Election Results â?? What Does It All Mean for Drug Policy Reform?

Dear Me,

As you probably know by now, Democrats have taken control of the U.S. House for the first time in 12 years, picking up at least 27 House seats from Republicans. And Democrats picked up at least five Senate seats and may win the other seat they need to take control of the Senate (Virginia is still undecided). Ten local marijuana law reform initiatives also won big yesterday. But voters rejected three important statewide marijuana initiatives, and approved a measure in Arizona that will undercut the stateâ??s successful treatment-instead-of-incarceration law. What does all this mean for drug policy reform?

Ballot Measures

Statewide measures to legalize small amounts of marijuana failed in Colorado (40% to 60%) and Nevada (44% to 56%). South Dakota voters narrowly defeated a medical marijuana initiative (48% to 52%). The South Dakota defeat is especially disappointing because it marks the first time that medical marijuana has lost at the ballot box. (Voters have approved medical marijuana in eight other states). None of these losses can be described as a total surprise. Polling all year long showed that support for the initiatives was much lower than support for successful reform measures in previous years. The voters just were not ready for them.

In California, voters in Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Santa Monica approved local measures making marijuana possession the lowest law enforcement priority in their cities. Voters in Missoula, Montana and Eureka Springs, Arkansas approved similar measures. In Massachusetts, voters in two legislative districts approved non-binding resolutions in support of making possession of up to one ounce of marijuana a civil violation subject only to a $100 fine. And in two other Massachusetts legislative districts, voters approved non-binding resolutions in support of legalizing marijuana for medical use. Voters in Albany, California approved an initiative allowing a medical marijuana dispensary to open in the city.

Overall, itâ??s clear that the tide is turning in favor of reforming marijuana laws--but we wish it were turning faster. Drug Policy Alliance Network (DPAN), the lobbying arm of the Drug Policy Alliance, welcomes feedback on how to move marijuana law reform forward. [link feedback to e-mail].

In Arizona, state legislators put a measure on the ballot that will undercut Proposition 200, a treatment-instead-of-incarceration law that voters approved in 1996. (Prop. 200 served as a model for Proposition 36, which California voters approved four years later). Arizona voters approved the measure, 58% to 42%. The new law allows judges to exclude people arrested for methamphetamine possession from the stateâ??s successful treatment program. DPAN is deeply concerned that other states will view this new law as a model. But we're happy to have beaten back a similar attack on treatment in the California legislature earlier this year.

Congress

The Democratic takeover of the U.S. House (and possible takeover of the Senate) provides DPAN with some exciting opportunities next year. Democrats at the federal level are far more sympathetic to reform than Republicans (this stands in contrast to state-level politics where Republicans are some of the strongest champions of reform in key states). For instance, 144 House Democrats voted earlier this year to prohibit the U.S. Justice Department from undermining state medical marijuana laws. Only 18 Republicans supported the measure. 169 Democrats voted last year to cut funding to the Andean Counterdrug Initiative (more commonly known as "Plan Colombia"), but only 19 Republicans voted to do so. Since almost all of the Republicans who were defeated yesterday were bad on both of these issues, we look forward to significantly more support next year. (Only one of the defeated Republicans supported medical marijuana, and only three voted to cut funding to the Andean Counterdrug Initiative).

Our federal political action committee (DPAC) helped several good state legislators get elected to Congress--most notably Steve Cohen (D-TN), who backed medical marijuana and sentencing reform in the Tennessee legislature, and Chris Murphy (D-CT), who supported DPAN's medical marijuana and crack/powder cocaine sentencing reform bills in the Connecticut legislature.

Many members of Congress DPAN works with were re-elected, including Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). Senator Bob Menendez (D) was re-elected in New Jersey and Rep. Ben Cardin (D) was elected to the Senate for the first time in Maryland. Both voted for medical marijuana in the House, making them the only two U.S. Senators to have voted for medical marijuana in the past. This puts DPAN in a good position to advance this issue in the Senate.

The most important change will come early next year when Republican Committee chairs like Rep. James Sensenbrenner (WI) and Rep. Mark Souder (IN) are replaced by solid drug policy reformers. Instead of playing defense trying to stop bad bills like Sensenbrennerâ??s horrible "snitch" bill [link], DPAN will be able to devote more resources to moving good bills forward.

The Democrats who will be leaders in the new Congress are better on drug policy reform than Democrats were in the 1990s under Clinton, and much better than Democrats were in the 1980s under Reagan. For instance, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who will most likely be Speaker of the House next year, is a strong supporter of medical marijuana and sentencing reform. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), who will chair the House Judiciary Committee next year, is a member of the Drug Policy Allianceâ??s advisory board. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who will chair the Government Reform Committee, is a strong supporter of syringe exchange programs and other harm reduction measures. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) are strong supporters of drug sentencing reform. All three will likely control key Congressional committees next year.

