drug policy reform brief social justice dept

7/29/2019 Drug Policy Reform Brief Social Justice Dept

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750 First Street NE, Suite 700

Washington, DC 20002-4241

SocialWorkers.org

A Social Work Perspectiveon Drug Policy Reform

The primary mission

of the social work

profession is to enhance

human well-being and

help meet the basic

human needs of all

people, with particular

attention to the needs

and empowerment

of people who are

vulnerable, oppressed,

and living in poverty.

PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest

membership organization of professional social workers in the world,

with nearly 145,000 members. NASW works to enhance the professional

growth and development of its members, to create and maintain

professional standards, and to advance sound social policies.

Social Justice Brief


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It is reasonable to expect that social workersadvocate for policies and programs thataddress over-incarceration by divertinglow-level drug offenders from imprisonmentto treatment-oriented alternatives. Since itsinception as a profession, social work hasbeen dedicated to social justice. Moreimportantly, the profession has contributedknowledge of evidence-informed practice andpolicies to national discussions that seek to

address needs of vulnerable populations.

The National Association of Social Workers(NASW), with nearly145,000 members,believes that clinical intervention can be atool for reducing the rates of incarcerationin the United States. Social workers werepioneers in developing service deliverysystems that served diverse populationswith multiple biopsychosocial issues.Currently most NASW members are

licensed clinicians who are adept atassessing and providing treatment forpeople with mental health and substanceuse disorders. They are essential playersin every communitys public health effortsto increase the physical and emotional

well-being of residents. Social work andpublic health professionals are natural allies.

Public Health is the art and science ofprotecting and improving the health ofcommunities through education, promotionof healthy lifestyles, and research on diseaseand injury prevention. Public health helpsimprove the health and well-being of peoplein communities and across the nation

(whatispublichealth.org). At the heart ofpublic health is a commitment to social justice,based on the compelling desire to make theworld a better place, free of misery, inequityand preventable suffering(http://publichealthsocialwork.org).

Public Health Social Workis a contemporary,integrated, trans-disciplinary approach topreventing, addressing, and solving socialhealth problems. Over a hundred yearsold, it draws on both social work andpublic health theories, frameworks,research, and practice. Its about prevention, not just intervention

after problems have occurred; It uses multiple methods, including research

policy, advocacy, clinical and macroapproaches;

A Social Work Perspectiveon Drug Policy ReformPUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH

The establishment of reasonable and more effective drug policies associatedwith the criminal justice system should be of great interest to the social workprofession. Social workers, as a workforce, are an integral part of the criminal justiceservice delivery continuum and, by definition, they are stakeholders in the national

movement to bring about reforms in how drug-related offenses are processed. The social

work professions historical advocacy for individuals with limited resources and no political

power demands social work involvement in drug policy reform.


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It works across population levels, fromindividuals to groups, communities andwhole populations;

Its strengths-based and emphasizesresilience and positive factors to promotehealth and reduce risk.

(Boston University School of Social Work.

(http://publichealthsocialwork.org/?page_id=2).

Most social workers practice inmultidisciplinary work settings, whichmeans that they are at ease working incollaboration with other public healthprofessionals, government agencies,and advocacy communities that seekimprovements and reforms in policiesthat result in positive outcomes.

The broad assumption about public healthand national drug policy is that the use andabuse of illicit and/or prescription drugs andalcohol is ultimately a public health issue.The manifestation of such addictions usuallyresults in significantly higher morbidity andmortality as compared to the generalpopulation. Although progress has beenmade in substantially lowering rates ofsubstance abuse in the United States, the useof mind- and behavior-altering substances

continues to take a major toll on the healthof individuals, families, and communitiesnationwide. In 2005, an estimated 22 millionAmericans struggled with a drug or alcoholproblem (Healthy People 2000: SubstanceAbuse. (www.healthypeople.gov/2020/LHI/substanceAbuse.aspx).

To put the problem in perspective, during2009, there were more than 1.3 million drugabuse violations across the country (U.S.Census, 2012. (www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0325.pdf.) Inaddition, in 2010, more than 853,000people were arrested for marijuana-relatedviolations that led to involvement in thecriminal justice system (Federal Bureau ofInvestigation. FBI Uniform Crime Report 2011.(www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications).

