Drug Use and Justice: An Examination of California Drug Policy Enforcement

		CENTER ON JUVENILE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE PRESS RELEASE

		www.cjcj.org

Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 54 Dore Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

Tel: (415) 621-5661 | Fax: (415) 621-5466

For Immediate Release: November 2002

Drug Use and Justice: An Examination of California Drug Policy Enforcement

[View the Report]

CONTACT: Daniel Macallair
E-mail: [dmacallair@cjcj.org]
Tel: (415) 621-5661 x310

CALIFORNIA REMAINS ABOVE NATIONAL AVERAGE IN DRUG OFFENDER IMPRISONMENT, NEW STUDY SHOWS.

STATE'S HARSH POLICIES INEFFECTIVE IN CURBING DRUG USE OR CRIME. PROP 36 EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING PRISON ADMITS FOR USERS. WIDE DISPARITIES CONTINUE IN COUNTY ENFORCEMENT POLICIES.

San Francisco, CA: An update to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice study entitled Drug Use and Justice 2002: An Examination of California Drug Policy Enforcement reveals that California continues to lead the nation in drug offender imprisonment. The study also reveals that California counties that most vigorously pursued harsh enforcement strategies did not experience greater declines in drug use or crime. The major findings include:

California continues to lead the nation with a drug offender imprisonment rate of 110 per 100,000.
Proposition 36 has been effective in reducing simple drug possession prison admissions by 30%. The number of Californians sent to prison for drug possession offenses dropped from 12,749 in 1999 to 8,226 in 2001.
Until 2001, Californians were imprisoned for drug possession at a greater rate than sales and manufacturing. This trend has finally reversed.
Counties with the strictest drug law enforcement policies still do not experience greater crime or drug use declines. In most instances increased rates of drug arrests and imprisonment coincided with crime increases or slower crime decreases.
Rising rates of drug imprisonment were not associated with changes in crime rates. For example, Riverside County's drug possession imprisonment rate is 500% greater than Contra Costa County's yet the violent crime rate in Contra Costa is 30% lower.
Counties that concentrated their enforcement efforts on felony manufacture or sale rather than on simple possession drug offenses were significantly more likely to experience violent crime declines and larger reductions in property crime rates.

The study is the most comprehensive analysis yet completed on California drug policy enforcement and imprisonment. The analysis includes a comparison of California's 12 largest counties that account for over three-fourths of the state's population (individual county analysis is provided in the study). According to study co-author, Daniel Macallair, "the findings of our 2002 update tell us that while trends for the arrest and imprisonment of drug possession offenders has decreased, the findings cast serious doubt on prison advocate claims that strict and harsh drug enforcement is effective crime control policy."