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The Effects of Drug Control Policies on Individual and Community Health for People of Color Proceedings of a Workshop (2023) / Chapter Skim
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5 Promising Practices and Models for Changing Drug Control Policies
Pages 27-36

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From page 27...
... Raymond said, "Racial inequities are a social harm that is caused by racialized drug policies." Harm reduction is an evidence-based public health strategy to reduce the health and social consequences of substance use. Using syringe exchange programs as a case study, Raymond said it is an example of how harm reduction, health equity, and substance use are intertwined.
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From page 28...
... Harm reduction programs provide the opportunity to move upstream to reduce the negative effects of the criminal justice system by intervening before the individual using drugs enters that system. LEGALIZING CANNABIS Beau Kilmer of the Drug Policy Research Center at RAND spoke about cannabis legalization, the economics of legalization, and its implications for law enforcement.
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From page 29...
... Many different outcomes are related to the after-tax price, including the size of the illicit market, consumption, tax revenue, wealth generation, and employment options. Kilmer noted that after legalization takes place, production and distribution costs will plummet for multiple reasons: It reduces the risk of arrest and incarceration for suppliers and the subsequent inefficiencies associated with operating in an illegal market; there will be increasing returns to scale if large operations are allowed, and it makes it easier for suppliers to leverage changes in technology.
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From page 30...
... Another option is to tax cannabis as a function of its potency, similar to how the federal government taxes liquor. Canada implemented a THC tax for concentrates and edibles.1 If cannabis is taxed as a function of the amount of THC, it is possible to create a structure that could "nudge people towards lower potency products," Kilmer said.
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From page 31...
... If the goal is to get rid of illegal markets quickly, a licensing system can be created to regulate legal sales, and anyone who is not complying with that system will be arrested. A postlegalization intensification of enforcement against the illegal market, however, has typically not been done in most jurisdictions in the United States.
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From page 32...
... STIGMA AND CRIMINALIZATION Queen Adesuyi, policy coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance DC, opened her comments by "holding space for the countless lives that we've lost to overdoses and the relentless war on drugs, especially for black and brown and indigenous lives." She stated that it is clear that the war on drugs has caused tremendous harm to people and communities of color. Adesuyi explained that she grew up in federally assisted housing in the Bronx and then attended Georgetown University, which is an environment of wealth.
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From page 33...
... Cannabis use is roughly split between Black and White individuals in the United States. However, Black people are arrested at four times the rate compared to White people for simple possession charges.
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From page 34...
... A question was asked about harm reduction, specifically that traditional harm reduction practitioners may have negative feelings about law enforcement. Raymond noted that for every syringe exchange program in the United States, there are 10 drug courts.
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From page 35...
... One attendee commented on the importance of including people who are intravenous drug users to share lived experiences in conferences and conversations such as those raised in the workshop and noted that it is important when organizing such events to set aside funds for their participation. Kilmer noted that one way to encourage their attendance at such conferences is to also cover their conference registration fees.
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Key Terms

  • syringe exchange
  • drug control
  • law enforcement
  • exchange programs
  • control policies

  • cannabis legalization
  • kilmer noted
  • drug users
  • legalizing cannabis
  • prohibiting cannabis

  • criminal justice
  • illegal market
  • substance users
  • drug policy
  • drug policies

  • drug user
  • injection drug
  • racialized drug
  • exchange program
  • health perspective

  • cannabis sales
  • hiv infections
  • adesuyi explained
  • health consequences
  • washington state

  • reduction practitioners
  • final recommendation
  • tax revenue
  • inject drugs
  • raymond noted


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