Generally, the arrestee will be subjected topretrial incarceration, the bail process, trial,and sentencing. Even if the subsequentsentence results in probation or time served,the individual will have a criminal recordthat can negatively affect future employment

opportunities. They are subject to othercollateral consequences of being convicted ofeven minor crimes such as simple possessionof a controlled substance. The situationbecomes exacerbated when issues such asarrest and sentencing disparities based onrace are taken into consideration.

According to the 2011 FBI UniformCrime Report: Two-thirds of those arrested for drug

violations in that period were white and 33percent were black, although blacks madeup 12.8 percent of the population. Also,most of the arrests were for possession ofdrugs, rather than for their sale or distribution;

32.2 percent of African American boys bornin 2001 will serve at least one year in prisonduring their lives (Uniform Crime Data of2011; see www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications).

Exclusive of incidents in which drug

trafficking and drug-related violent crime areinvolved, NASW believes the response todrug-related arrests is best dealt with from apublic healthdisease management approachas opposed to a strictly criminal justiceresponse. As stated in Social Work Speaks,All reasonable avenues to address ATOD[alcohol tobacco, and other drugs] problemsmust be considered, including psychosocialtreatments, medications, alternatives toincarceration, and harm-reductionapproaches (NASW, 2012, p. 33).

Nonetheless, the nations criminal justicesystem continues to have a high level ofarrests and incarcerations for offenses such assimple possession of marijuana or possessionof drug paraphernalia. These low-level drugoffenses clog up the court system and local


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jails. Although de-criminalization of drug useis not likely to happen soon, it is important toexamine how such offenses can be handledmore reasonably.

History and Consequences ofOver-Criminalization of Drug UseCriminalization of personal behaviors is notnew. In the 1920s, Congress passed the 18thAmendment, which prohibited alcohol use. Inan acknowledgement of the failure of alcoholprohibition, a new Congress (on February 20,1933) sent the 21st Amendment, whichrepealed prohibition, to the states. The reasonfor this legislative turnaround was thatCongress recognized that prohibition hadfailed to stop drinking and had increased

prison populations and violent crime (Boaz,1999, para. 4). Similarly, during the 1980sthe Reagan administration declared a Waron Drugs, which essentially had a similarpurpose as that of the 18th Amendmenttoreact to a perceived threat to societal norms,by criminalizing personal behaviors (Boaz,1999). As a result, the administrationsresponse to the proliferation of crack cocaineuse during the late 1980s reinforced thecriminalization of personal drug use and

increased the number of individuals in thecriminal justice system. As has been widelyreported, the consequences of the War onDrugs have been the arrests and incarcerationof many thousands of mostly minority youngmen and women for minor drug offenses suchas possession of marijuana. Many of thosearrested and convicted of such minor offenseshave histories of drug abuse, and the crimesfor which they are arrested are more relatedto their substance use disorders than tobuilding drug trafficking empires.

For example, consider the Rockefeller DrugLaws and subsequently, stop-and-frisk policeprocedures that are in place in New YorkState and New York City (NYC), respectively.In 1973, then-Governor Nelson Rockefellerenacted laws that called for stricter penalties

for drug-related crimes, such as mandatoryminimum sentences of 15 years to life forpossession of four ounces of narcotics. Thestatutes became known as the RockefellerDrug Laws. The laws almost immediately ledto an increase in drug convictions, but no

measurable decrease in overall crime(A Brief History, 2009).

Stop-and-frisk policing policies were used inNYC to stem gun violence. The policy allowspolice officers to stop and search anyone thatthe officer considers to be suspicious. Recentdata suggest that the policy was less thansuccessful in getting guns off the streets butwas highly successful in arresting people forlow-level crimes such as simple possession ofmarijuana. The policy also exposed the NYCPolice Department to accusations of engagingin racial profiling. For example, In 2011, NYC officers made 685,724

stops as part of the stop-and-frisk policy.Of that group, 605,328 people weredetermined not to have engaged in anyunlawful behavior.

In 2009, 36 percent of the time an officerfailed to list an acceptable suspected crime.Reasonable suspicion of a crime isrequired to make a stop.

