Transcript A War on Poor Drug Users of Color

A War on Poor Drug Users of
Color
Healing Seattle’s Most Vulnerable People
Through Just & Sensible Drug Policy
Public Health Policy?:
Dealing with Addicted Persons
Source: Mayor Greg Nickels, City of Seattle Mayor, Weekday (2nd hour), daily local news program on KUOW.org,
April 12, 2004, http:// www.kuow.org. Select archives, choose program name &topic: Talking with the Mayor.
Public Health Policy?:
Dealing with Addicted Persons
Source: Chief Gil Kerlikowske, Seattle Police Department. Disparate Law Enforcement Forum, 2004 Black History
Month Series, February 26, 2004. http://www.seattlechannel.org, go to Viewing Room, Watch Programs, Diverse City.
Framing the Issue of
Addiction
Drug addiction itself is not illegal.
Use and delivery of prohibited drugs is illegal.
What are prohibited drugs?
Public Health Care
• When is drug addiction a public health issue?
Treating illnesses of unhealthy uninsured people
Reducing harms associated with risky
(with
regards to health) social behaviors, like preventing the
spread of infectious diseases
Poor People’s Health Care
Without money or medical insurance, poor people cannot
pay for medical treatment (including mental health or
substance abuse) they need.
Rather, they must rely on the charity of primarily publiclyfunded drug treatment programs, housing assistance, and
mental health counseling to change their situation.
Prognosis: Under-funded programs. 2005 developments.
Social Science & Addiction
Long-term, frequent users, such as addicts,
are likely to engage in delivery as part of their
use.
Recent Past Practices of Drug
Enforcement
Between January 1999 and April 30, 2001, 76% of the
drug deliverers that were arrested in Seattle outside
were arrested for delivering crack cocaine.
Recent Mortality Data
During that same time period, only 11% of people who
overdosed in Seattle-King County only had cocaine in their
system; 20% of people who overdosed had only heroin in
their system.
Cocaine-related deaths were 40% of all drug-related deaths;
while heroin-related deaths accounted for fully 51% of all
drug-related deaths.
Type of Drug Delivery Convictions,
King County, 2002
5%
9%
2%
52%
3%
19%
10%
cocaine
marijuana
Methamphetamine
other
heroin
MDMA
bunk (material in lieu of)
Source: Vukich, Ed and Hon. Deborah Fleck, “Quantity and Sentencing: An Analysis of Drug Dealing Cases in
King County,” 2003.
Drug Prohibition & Race
Origins of Prohibition:
1.
Alcohol prohibited in 1919 as reaction to low-income
European immigrants of late 19th and early 20th centuries
drinking habits
2.
Cocaine prohibited following Reconstruction when it became
associated with blacks
3.
Opium first prohibited in 1875 in California when it became
associated with Chinese immigrant workers
4.
Marijuana prohibited in late 1930s when its use was
associated with Mexicans.
Social Science & Addiction
Poor addicts who delivery drugs are more
likely to deliver drugs outside.
Criminalizing Addicts of Color Outside in
Seattle
1%
15%
84%
People of Color
White
Unknown
Source: SPD Database, State v. Alfred K. Johnson, et al., January 1999- April 2001. Citywide 2,398 Delivery & PWI Arrests for
5 drugs by Race that where the premise type is known to be in the open.
Race & Public Space
Research is currently underway by social
scientists to examine whether there is a
relationship between racial, ethnic, or cultural
groups and public space independent of
enforcement patterns or illicit activity
Criminalizing Addicts of Color In
Public Indoor Space in Seattle
12%
88%
people of color
white
Source: SPD Database, State v. Alfred K. Johnson, et al., January 1999- April 2001. Citywide 65 Delivery & PWI
Arrests for 5 drugs by race that where the premise type is known to be inside a public building.
Social Science & Addiction
Poor drug deliverers are also more likely to
deliver drugs in small amounts.
What amount is prohibited by state
law?

Any amount of prohibited drug is illegal.

