In the
2008 general election, voters with an interest in alcohol and other drug treatment, prevention and recovery can go to the polls knowing that both major-party candidates for president have been generally supportive of their issues.
Voters in a number of states also will have a chance to weigh in Nov. 4 on ballot initiatives tackling everything from medical marijuana to sweeping drug-policy reform.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Drugs have hardly been a major issue in the 2008 campaign, but both Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have offered a number of details on their approaches to dealing with the issues of drug addiction, prevention, trafficking and other crime. Perhaps most significantly, both McCain and Obama supported this year's landmark addiction and mental health parity legislation, the single most significant new addiction-related federal law in at least a decade. This agreement stands in contrast to the candidates' sharply differing approaches to national healthcare reform.
Both candidates are also strong supporters of drug courts, as detailed in their respective party platforms. McCain and Obama also have played against type at times: McCain, for example, has been scourged during the current campaign as a buddy of big business but in fact has been a longtime critic of Big Tobacco, and while Obama's religious beliefs have been questioned in some quarters, he offered a strong endorsement for federal funding of faith-based organizations earlier this year.
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U.S. CONGRESS
Thirty-five Senators and the entire House of Representatives are up for re-election this year. Know the voting record of your local members of Congress:
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The easy generalization is to say that McCain's antidrug strategy is more oriented towards law enforcement, while Obama's stresses demand reduction. That may be true to some extent, but the fact is that both candidates endorse a strategy that includes treatment, prevention, law enforcement, and interdiction.
For example, when the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACAP) recently asked McCain, "How would you ensure that enforcement, prevention, and treatment programs receive equal resources and assistance to combat this growing problem?," the GOP candidate touted his past support of the prevention-oriented Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1988 as well as the Drug Free Borders Act of 1999. McCain also stated his support for the Second Chance Act, which provides treatment and other services to prisoners transitioning back to society.
In his answer to the IACAP questionnaire, Obama also cited his support of the Second Chance Act and said that enforcement, prevention and treatment "are critical to a complete national drug-control strategy, and each will be part of my agenda" if elected president. Buffing his law-enforcement credentials, Obama also promised to restore funding to the Byrne anti-drug justice assistance grant program and noted his sponsorship of the Combat Meth Act, which increased penalties on methamphetamine producers and traffickers. On the other hand, he pledged to "robustly" fund drug courts and the Drug Free Communities Support Program.
Recovery advocates say they would be relatively comfortable with the drug-policy agenda of a McCain or Obama administration, particularly given that both candidates have had personal or family struggles with alcohol and other drug use and addiction.
Critics of the drug war, on the other hand, have relatively low expectations no matter who gets elected. "No administration since Jimmy Carter's has proactively taken steps to liberalize federal drug penalties, and there's little indication that Obama and Biden will possess either the desire or the political will to buck this long-running trend," marijuana policy expert Paul Armentano recently told AlterNet, which published a "Progressive Voter Guide to Drug Issues" on Oct. 10.
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STATE BALLOT INITIATIVES
The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that there will be about 160 state ballot questions before voters on Nov. 4, but only a handful of these deal with alcohol and drug issues.
Perhaps the most discussed of these is California's Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA), dubbed "the biggest sentencing and prison reform in United States history" by Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance but condemned by national drug-court advocates and California law-enforcement groups. NORA calls for more funding for addiction treatment and less imprisonment of drug offenders; advocates stress that it increases funding for drug courts, but critics complain that NORA limits the ability of drug-court judges to jail drug offenders.
(Read JoinTogether.org commentaries supporting and opposing Proposition 5.)
Also on the November ballot is Proposition 6, dubbed the Safe Neighborhoods Act, which would increase penalties on drug- and gang-related crime, including prosecuting gang-related offenders as young as 14 as adults. The measure also calls for criminal-background checks of public-housing residents and increased penalties for methamphetamine use or possession with intent to sell.
Ironically, the lead financial backer of Proposition 6, Henry Nicholas, was arrested on drug charges earlier this year; other supporters include California law enforcement and some politicians. Opponents include the state Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters, and the California Teachers Association.
Michigan is the only state where voters will weigh in this November on the question of medical marijuana. The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care Initiative would allow terminally and seriously ill patients to use marijuana for medical purposes with a physicians' approval, allow such patients to legally possession certain amounts of the drug for their personal medical use, and create an ID-card system for medical users.
Supporters include major national drug-policy reform groups as well as the American Bar Association, the American College of Physicians, and the American Public Health Association. Federal drug czar John Walters recently visited Michigan to condemn the measure, and an organized opposition group was formed in October. Recent polls show voters favoring the measure by a significant margin.
Massachusetts voters will decide whether the state should decriminalize adult possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. The Massachusetts Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative, largely funded by drug-policy reformer and financier George Soros, calls for fines of no more than $100 for simple possession of marijuana rather than the current criminal penalties of up to six months in jail and fines of $500.
Opponents include the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and the Massachusetts Association of Superintendents, as well as the state governor and mayor of Boston. A recent poll of registered voters found that 51 percent supported the decriminalization measure, 32 opposed it, and 16 percent were undecided.
North Dakota voters will have the opportunity to decide whether to establish a tobacco prevention and control advisory committee, establish a statewide tobacco-control plan, and set up a tobacco prevention trust fund for state tobacco-settlement money under the North Dakota Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program Petition. The two-year, $18.6 million program would be financed by the state's share of the 1998 nationwide tobacco settlement.
Oregon's Ballot Measure 57 calls for increased prison terms for those convicted of certain drug and property crimes and bars judges from imposing shorter sentences. On the other hand, the measure directs the state to provide addiction treatment to certain offenders. A competing ballot measure, Oregon Ballot Measure 61, calls for mandatory prison terms for first-time offenders and provides no funding for treatment. Measure 57 has broad support from the state's law-enforcement community and health, faith, and community groups that are part of the Better Way to Fight Crime Committee.
Also on the Oregon ballot this November is Measure 62, which would allot 15 percent of state lottery proceeds to crime prevention, investigation, and prosecution.
In Maine, voters are being asked whether to prevent a new tax law that funds the state's healthcare-reform plan from being enacted. The so-called Dirigo Law would double taxes on beer and wine and also raise taxes on soft drinks in order to provide more Maine residents with health insurance. The measure would add 2.6 cents to the cost of a can of beer, 7 cents to the price of a 750-ml bottle of wine, and about 4 cents to a 12-ounce can of soda.
Supporters of the repeal item, Question 1, operate as the Fed Up with Taxes coalition and include the Maine Beer and Wine Wholesalers, Maine Beverage Associaton, and the Maine Restaurant Association.
Learn more about State Ballot Initiatives: National Conference of State Legislatures Ballot Measures Database
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