Of those frisked in 2011, a weaponwas found just 1.9 percent of the time. 8.5 percent of those stopped were black or

Hispanic, even though those groups makeup about half of NYCs population.

The number of stops involving young blackmen in 2011 (168,124) exceed the cityspopulation of young black men (158,406).Even in white neighborhoods, policestopped more blacks than whites(Legum, 2012, para. 3).

Recently, a number of high profile publicofficials have begun to wonder aloud whethethe War on Drugs, as a national policy,should be revisited. For instance,New York Governor Andrew Cuomo hasrecently pushed ending criminal arrests forpossession of small personal use quantities


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of marijuana. In addition, both New JerseyGovernor Chris Christie and Newark MayorCorey Booker have stated that the War onDrugs has essentially been a failure(Cory Booker Calls Drug War, 2012).Their position is that, over the years, there

have been many law enforcement officersand significant funding committed to theWar on Drugs, with very little to show for itin terms of slowing down drug trafficking andstreet level distribution of illicit drugs. MayorBooker crystallized the argument against theWar on Drugs by extolling the benefits ofaddiction treatment over incarceration, saying,the drug war was costing billions anddestroying lives. He also lamented the highpercentage of blacks in New Jerseys prisons,writing that they make up 60 percent of thejail population, despite being 15 percent ofthe states population (Jeltsen, 2012, para. 4).

Racial DisparitiesWe cannot discuss the implications of theWar on Drugs without talking about how thistranslates along the lines of race. There areclear data that point to racial disparities inpatterns of arrests and incarceration forlow-level drug crimes. According to HumanRights Watch (2008), the punitive anti-drug

policies of the last 20 years bear heavyresponsibility for the extremely high anddisproportionate representation of blackAmericans in the U.S. prison population.Drug offenses have played a greater rolein black incarceration than white: Over 38 percent of all blacks entering

prison in 2003 with new sentences hadbeen convicted of drug offenses, comparedto 25.4 percent of whites.

Between 1990 and 2000, drug offensesaccounted for 27 percent of the totalincrease in black inmates in state prisonand only 15 percent of the increase inwhite inmates.

Among blacks currently serving state prisonsentences, 22.9 percent were convicted ofdrug offenses; among whites, 14.8 percent.

In some states, the impact of drug policieson black incarceration has been far greater.For example, in Illinois, the number of blackadmissions for drug offenses grew six-foldbetween 1990 and 2000, while the numberof whites admitted for drug offenses remained

relatively stable (Lurigio, 2005). This patternof arrest and sentencing disparities fordrug-related crimes continues to persist,resulting in a devastating impact on thelives of those affected.

Impact of Marijuana Arrestson AdolescentsEvidence shows that low-level drug arrests,especially for possession of marijuana, havea disproportionate impact on adolescents.

In particular, most of the youths arrested formarijuana are the least likely to have criminalconvictions. In NYC during 2010, 46 percentof the teenagers (ages 16 to 19) arrested formarijuana possession had never beenarrested before for anything (Levine, 2011).This is a potentially serious and life-alteringconcern for adolescents. For example, theimplication of having an arrest record on

youth employment can be devastating.For that reason alone, it would seem to be

better public policy to develop not onlydiversion from incarceration for simplepossession of marijuana, but also policingprograms that limit arrest records forpossession of marijuana.

Implications of Poverty, Health,Behavioral Health, and LimitedEducationA significant number of justice-involvedindividuals have multiple biopsychosocial

problems that impact their ability to makenecessary behavioral changes to avoidrearrests and re-incarceration. However,the one overarching factor that contributes tocreating risks for detention (for juveniles) andimprisonment (for adults) is lifelong poverty.


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As stated by a California public defender,If poverty were a disease it would be themost insidious, devastating, and lifethreatening disease that Americans suffer.The poor suffer not just economically, butthey also suffer lack of opportunity, lack

of education, lack of health care, andsignificantly more violence than others bettersituated in the community. They suffer higherdisease rates, death rates and imprisonmentthan their affluent brethren. They areimprisoned at much higher rates and theyare executed for capital crimes more oftenthan any other group. In fact, they arealmost the exclusive recipients of the deathpenalty (Holmes, 2002, para. 5).

