Tell President Biden to Free Victims of the Failed War on Drugs

US President Joe Biden has work to do before he leaves office in January 2025. First, he needs to commute the death penalty sentences of all persons on the federal death row. After that, he must use his clemency power to give victims of the drug war a second chance and bring them home for the holidays. 

The global war on drugs is a failure and should be replaced by decriminalization strategies grounded in science, health, security and human rights, according to a recent report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy. “Repressive efforts directed at consumers impede public health measures to reduce HIV/AIDS, overdose fatalities and other harmful consequences of drug use,” says the report.

In the 40 years since President Richard Nixon declared war on drugs, the Commission says repressive strategies focused on criminalization have not worked. “Arresting and incarcerating tens of millions of these people in recent decades has filled prisons and destroyed lives and families without reducing the availability of illicit drugs or the power of criminal organizations,” the report concludes.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes activists, business leaders, former American cabinet officials, and former European and Latin American presidents, points to a number of countries that have decriminalized drugs without seeing a significant rise in use or drug related-violence. Portugal saw declines in heroin use, new HIV infections, and the incarceration rate once it coupled the decriminalization of all drugs with treatment policies. Similar drops in problematic drug use, especially heroin, were observed in both Switzerland and the Netherlands after adopting polices that emphasized treatment rather than criminalization.

The report also says that certain law enforcement strategies can help manage and shape illicit drug markets, poorly designed ones, on the other hand, can matters worse. The Commission cited a recent study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy that found aggressive law enforcement interventions in drug markets can markedly increase levels of violence. Heavily investing in a criminalization approach can inadvertently lead to an arms race between law enforcement and violent trafficking organizations, make those markets more ruthless, and increase the homicide rates.

The criminalization of drug use in the U.S. has led to tragic consequences and mass incarceration, with a disproportionate impact on lower-income and minority communities. 1 of 5 people incarerated in the United States is locked up for a non-violent drug offense. Despite the fact that Whites, African Americans, and Latinos all use illicit drugs at similar rates, 45 percent of all convicted drug offenders in state prison are Black compared to 28 percent that are white and 20 percent that are Hispanic, according to the Sentencing Project. State prisons account for about 85 percent of all prisoners in the U.S. Since 1980, the number of people incarcerated in prison or jail in the U.S. for drug crimes has gone from 40,000 to 500,000, representing an increase of 1100 percent. Much of that explosion in the incarceration of drug offenders is due to aggressive law enforcement interventions and stiff mandatory sentencing provisions mainly targeting low-level dealers and users adopted at both state and federal level.

We ask our supporters to use their advocacy to urge President Biden to use his executive powers and give clemency to federal prisoners serving drug-related sentences. Drug convictions remain a defining feature of the federal prison system, especially since federal sentencing guidelines focus on the quantity and purity of drugs involved in an offense, rather than the individual's history, responsibility, or capacity for rehabilitation. For example, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 created a 100:1 disparity in mandatory minimums between crack and powder cocaine offenses, a significant factor leading to the over-incarceration of Black persons.

Please visit this petition organized by the Drug Policy Alliance and urge President Biden to do his part of rectify the damage done from the failed war on drugs.

Tell Biden: Free Victims of the Drug War

The Drug Policy Alliance is a non-profit organization that addresses the harms of drug use and drug criminalization through policy solutions, organizing, and public education.