Drug Policy

KEY PEOPLE

William Martin, Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Few would dispute that illicit drug use and abuse is one of the most prominent and perplexing issues facing our society. For nearly a century, the United States has been an active proponent of the punitive prohibition of illicit drugs. Unfortunately, the “war on drugs” has been largely unsuccessful; prosecution of illegal drug consumption has filled our prisons without significantly reducing crime, decreasing homelessness, preventing overdose deaths, diminishing the spread of HIV, or undermining the illegal drug market. Many would now argue that the vision of a “drug-free” America is unrealistic. Other countries are turning to “harm reduction” policies to reduce the societal damage that illegal drug use causes.

In 2002, the Baker Institute convened a unique conference on drugs that brought together academicians, health care experts, leaders of the drug reform movement, representatives of drug policy organizations and governments from around the world, as well as law enforcement and government officials from the United States. With cautious optimism, the Baker Institute’s Drug Policy Program continues to pursue research and open debate on local and national drug policies in hopes of developing policies that are pragmatic, based on common sense, driven by human rights interests, and focused on reducing the death, disease, crime and suffering associated with drug use.

In recent research, William Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at the Baker Institute, has contended that needle exchange programs, in wide use in many countries but scarce and often opposed in the United States, are a proven method of reducing the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C without increasing drug use and constitute a fiscally responsible, medically prudent, and compassionate public health measure that ought to be widely adopted. Current research focuses on: 1) programs of controlled “maintenance” of addicts as a proven approach to reduce crime, disease, poverty and other ills associated with addiction; and 2) the injustices and enormous individual and social costs associated with a punishment-oriented approach to drug use and abuse, perhaps seen most clearly in mandatory minimum sentences that can consign drug users with no record of violent or other serious crime to decades in prison, at great financial cost and with little evidence of efficacious consequences.

PUBLICATIONS
2009: Creating needle-exchange programs would be the Christian thing to do
Apr 05 2009

William Martin; Needle Exchange Programs: Sending the Right Message
Jan 16 2009

William Martin; Needle Exchange Programs: Recommendations for the Next Administration
Jan 16 2009

William Martin
2007: Policy with a Point: Clean Needles for Drug Addicts
Mar 16 2007

William Martin
2005: Needle Exchange Programs: Sending the Right Message
Mar 01 2005
2002: Drugs, Democracy, and the Andean Crisis
Apr 10 2002

Gina Amatangelo; Moving Beyong the 'War on Drugs' - Transcript of Remarks
Apr 10 2002

Lee P. Brown, Mayor; Shifting the Main Purposes of Drug Control: From Suppression to Regulation of Use
Apr 10 2002

Peter Cohen; Restoring Respect for Our Law, Our Communities, and Ourselves: Drug Policy and Democracy
Apr 10 2002

Ronald Earle; Our Drug Laws Have Failed
Apr 10 2002

James P. Gray; The Impact of Government Regulation on The Medical Treatment of Pain
Apr 10 2002

C. Stratton Hill; Drug Policy in the Shadow of the Elephant - Includes June 2003 Update
Apr 10 2002

Eugende Oscapella; Safety First: A Reality-Based Approach to Teens, Drugs, and Drug Education
Apr 10 2002

Marsha Rosenbaum; The Swiss Drug Policy
Apr 10 2002

Francois van der Linde; Response to Asa Hutchinson
Apr 10 2002

Kevin Zeese

EVENTS

Document Actions

Drug Policy