Poverty compounds the challengesconfronting both juveniles and adults whoare arrested and prosecuted. Poverty is oftenthe antecedent in educational failure in at-risk

youths; in poor employment prospects foryoung adults, especially for black andHispanic young adults, who are releasedfrom prison or jail; and in inadequate familyand social supports to help justice-involvedindividuals stabilize once released. Inaddition, substance abuse and mental healthissues further complicate the lives of at-risk

youths and young adults in the juvenile andcriminal justice system. From a social workintervention and assessment point of view, itis usually the case that these individuals havemultiple biopsychosocial issues that will haveto be addressed to successfully reduce risksof rearrests and re-incarceration.

It is not surprising that NASW is alignedwith governmental and nongovernmentalorganizations that support a national shiftaway from a Drug War mindset, and toward

reasonable drug policies. NASW is a strongadvocate for a criminal justice and juvenilejustice approach that continues to protectpublic safety by prosecuting violent drugcrimes and drug trafficking, whilesimultaneously reducing criminal prosecutionand incarceration of low-level drug offenders.

Social Work as a Component ofPublic HealthSocial work has a long-established relationshipwith public health. For example, the FloridaDepartment of Health (2007) recognizes

public health social workers as an integralpart of the interdisciplinary public healthteam (para. 1). Social workers bring aunique focus on psychosocial factorswhich impact health [and produceoutcomes that] improve health andwell-being of individuals, families andtheir communities (para. 1).

Public health social work includes: Using an epidemiological approach to

health and social problems by identifying

the association between social factorsand the incidence of health;

Focusing on community or policy factorsthat could impact health;

Planning and intervening at the five levelsof prevention: health promotion, specificprotections, early diagnosis and prompttreatment, limitation of disability, andrehabilitation;

Emphasizing prevention by strengtheningsocial support systems that promotewell-being and provide protectionsagainst ill health and minimize disabilityand institutionalization; and

Focusing on long-range strategies, systemschange, policy, and legislation (FloridaDepartment of Health, 2007).

Social works public health perspective ondrug policy is consistent with that of healthcare professionals, such as physicians andnurses, when looking at alternatives toincarceration in a criminal justice context.

Public Health and Drug PolicyA public health approach to drug policyis a coordinated, comprehensive effort thatbalances public health and safety in orderto create safer, healthier communities,


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measuring success by the impact of both druguse and drug policies on the publics health(Drug Policy Alliance, n.d., para. 1).

It should also be noted that a public healthapproach to drug policy includes the

following elements: Substance abuse is viewed as a treatable

chronic disease that can potentially bedebilitating and life threatening if leftuntreated; and

Drug abuse is a preventable condition;to significantly reduce incidence of drugabuse, there is a need for a coordinatednational response to the problem thatincludes research, development of bestpractices prevention and treatment models,eliminating health disparities to accessingtreatment; and facilitating access to carefor low-income uninsured individuals(National Institute on Drug Abuse(www.drugabuse.gov/publications/topics-in-brief/drug-abuse-prevention).

It is far more cost-effective to seek alternativesto incarceration for minor drug offenders. Forexample, President Obama is on record forsupporting the point of view that we shouldapproach the national drug problem from a

public health perspective. This position hasbeen reinforced in public statements by GilKerlikowske, the director of the White HouseOffice of National Drug Control Policy(ONDCP). The ONDCP 2012 National DrugControl Strategyidentifies 113 specificactions to be undertaken throughout theFederal government to reform U.S. drugpolicy. These actions include evidence-basedpublic health and safety approaches aimed atreducing drug use and its consequences. Thenew ONDCP Strategyembraces three facts:

(1) addiction is a disease that can be treated;(2) people with substance use disorders canrecover; and (3) innovative new criminaljustice reforms can stop the revolving door ofdrug use, crime, incarceration, and rearrest(2012 National Drug Control Strategy,

www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/news-releases-remarks/obama-administration-releases-21st-century-drug-policy-strategy).

Given the general acceptance of drug abuseas diagnosable and treatable condition, it is

not unreasonable to advocate for a publichealth response to illicit drug use.

