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Charlotte is taking a new approach to drug cases. It could change lives.

Devna Bose

April 13, 2021 |

The Charlotte Observer |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

The Mecklenburg County district attorney stopped prosecuting non-violent, low-level drug cases to free up resources to handle a backlog of more serious cases that built up during the pandemic. The policy had the effect of freeing people from the permanent stain of a criminal conviction and offering them drug treatment as an alternative to punishment.

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Translating Portugal's Approach to Drugs and Addiction

Elana Gordon

March 31, 2021 |

Undark |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Portugal

In the 20 years since Portugal decriminalized possession of personal amounts of all drugs, deaths from HIV and overdoses declined and more people take advantage of expanded drug treatment programs. Treating the country's addiction-related problems as a health concern rather than a crime has been embraced domestically and copied by other places, including most recently in the U.S. by Oregon. Portugal's experience serves in part as a cautionary tale about tailoring policies to local conditions and following through on ideals with clear, measurable approaches. Copying the program outright is not simple.

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Using Tech, California Counties Have Cleared 140,000 Marijuana-Related Convictions

Cinnamon Janzer

March 05, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, California

After California legalized marijuana, it offered people a way to erase their marijuana-related criminal records. But few tried, in part because the process was difficult. Code for America's Clear My Record initiative automated the process by creating lists of cases eligible for expungement and notifying counties that they could easily take the next step. As a result, 140,000 convictions have been reduced or dismissed, relieving those people of the burden of a criminal record when applying for a job. CFA is working to expand the program nationwide.

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How New York Quietly Ended Its Street Drug War

Max Daly

February 01, 2021 |

Vice |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

From 2009 through 2019, street arrests for drug possession and sales fell by 80% in New York City, sparing hundreds of thousands of people harsh incarceration terms while defying warnings that more lenient enforcement of low-level drug crimes would wreak havoc on the city. The reforms came about because of persistent advocacy by groups opposed to racially disparate enforcement and its social harms, as well as legislative and court-imposed limits on punishment and stop-and-frisk policing. Now ticketing rather than arrest is used far more often for all types of drugs.

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How 60 reporters from 25 media outlets in 18 countries are finishing the work of murdered journalists

Amaris Castillo

January 25, 2021 |

Poynter |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Mexico

The Cartel Project formed an international team of journalists that produced a five-part series on the murder of Mexican journalist Regina Martinez. The series also explored the subjects that Martinez's killers attempted to silence: particulars about drug trafficking and political corruption. The project was founded on the principle that journalism must be a cross-border collaboration to counter transnational crime syndicates. The series documented the role Mexicans play in the international drug business and in spying on and censoring journalists who seek to reveal these secrets.

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2 Years After Legalizing Cannabis, Has Canada Kept Its Promises?

Ian Austen

January 23, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada

Since Canada legalized recreational use of marijuana two years ago, prosecutions for possession of small amounts of the drug have all but disappeared, erasing a major racial disparity in Canadian law enforcement. But other aspects of the country's plan for racial equity to flow from legalization have yet to be realized. Few of the estimated 500,000 people with possession convictions on their record have managed the daunting process of getting their records cleared. Illegal sales still flourish, and Black and indigenous people have not found much success in the growing legal side of the business.

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How Oregon's Radical Decriminalization of Drugs Was Inspired by Portugal

Roshan Abraham

January 05, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Portugal

After Portugal decriminalized hard drugs in 2001 to treat drug use as a health problem and not a crime, the country expanded treatment services that produced sharp drops in drug-overdose deaths and HIV infections. Its numbers of people incarcerated on drug charges also dropped by nearly half. The Drug Policy Alliance studied Portugal's approach and made a modified version of it the model for Oregon, where courts and prisons have been the gateway to the state's limited treatment services. Oregon voters approved decriminalization and a vast increase in treatment programs that will roll out in 2021.

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Prosecutors try to keep people out of pandemic-clogged courts through diversion programs

Rebecca Rivas

December 30, 2020 |

Missouri Independent |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

Missouri legislators passed a law in 2019 clarifying that prosecutors can divert criminal cases to social services and healthcare agencies even before charges are filed. Small experiments that had been taking place in recent years suddenly grew in St. Louis County to help the courts focus only on serious cases during pandemic shutdowns. Now those innovations are spreading, as more drug cases and other low-level cases avoid the courts altogether. This eases the burden also on people, who in traditional drug courts still get arrested and face employment barriers even if their cases eventually get dropped.

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Local initiative helps folks with cannabis-related charges find jobs—while pushing to decriminalize pot

Courtney Duchene

December 22, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

When Pennsylvania's largest medical-marijuana dispensary, TerraVida Holistic Centers, struggled to find enough employees, given the state's ban on the industry's employment of people with marijuana convictions, TerraVida joined with the Urban League of Philadelphia to expand aid to the formerly incarcerated. Through Urban League's Out4Good program, the partnership helps people expunge their drug convictions. It also counsels and financially helps groups of 10 trainees at a time, dozens of whom have started careers and stayed out of trouble. The group also seeks a longer-term fix: marijuana legalization.

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COVID-19 Eased Drug Treatment Rules—And That Saved Lives.

Christine Vestal

December 18, 2020 |

Stateline |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Rules changes designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at drug-treatment clinics had the benefit of improving access to treatment, which experts say has saved thousands of lives. Although overdose deaths have increased during the pandemic, they would be far higher but for emergency rules allowing for telehealth consultations with medical professionals, fewer restrictions on the use and storage of long-term supplies of methadone, and insurance coverage of addiction medications. Though not everyone prefers telephone consults over in-person visits, enough do that advocates want to make the changes permanent.

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