All delivery under 2,000 grams (2 kilograms) is
treated equally under the law.

Most enforcement against drug deliverers has
been for outside delivery.

1 gram is equivalent to a sugar packet.
Convicted Drug Deliverers: Amounts
2002 King County Cocaine Dealing Convictions with
Specified Amounts of Drugs
15%
65%
1%
19%
Under 1 .0 0
1 .0 0 -4 .9 9
5 .0 0 -9 .9 9
1 0 .0 0 and mo re
Source: Vukich, Ed and Hon. Deborah Fleck, “Quantity and Sentencing: An Analysis of Drug Dealing Cases in
King County,” 2003.
Public Health Options within the Courts
System

Drug Courts

Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative
Sentencing Costs, 2003
Per day costs x days of the year x number of drug prisoners (as of March 2003).
Source: Western Prison Project, Department of Corrections Fiscal Data, http://www.westernprisonproject.org
Disparate Prosecution of the
War on Drugs
If you were the Chief of Police of the department
at issue in the Beckett report, what would you do
if anything to address the concerns of the report?
Disparate Prosecution of the
War on Drugs
If you were the Mayor or a City Council member
in the city at issue in the Beckett report, what
would you do if anything to address the concerns
of the report?
2004-2005 Mayor’s Plan to Eliminate
OUTDOOR drug markets
1. Neighborhood Corrections Initiative
2. Stay Out of Drug Area (SODA) program
3. NARCSTAT
4. Arrest and Referral system
Next Steps: The Budget for Justice Campaign
For Effective Public Safety & Human Services in Seattle
The “Budget for Justice” Coalition, Campaign 2004
African Youth United
Minority Executive Director’s
Coalition
American Friends Service Committee
NAACP
Central House
People’s Coalition for Justice
Coalition Undoing Racism Everywhere
People of Color Against
AIDS Network
Community Coalition for Environmental Justice
People’s Institute NW
Communities Against Rape & Abuse
Racial Disparity Project
Every Workers Movement
Real Change
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Seattle Young People’s
Project
Japanese American Citizens’ League
Street Outreach Services
Justice Works!
Next Steps: The Budget for Justice Campaign
For Effective Public Safety & Human Services in Seattle
Goals of the Campaign:
End racial disparity in the drug law enforcement in Seattle
Stop the senseless prioritization of low-level drug arrests
over other more effective public safety measures
Support and fund programs that alleviate poverty,
homelessness, and root causes of drug addiction among the
population targeted for arrest and prosecution.
Contact Mayor or Chief of Police
Greg Nickels
Chief Gil Kerlikowske
Mayor of the City of Seattle
SPD Headquarters
Mailing address: PO Box 94749
P.O. Box 34986
Seattle, WA 98124-4749
Seattle, WA 98124-4986
[email protected]
[email protected]
Telephone: (206) 684-4000
Telephone: (206)684-5577
Next Steps: Contact City Council
City Council of Seattle
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 34025
[email protected]
Seattle, WA 98124-4025
Jean Godden
David Della
Jim Compton
Richard Conlin
Peter Steinbrueck
Richard McIver, Budget Chair
Tom Rasmussen, Health Chair
Nick Licata, Public Safety Chair
Jan Drago, Council President
Policy Discussion
Brown Bag Lunch Discussion
March 9, 2005
12 noon to 1:30pm at Council Chambers
1.
2.
What would an effective and just drug policy
look like?
What strategies can be employed to move
toward a more just drug policy?
Contact Us: The Defender Association’s Racial
Disparity Project
810 Third Avenue
800 Central Building
Seattle, Washington 98104
Project Attorneys:
D’Adre Cunningham
206-447-3900, ext. 759
[email protected]
Project Community Liaison:
KL Shannon
206-447-3900, ext. 564
[email protected]
Materials currently available on website:
http://www.defender.org/racial_disparity.html
Lisa Daugaard
206-447-3900, ext. 729
[email protected]