A consistent thread in the debate aboutdeveloping a public health approach to drugpolicies is drug treatment and prevention asa viable alternative to incarceration. Morepointedly, does drug treatment andprevention increase public safety? There isevidence that drug treatment as an alternativeto incarceration is effective. (see Figure 1)

Treatment Can Work with CriminalJustice PopulationsStudies conducted by the National Instituteon Drug Abuse (NIDA), provide support forthe proposition that a public health model fortreating low-level offenders who have historiesof drug abuse is effective. The studiesreported by NIDA (2011) indicate that accessto drug treatment during incarceration andthe provision of aftercare treatment upon

release have demonstrated that treatment iseffective in reducing recidivism andincreasing public safety... Furthermore,according to NIDA, research demonstratesthat providing treatment to individualsinvolved in the criminal justice systemdecreases future drug use and criminalbehavior while improving social functioning.Blending the functions of criminal justicesupervision with drug abuse treatment andsupport optimally serves both public healthand public safety concerns (NIDAs

Integrated Public HealthPublic SafetyResponse section, para. 1).

The national debate on a public healthapproach to drug policies is fairly extensivewith significant research to make the case

Given the general

acceptance ofdrug abuse as

diagnosable

and treatable

condition, it is

not unreasonable

to advocate fora public health

response to illicit

drug use.


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for the justice system to adapt to public healthmodels. The Justice Policy Institute (January,2008) provides the following eveidence thatsupport the efficacy of the public healthapproach: States with a higher drug treatment

admission rate than the national averagesend, on average, 100 fewer people toprison per 100,000 in the population thanstates that have lower-than-average drugtreatment admissions. Of the 20 states thatadmit the most people to treatment per100,000, 19 had incarceration ratesbelow the national average.

Of the 20 states that admitted the fewestpeople to treatment per 100,000, eighthad incarceration rates above thenational average.

Substance abuse treatment prior to contactwith the justice system yields public safetybenefits early on. Research has shown thatdrug treatment programs improve lifeoutcomes for individuals and decrease thelikelihood that a drug-involved person willbe admitted to the criminal justice system.

Substance abuse treatment helps in thetransition from the criminal justice systemto the community. Community-based drugtreatment programs have been shown toreduce the chance that a person willbecome involved in the criminal justice

system after release from prison.

Cost Benefits of Public HealthApproach to Drug PolicySubstance abuse treatment is morecost-effective than prison or other punitivemeasures. The Washington State Institutefor Public Policy found that drug treatmentconducted within the community is extremelybeneficial in terms of cost, especiallycompared to prison. Every dollar spent on

drug treatment in the community is estimatedto return $18.52 in benefits to society.

Given that it costs $210 per day to housean inmate in NYC jails (Roberts, 2010), it isclearly to the benefit of corrections officials toseek alternatives to incarceration that divertlow-level criminal justice-involved individualsto less-expensive options. Comparatively, thechoice of drug treatment can be cost-effectivebecause it reduces drug use and health and

related costs connected to drug use. Treatmenis less expensive than not treating addicts orsimply incarcerating addicts. For example,the average cost for one full year ofmethadone maintenance treatment isapproximately $4,700 per patient, whereasone full year of prison costs approximately$18,400 per person. It has also beendocumented that every dollar invested inaddiction treatment programs results in areturn of between $4 and $7 in reduceddrug-related crime and criminal justice costs.

If health care costs are included, total savingscan exceed costs by a ratio of 12 to one.Generally, the expense for treatment can beabsorbed by other non-correctional fundingsources such as Medicaid. Another optionfor covering the costs of drug treatment is to

FIGURE 1


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reinvestthe savings from reducing prison/jailcensus into evidence-based drug treatmentand other behavioral health programs.

Evidence-Based Program Utilizing a

Social Work/Public Health ParadigmAn example of social works history ofcoordinating complex prevention, earlyintervention and long-term intervention formulti-problem populations, is New YorkCitys Department of Health and MentalHygienes Correctional Health Service(CHS). CHS is responsible for medical,mental health, dental, discharge planning,and transitional health care services in theCitys correctional facilities, which have over100,000 admissions per year and house

roughly 13,500 inmates and detainees ona given day. These services are provideddirectly and through contracts monitored byCHS (www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/hca/correctsrv.shtml).

