American Civil Liberties Union

Drug Policy:
The ACLU Drug Law Reform Project is a division of the national ACLU. Our goal is to end punitive drug policies that cause the widespread violation of constitutional and human rights, as well as unprecedented levels of incarceration.


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Drug Policy : Racial Justice : Publications

Cracks in the System: 20 Years of the Unjust Federal Crack Cocaine Law (10/26/2006)
A comprehensive examination of the 100-to-1 crack versus powder cocaine sentencing disparity under which distribution of just 5 grams of crack carries a minimum 5-year federal prison sentence, while distribution of 500 grams of powder cocaine carries the same 5-year mandatory minimum sentence.

Caught in the Net: The Impact of Drug Policies on Women and Families (03/15/2005)
In this report, the ACLU, Break the Chains and the Brennan Center for Justice advocate for fair drug laws and policies that adequately take into account the needs of women and their families, and address the root causes of women's involvement with illegal drugs.

Race & the War on Drugs (10/17/2003)
This ACLU position paper argues that the United States cannot and should not tolerate laws that systematically target communities of color. Yet, this is precisely the outcome of the current War on Drugs. The time has come to reverse course in a disastrous, ineffective, and racist approach to drug law enforcement.

Race and the War on Drugs Endnotes (10/17/2003)
This page contains a complete list of sources cited in the ACLU position paper: Race and the War on Drugs, May 2003.

Collateral Damage in the War on Drugs (05/01/2002)
A Villanova Law Review article by ACLU Drug Law Reform Project Director Graham Boyd examining the many destructive by products of America's War on Drugs, including record incarceration, the erosion of constitutional rights and racial injustice.

The Drug War is the New Jim Crow (07/31/2001)
An article by ACLU Drug Law Reform Project Director Graham Boyd published in the NACLA Report on the Americas, July/August 2001, examining the destructive impact of America's drug policy, including record incarceration, erosion of constitutional rights, and rampant racial injustice.

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