WATCH, DOG, WATCH!

www.drugpolicy.org
www.prop36.org

In November 2000, California voters changed the face of America's war on
drugs by voting in Proposition 36 and demanding treatment instead of
incarceration for non-violent drug users. But while the spirit of the
law--a rehabilitative response to the problem of drug addiction--is clear,
the letter of its implementation is still being refined in the counties of
California. Whitney Taylor, director of the Proposition 36 Implementation
Project for the Drug Policy Alliance , also organized the Proposition 36
campaign, and asserts that the people are ahead of the politicians on this.
Because of this, she has become a watchdog for this precedent-setting
policy and tries "to ensure this initiative is implemented as intended by
voters, and that as many people receive treatment as are entitled to it
under the law."

What Is The Drug Policy Alliance?

The Drug Policy Alliance is a nationwide drug reform organization that
believes the war on drugs has failed and it's time to start looking at
alternatives. It is harm-reduction-based, which means we believe the
policies around drugs should be less harmful than the drugs themselves. We
want to base drug policy on science and medicine rather than this
moralistic crusade that has been tied to the war on drugs for the past 30
years.

Why Do We Need Drug-Policy Reform In The U.S.?

There's this quick, reactionary war on drugs mentality we have in this
country--that drug use is a moral failing and should be punished,
regardless of the fact that alcohol and tobacco own most of the elected
officials out there. Drug addicts are only criminals because a moral line
was drawn in the sand saying, "If you use drug X, you're a criminal. If you
use drug Y, you're not." It's which drug you choose to use that is the
problem; it's not whether you are using them safely and responsibly in your
own home. The approach the U.S. has taken has done nothing but cause more harm.

When individuals are suffering from addiction, we need to treat them in a
public health manner. We need to save our criminal justice resources, which
are always more expensive, for public safety risks--like terrorism,
violence and rape.

What Has Proposition 36 Achieved?

Individuals who are convicted of low-level, non-violent drug
crimes--meaning possession for personal use only--are placed on probation
and given treatment. Prop. 36 also covers services like vocational
training, GED, family counseling and anger management, because most people
who are so severely addicted to drugs that they are being caught in the
criminal justice system are probably self-medicating for something else.
The system will pay for 12 months of treatment with six months of
after-care. If we get someone to stick with treatment for a year or more,
they're usually doing pretty well; they can have a job and be productive in
their communities and families. Once they've successfully completed
treatment, they can request their record be expunged. That way, when they
apply for a job, they can say no when asked if they've ever committed a
felony. [There's also] immeasurable societal savings. People are kept with
their families, so children don't have to go into foster care as they would
if their caretakers were imprisoned.

Describe Your Job As A Watchdog.

I do a variety of things. I monitor a statewide advisory group and I helped
develop the new regulations needed to implement the initiative. I work with
counties in the implementation process.

This is a public health measure, so we determined that 83 percent of the
allotted money needs to go to direct treatment services, with 17 percent
for administrative and criminal justice costs. Some counties are giving as
little as 46 percent of that money to treatment. So, if I get a call from a
treatment provider saying, "I think our county's not doing this right,"
I'll go down there and go to meetings and I will sit there and watchdog. If
we believe a county is going against the intent of the initiative, we will
use tools like media and litigation to make sure they understand that we
are watching and we want this initiative to work as intended by voters.

Is This Type Of Drug Policy The Way Of The Future?

Yes. Prop. 36 is the spearhead in this, because a state as large as
California implementing a program of this magnitude has been phenomenal. A
lot of the country is looking to us. A similar proposition was passed in
Arizona. In 2002, similar programs will be voted on in Michigan, Ohio and
the District of Columbia. Hawaii has already passed legislation on this.
The country is ready for something else.

What Drew You To The Cause?

I went to undergraduate and graduate school at the American University in
D.C. I was picking electives and there was a class called "Drugs,
Consciousness and Human Fulfillment," taught by Dr. Arnold Trebach, founder
of the Drug Policy Foundation and author of The Great Drug War. He came in
and starting talking about the war on drugs and what we in the U.S. are
doing to our own people. I lost it! I changed my major to Criminal Justice.
I got my master's in Public Policy. It's coming on 11 years now, working in
the field. I never tire of it. It means so much to me.