An important component of CHSs approachis its transitional services which are separatedinto two divisions (1) behavioral healthtransitional services, and (2) health caretransitional services. The importance of the

CHS model to this discussion is that eachdivision is managed by a social worker andboth are structured using social worktransitional planning concepts and constructsthat emphasize prevention, linkages to criticalservices, and early comprehensive needsassessments. New York City CHS is seen asa cutting edge program that is autonomousfrom the citys Department of Corrections. Theapproach gives a great deal of latitude forimplementing services that place a premiumon identifying and addressing underlying

behavioral health and somatic healthconditions that are best handled in atreatment context as opposed to primarilycorrectional approaches.

Affordable Care ActNASW anticipates that the Patient Protectionand Affordable Care Act (ACA) (P.L. 111-148)will have a major impact on the capacity ofsubstance abuse service providers and

planners in the criminal justice system. As ahealth care program, the ACA also coversbehavioral health, including mental illnessand substance use disorders. Therefore, socialworkers will be one of the many professionaldisciplines that will have a role in: Determining eligibility of justice-involved

individuals for coverage for Medicaidonce ACA becomes fully implemented;

Working with primary health care staffto ensure that justice involved individualsare included in health exchanges;

Providing transition planning and linkagesto community-based medical andbehavioral health services;

Ensuring that electronic medical recordsinclude behavioral health diagnostic,assessments, and treatment planninginformation for justice-involved individualsdeemed eligible for ACA coverage.

ConclusionActivities such as transitioning justice-involved

people onto ACA reflect an importanttransformation of service delivery in thenations criminal justice system toward apublic health model. Overall, the role ofsocial work in all aspects of delivering arange of useful services, including substanceabuse assessments, prevention, andtreatment, is well established. Consequently,it is important that the social work professionarticulate and advocate for a progressivemovement by criminal justice administratorstoward implementation of public health

policies and programs where appropriate.

It has often been suggested that anoveremphasis on public health willcompromise public safety. However,

The average cost

for one full yearof methadone

maintenance

treatment is

approximately

$4,700 per

patient, whereasone full year of

prison costs

approximately

$18,400 per

person.


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many in the social work profession feelthat inclusion of public health concepts inprocessing justice-involved individuals withserious health and behavioral problemswill improve public safety. This approachwill divert individuals to appropriate

treatment and supportive services thatwill lead to reductions in the revolvingcycle of arrest, incarceration, and rearrestsof low-level offenders.

Throughout the country, hundreds of privateand public sector organizations are comingtogether to advocate and respond tonecessary reforms in the criminal justicesystem. This level of collaborative problemsolving has been occurring for many years.

For example, the successful effort to mitigatesentencing disparities for convictions forcrack cocaine as opposed to powder cocainewas achieved over a five-year period andinvolved advocates from all spectrums ofcriminal justice stakeholders includingsocial work.

The social work profession is a major partof the criminal justice workforce, and socialworkers have an obligation to be proactivein advocating for reforms that set prioritiesfor treatment and other biopsychosocialinterventions over cycles of incarceration

for individuals with histories of substanceuse disorders, serious mental illness, orco-occurring disorders.

Social workers must participate and assumeleadership roles in stakeholder collaborationsparticipate in grassroots advocacy forcriminal justice reforms, and develop researchand written materials that speak to the issuesfrom a social work perspective.

Finally, the social work profession mustremind itself of its long history of introducinginnovations to service delivery and of socialjustice problem solving that, in many ways,pre-dates current public health models.

