Center for Social Justice -

Time For A New Strategy in the War On Drugs

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 17:46:24 -0600

An article by Bruce Ramsey in the Seattle Times on June 15, 2005.

"Is it Time to End the War on Drugs?" The King County Bar Association gave that title to a report in 2001, and now has put out a study that answers, yes. The study, "Effective Drug Control," argues that the use of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs be considered health problems instead of crimes, and that government manage, inform and help people instead of putting them in prison.

Read Time For A New Strategy in the War on Drugs on the Seattle Times website.

An Analytic Assessment of U.S. Drug Policy

Fri, 29 Apr 2005 14:19:47 -0600

Published by a conservative think-tank, the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, this book looks at the war on drugs using a market framework.

The full-text of An Analytic Assessment of U.S. Drug Policy is available online.

Youth Respond To Challenge By Prof. Jeffrey Sachs On The Millennium Development Goals

Fri, 17 Jun 2005 13:41:32 -0600

Youth are Key to Development, States New Report, To be Released April 19 at United Nations Headquarters

New York City, USA (19 April, 2005) – When asked how the United Nations intended to involve young people as partners in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Professor Jeffrey Sachs’ reply last spring was: “You tell us!”

CSJ Exective Director, Daniel Merkle, speaks on behalf of Sherelyn Anderson

Fri, 17 Jun 2005 13:32:54 -0600

Daniel Merkle hugs Sherelyn Anderson the day before her sentencing at the King County Superior Court for a 2001 drug case. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

Lawmakers rethinking hard line on sentencing of young offenders

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 18:14:11 -0600

Heather Opel was 13 and felt cooped up inside the Snohomish County juvenile-detention center. When a prosecutor told her that Echo Glen Children's Center has a big outdoor exercise area and that's where she'd be sent if she admitted she helped kill her mother's employer, pleading guilty didn't seem like a big deal. (04-14-05)

Lawmakers look to fund new prison

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 16:01:39 -0600

OLYMPIA -- State lawmakers are planning to fund a $185 million medium-security prison in Franklin County to house Washington's growing inmate population and address overcrowding. (02-24-05)

Constructing an alternative to our lock-'em-up mentality

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 16:20:24 -0600

Prisons are criminally expensive to build and operate.

The crush of prisoners locked up in Washington has the state Legislature in earnest conversation about a new prison. The round number is $188 million.

Another parallel and refreshing conversation is going on about who gets locked up and how long they should be held. (02-11-05)

National movement favors rehabilitation of prisoners

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 16:30:47 -0600

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - By insisting that California make rehabilitation a focus of prison life, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is joining a national movement of political leaders who believe it is time for a new approach to incarceration. (03-28-05)

$2.8 billion for construction in governor's budget package

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 16:32:56 -0600

OLYMPIA - Gov. Christine Gregoire is proposing a $2.8 billion construction boom and endorses her predecessor's proposal to let private investors build a new state prison.

The governor also is proposing a supplemental state budget of $219 million to tide the state over until the new fiscal year begins on July 1. (03-23-05)

A Fix For Vancouver's Addicts

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 16:34:32 -0600

In February, Vancouver became the first city in North America to begin clinical trials for heroin prescription. This step, which required an exemption of Section 56 of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, came a year and a half after Vancouver had opened North America's first safe injection site.