Drug Policy: The ACLU Drug Law
Reform Project
is a division of the national ACLU. Our goal is to end punitive drug policies
that cause the widespread violation of constitutional and human rights, as well
as unprecedented levels of incarceration.
"People with alcohol and drug problems face public and private policies that restrict their access to appropriate health care, employment, and public benefits, discouraging them from seeking treatment, robbing them of hope for recovery, and costing society millions of dollars."
Join Together, a project of Boston University School of Public Health, formed a national policy panel to address this discrimination. The panelists developed the principles and recommendations contained in this report, relying principally upon the written and oral testimony which they received. Graham Boyd, Director of the ACLU Drug Policy Litigation Project, served as a panelist.
Join Together was assisted in this effort by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Substance Abuse, which facilitated the panel's initial hearing at the ABA's Annual Meeting in August 2002.
Testimony Referenced in the Report Over 40 individuals gave written or oral testimony to the panel for its consideration. Read the full text of comments referenced in the report.
Policy Panel Members, with Biographies Twelve leaders from the judicial system, employee relations, the medical community, and the media participated in the panel.
Op-Ed of Panel Report This op-ed was published in the Baltimore Sun on April 21, 2003 and written by Kurt L. Schmoke, a former mayor of Baltimore and present dean of the Howard University School of Law, and Richard K. Willard, a senior vice president and legal and general counsel of the Gillette Co.