For more information contact:Melvin H. Wilson, LCSWManager, Department of Social Justice

and Human [email protected]


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ReferencesBoaz, D. (1999). Drug legalization. Retrieved from

the Cato Institute Web site: www.cato.org/publications/commentary/drug-legalization-criminalization-harm-reduction-excerpts

A brief history of New Yorks Rockefeller DrugWars. (2009, April 2). Time U.S. Retrievedfrom www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1888864,00.html

Boston University School of Social Work.Public Health Social Work. Retrieved fromhttp://publichealthsocialwork.org/?page_id=2

Drug Policy Alliance. (n.d.). New direction for NewYork: A public health and safety approach todrug policy. Retrieved from www.drugpolicy.org/docuploads/ndny_pubhealth.pdf

Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI Uniform

Crime Data of 2011. Retrieved fromwww.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications)

Florida Department of Health. (2007). Overview.Retrieved from www.doh.state.fl.us/family/social work/default.html

Holmes, C.C. (2002). Crime and poverty. Retrievedfrom www.pubdef.ocgov.com/poverty.html

Human Rights Watch. (2008). Targeting blacks:Law enforcement and race in the United States.Retrieved from www.hrw/sites/default/files/reports/us0508_1.pdf

Jeltsen, M. (2012, May 24). Cory Booker calls drugwar national nightmare, supports medicalmarijuana. Huffington Post. Retrieved fromwww.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/cory-booker-drug-war_n_1541082.html

Justice Policy Institute. Substance Abuse Treatmentand Public Safety.January, 2008 Retrieved fromwww.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/08_01_REP_DrugTx_AC-PS.pdf

Kinlock, et.al. A randomized clinical trial of methadonemaintenance for prisoners: results at 12 monthspost release. 2009. Journal of Substance AbuseTreatment. Retrieved from http://journalofsubstanceabusetreatment.com/article/s0740-5472(09)00030-0/abstract on September 10, 2012.

Legum, J. (2012, June 10). 10 Facts everyone shouldknow about New York Citys stop-and-friskpolicy. Retrieved from ThinkProgress Justice Website: www.thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/06/10/496984110-facts-newyorkcity-stop-and-frisk

Levine, H. (2011, October). Marijuana arrests:Gateway to the criminal justice system. BrooklynRail. Retrieved from www.brooklynrail.org/2011/10/local/marijuana-arrests-gateway-into-the-criminal-justice-system

Lurigio, Arthur J. The Disproportionate Incarcerationof African Americans for Drug Crimes: The IllinoisPerspective. Loyola University Chicago, TASC,Inc. 2005. Retrieved from (www.state.il.us/public/pdf/ResearchReports/Disproportionate%20Incarceration%20of%20African%20Americans%20for%20Drug%20Crimes.pdf)

National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2011, May).Topics in brief: Treating offenders with drugproblems, integrating health and public safety.Retrieved from www.drugabuse.gov/publications/topics-in-brief/treating-offenders-drug-problems-integrating-public-health-public-safety

National Institute on Drug Abuse. Drug Abuse is aPreventable Behavior. March, 2007. Retrieved12/7/12 from (www.drugabuse.gov/publications/topics-in-brief/drug-abuse-prevention)

National Association of Social Workers. (2012).Alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. In Socialwork speaks: National Association of SocialWorkers policy statements, 20122014(pp. 2833). Washington, DC: NASW Press.

Office of National Drug Control Policy. Obama

Administration Releases 21st Century Drug PolicyStrategy. April 17, 2012. Retrieved on 12/7/12from (www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/news-releases-remarks/obama-administration-releases-21st-century-drug-policy-strategy)

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L.111-148, 124 Stat 1191025 (2010).

Public Health Social Work. What is PHSW?Retrieved from http://publichealthsocialwork.orgon November 13, 2012.

Roberts, S. (2010, June 10). As crime rate drops,New Yorks jail population falls to lowest level in

24 years. New York Times. Retrieved fromwww.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/nyregion/11jails.html

U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). The 2012 StatisticalAbstract: Law enforcement, courts, & prisons:Arrests. Retrieved from www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/law_enforcement_courts/prisons/arrests.html


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NASW Resources

NASW SocialWorkers.org

NASW Foundation NASWFoundation.org

NASW Press NASWPress.org

NASW Assurance Services, Inc. NASWAssurance.org

NASW Center for Workforce Studies Workforce.SocialWorkers.org

Help Starts Here HelpStartsHere.org

Social Work Reinvestment Initiative SocialWorkReinvestment.org

Social Work Policy Institute SocialWorkPolicy.org

Social Work Portal SocialWorkers.org/swportal

750 First Street NE, Suite 700

Washington, DC 20002-4241

SocialWorkers.org

2013 National Association of Social Workers. All Rights Reserved.

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