Watch, dog, watch!

In November 2000, California voters changed the face of America’s war on drugs by voting in Proposition 36 and demanding treatment instead of incarceration for non-violent drug users. But while the spirit of the law—a rehabilitative response to the problem of drug addiction—is clear, the letter of its implementation is still being refined in the counties of California. Whitney Taylor, director of the Proposition 36 Implementation Project for the Drug Policy Alliance, also organized the Proposition 36 campaign, and asserts that the people are ahead of the politicians on this. Because of this, she has become a watchdog for this precedent-setting policy and tries “to ensure this initiative is implemented as intended by voters, and that as many people receive treatment as are entitled to it under the law.”

What is the Drug Policy Alliance?

The Drug Policy Alliance is a nationwide drug reform organization that believes the war on drugs has failed and it’s time to start looking at alternatives. It is harm-reduction-based, which means we believe the policies around drugs should be less harmful than the drugs themselves. We want to base drug policy on science and medicine rather than this moralistic crusade that has been tied to the war on drugs for the past 30 years.

Why do we need drug-policy reform in the U.S.?

There’s this quick, reactionary war on drugs mentality we have in this country—that drug use is a moral failing and should be punished, regardless of the fact that alcohol and tobacco own most of the elected officials out there. Drug addicts are only criminals because a moral line was drawn in the sand saying, “If you use drug X, you’re a criminal. If you use drug Y, you’re not.” It’s which drug you choose to use that is the problem; it’s not whether you are using them safely and responsibly in your own home. The approach the U.S. has taken has done nothing but cause more harm.

When individuals are suffering from addiction, we need to treat them in a public health manner. We need to save our criminal justice resources, which are always more expensive, for public safety risks—like terrorism, violence and rape.

What has Proposition 36 achieved?

Individuals who are convicted of low-level, non-violent drug crimes—meaning possession for personal use only—are placed on probation and given treatment. Prop. 36 also covers services like vocational training, GED, family counseling and anger management, because most people who are so severely addicted to drugs that they are being caught in the criminal justice system are probably self-medicating for something else. The system will pay for 12 months of treatment with six months of after-care. If we get someone to stick with treatment for a year or more, they’re usually doing pretty well; they can have a job and be productive in their communities and families. Once they’ve successfully completed treatment, they can request their record be expunged. That way, when they apply for a job, they can say no when asked if they’ve ever committed a felony. [There’s also] immeasurable societal savings. People are kept with their families, so children don’t have to go into foster care as they would if their caretakers were imprisoned.

Describe your job as a watchdog.

I do a variety of things. I monitor a statewide advisory group and I helped develop the new regulations needed to implement the initiative. I work with counties in the implementation process.

This is a public health measure, so we determined that 83 percent of the allotted money needs to go to direct treatment services, with 17 percent for administrative and criminal justice costs. Some counties are giving as little as 46 percent of that money to treatment. So, if I get a call from a treatment provider saying, “I think our county’s not doing this right,” I’ll go down there and go to meetings and I will sit there and watchdog. If we believe a county is going against the intent of the initiative, we will use tools like media and litigation to make sure they understand that we are watching and we want this initiative to work as intended by voters.

Is this type of drug policy the way of the future?

Yes. Prop. 36 is the spearhead in this, because a state as large as California implementing a program of this magnitude has been phenomenal. A lot of the country is looking to us. A similar proposition was passed in Arizona. In 2002, similar programs will be voted on in Michigan, Ohio and the District of Columbia. Hawaii has already passed legislation on this. The country is ready for something else.

What drew you to the cause?

I went to undergraduate and graduate school at the American University in D.C. I was picking electives and there was a class called “Drugs, Consciousness and Human Fulfillment,” taught by Dr. Arnold Trebach, founder of the Drug Policy Foundation and author of The Great Drug War. He came in and starting talking about the war on drugs and what we in the U.S. are doing to our own people. I lost it! I changed my major to Criminal Justice. I got my master’s in Public Policy. It’s coming on 11 years now, working in the field. I never tire of it. It means so much to me.