Weâ??re excited. Itâ??s very possible that DPAN can pass the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment and other reforms next year. At a time when the Bush Administration is increasing federal prosecution of medical marijuana patients and their providers, we have the capability of pushing backâ??-hard.

State Races

Here are some brief updates on some of the states DPAN is very active in:

In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) was re-elected. Generally speaking, he has been better on drug policy issues than his predecessor, Gray Davis (D), but he has still vetoed several of the reforms DPAN passed through the legislature. Schwarzenegger worked to defeat a "three strikes" reform initiative DPAN backed in 2004, and has severely underfunded Prop 36, our successful treatment-instead-of-incarceration law that California voters approved in 2000. But he has signed a number of reform bills that his predecessor vetoed, most notably DPAN's syringe access bill that will do more to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in California than any other piece of legislation.

In Connecticut, Gov. Jodi Rell (R) was re-elected. She vetoed the first crack/powder sentencing reform bill that DPAN passed in the state, but signed the second one into law. Cliff Thorton, a drug policy reformer who heads the Connecticut-based reform group Efficacy, took 1% of the vote in his Green Party bid to unseat her. While votes are still being counted, it looks like Democrats will pick up enough seats in the Connecticut legislature to override the governor's vetoes. This puts us in a good position for next year, where DPAN will advance bills to legalize medical marijuana and reform draconian drug sentences. We are excited that a state legislator who supported our bills in the legislature, Chris Murphy (D), beat Congressman Nancy Johnson (R) and will be going to Congress.

In Maryland, Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R) lost. He supported medical marijuana, treatment-instead-of-incarceration and sentencing reform. Weâ??re hoping the new governor, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D), will be even better. Weâ??re especially hoping that Oâ??Malley will appoint Peter Beilenson as the stateâ??s Health Commissioner. (Peter Beilenson is the former Baltimore Health Commissioner. Heâ??s a strong supporter of drug policy reform, and an ally of DPAN. We backed his effort to win a Congressional seat, but he narrowly lost in the primary). Rep. Ben Cardin (D), who supported medical marijuana in the U.S. House, won his race to become a U.S. Senator. Kevin Zeese, who co-founded the Drug Policy Foundation (which merged in 2000 with the Lindesmith Center to become the Drug Policy Alliance) took 2% of the vote in his Green-Libertarian-third-party fusion bid to beat Cardin and his Republican opponent.

In New Mexico, Governor Bill Richardson (D) was re-elected. The director of DPA's New Mexico office, Reena Szczepanski, co-chairs his methamphetamine taskforce. He also supported DPAN's medical marijuana bill last year and has promised to support it again in 2007. His Republican opponent, John Dendahl, has also supported medical marijuana and other reform issues. Our federal political action committee (DPAC) contributed money to Attorney General Patricia Madrid (D) for her campaign to defeat Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R), who has voted against medical marijuana three times in the U.S. House. Votes are still being counted in this very close race.

The New Mexico House of Representatives was up for re-election this year, and results are positive for drug policy reformers. Two medical marijuana opponents were defeated--House Minority Whip Rep. Terry Marquardt, R-53, Alamogordo, and Rep. Don Whitaker, D-61, Eunice. House Majority Leader Ted Hobbs' retirement coupled with Marquardt's loss also means entirely new leadership for the House Republicans in 2007. DPA NM's projected House votes look promising for both treatment-instead-of-incarceration initatives and legal access to medical marijuana. The New Mexico Senate's membership, which voted 34-6 last year in favor of medical marijuana, remains the same for 2007-2008.

In New Jersey, nothing changed with state-level races because those are up in odd years in the state. But our federal political action committee (DPAC) backed Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D) in her effort to unseat Congressman Michael Ferguson (R). She came very close (48% - 50%) in an excellent campaign to unseat someone who was considered unbeatable. She will continue to be a good ally in the legislature, where she supports DPAN's legislation to make sterile syringes more available. DPAC also supported Senator Menendez (D), who supports medical marijuana and other drug policy reforms.

In New York, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D) will replace George Pataki (R) as governor. It is too early to tell where Spitzer will be on all the issues, but we know he will be a stronger supporter of reforming New Yorkâ??s draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws than Pataki. Weâ??re a little concerned that District Attorney Michael Arcuri (D) won his Congressional race. Arcuri has cruelly prosecuted people under the Rockefeller Drug Laws and opposed reform efforts. We hope his victory in a state that overwhelmingly supports reform will change his mind.

In Washington, Roger Goodman was elected to the Washington Senate. Goodman runs the King Country Bar Associationâ??s Drug Policy Project. He has moved drug policy reform forward in the state and will be a major ally in the legislature. Our state political action committee contributed to his campaign.

Conclusion

Over the coming weeks you will get e-mails from us laying out our 2006 legislative strategy, which includes prohibiting the Justice Department from undermining state medical marijuana laws, eliminating the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity, and cutting wasteful drug war spending. We really appreciate your on-going support. We couldnâ??t do any of our work without you!

Sincerely,

Bill Piper
Drug Policy Alliance Network





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