Joint Letter to House Leadership on Drug Decriminalization

We, the undersigned national, state, and local drug policy, criminal legal reform, public health, and advocacy organizations, write to communicate our ardent support of ending criminal penalties for the possession of personal-use amounts of drugs. In 2020, U.S. law enforcement agencies made 1,155,610 arrests for drug law violations–more arrests than for all violent crimes combined. Around 86% of these arrests were for the possession of personal-use amounts of drugs alone and often led to time spent in prison. Yet, we have an abundance of evidence that demonstrates that drug arrests, prosecutions, and incarceration have had no substantial effect on ending problematic drug use or curbing the illegal drug supply in the United States. Rather, these policies have only exacerbated the dangers of drug use and led to poorer health outcomes for people who use drugs, including increasing the likelihood that someone will fatally overdose or die by suicide upon release from prison. Given the emotional and economic costs associated with drug-related convictions, the criminal legal system has also burdened the lives and health of families and communities whose loved ones have drug convictions.

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