard Nixon inauspiciously
declared a "war on drugs," setting America on a catastrophic course
that has cost more than a trillion dollars and destroyed millions of
lives. The consequences of this 40-year "war" have been especially
harsh in California -- punctuated by last month's United States
Supreme Court decision ordering the state to reduce its bloated prison
population by more than 33,000.

To commemorate this notorious anniversary, advocates across the
country -- and throughout California -- are demanding a fundamental
change in drug policy and an exit strategy from this futile war.

The anniversary comes on the heels of a scathing report from the
Global Commission on Drug Policy. The Commission is composed of
international dignitaries, including former U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan and prestigious American figures, including former
Secretary of State George Shultz and former Federal Reserve Chairman
Paul Volcker. They acknowledged that the "global war on drugs has failed."

Their authoritative report, which has made waves around the world,
calls for a paradigm shift in drug policy, beginning by
decriminalizing drug use and recognizing that drug problems are
"health and social challenges to be managed, rather than a war to be
won."

Drug war statistics are grim by any measure. More than 1.4 million
Americans were arrested for drug possession in 2009 alone, and about
half of those arrests were for marijuana. Yet drugs are
actually cheaper, purer and more accessible than ever before.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Americans have been allowed to die
of overdoses and AIDS, hepatitis and other diseases because the drug
war has prevented us from treating addiction to certain drugs as a
matter of health rather than criminal justice.

California's overcrowded prisons exemplify the harms of our failed
drug laws. Currently, more than 140,000 people are incarcerated in
California state prisons, though these facilities were designed to
house only 80,000.

Such extreme overcrowding is fueled largely by the drug war and has
created unconstitutionally abysmal conditions, denying people adequate
health care. In 2009, suicide rates in California's prisons were 80
percent higher than the national average, while roughly one inmate a
week died because of constitutionally deficient medical care.

Confronted with this crisis, the United States Supreme Court, in Brown
v. Plata, required California to reduce its prison population to
110,000 within two years.

The court's decision presents an extraordinary opportunity for reform.
The California Legislature should immediately amend sentencing
practices for low-level offenses, including drug possession, in order
to safely and sustainably reduce the state's prison population.

The people of California support this type of sentencing reform.
According to a survey by Lake Research conducted in March, California
voters, regardless of geography, ethnicity or political affiliation,
want changes to the state's sentencing laws. The survey showed that an
incredible 72 percent of voters support reducing the penalty for petty
drug offenses from a felony to a misdemeanor.

This modest reform would reap major rewards. By simply reducing the
penalty for drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor, the state
would save $400 million a year and reduce the prison population by
more than 8,500. But as long as California continues to incarcerate
thousands of people each year for petty offenses, the state's prisons
will remain overcrowded and dangerous.

The 40th anniversary of the failed war on drugs is not an occasion for
celebration. But it does warrant a frank assessment of the harms of
drug prohibition and the crafting of effective, evidence-based drug
policies that will improve, not undermine, California's public safety
and health.