If you ask some of my free spirited peers what they think of Hillary Clinton, it’s a mixed bag of responses. Some herald her as the champion of the War on Drugs, criticizing her harsh policies, and others regard her analytical prowess a boon to any debate or issue of policy. Although Clinton isn’t well known for her relatability or small talk with the little folk, she has recently toured many states and has opened her heart and listened to the concerns of small towns in America- and the winds of change are upon us, or are they?
Many Americans have expressed their woe of loss and mourning at the hands of preventable drug addiction. The nation’s fatal overdose rate has tripled within the last three years; untold thousands perish from drug use disorders without stepping a hair in an inpatient medical detoxification program for a second chance at life. But is Hillary the best candidate to woo to the aid of addiction?
Let’s take a step back for a minute to briefly revisit Hillary’s stances on drug policy. According to On The Issues, Clinton appeared to be more open to the possibility of medical marijuana in special cases as of 2014. When prompted for her views on recreational marijuana, On The Issues quotes her stating,
“On recreational, you know, states are the laboratories of democracy. We have at least two states that are experimenting with that right now. I want to wait and see what the evidence is.”
Her response seems entirely logical, and could go either way, considering the state of limbo America is presently in regarding the great marijuana debate. I don’t think her critics would have expected a response so pregnant with possibility.
In 2007 On The Issues quotes Hillary up in arms to tackle the disparity between sentencing for crack cocaine and powdered cocaine. If you didn’t know already (before the Fair Sentencing Act was ratified in 2010), users arrested on charges of using or possessing crack cocaine were imprisoned much longer than those actively abusing powdered cocaine. The problem? Well two, really big ones. The first is crack cocaine and powdered cocaine are literally the same thing- so who felt the need to punish one form of the substance over the others? We won’t point fingers here. The second is 85 percent of those arrested for charges involving crack cocaine were African American, according to the ACLU.
To put things in perspective, African Americans were imprisoned for nonviolent drug crimes for just as long as whiles who committed violent acts. President Obama helped put a stop to the glaring disparity with the Fair Sentencing Act, which eradicated the five year sentence minimum previously required of those found with crack cocaine. (We’d like to see mandatory inpatient rehabilitation to help offenders really get their lives on track, but we can only hope for the future.)
Hillary is quoted by On The Issues commenting on the unjust legislation,
“It is really unconscionable that someone who uses five grams of crack cocaine, compared to 500 grams of powder cocaine would face such disparate sentencing. And it’s further compounded because the possession of crack cocaine really is unique in the way that it leads directly to prison for so many people. So I am going to tackle the disparity.”
For those of you who are convinced Hillary is hell-bent on putting away nonviolent drug offenders, I would refute her words beg to differ. Case and point: in 2007 at the Democratic Primary Debate held at Howard University On The Issues quotes her passionately championing for the freedoms of those riddled by addiction,
“We need diversion, like drug courts. Non-violent offenders should not be serving hard time in our prisons. They need to be diverted from our prison system…we need an attorney general and a system of justice that truly does treat people equally,”
Now that we’ve adequately established Hillary’s relatively recent stances on drug policy, let’s revisit her ventures across America: according to the New York Times, drug addiction and its effect on rural America has become one of her principal focuses of her campaign. After hearing about the travesties of addiction and overdoses from local residents, Clinton held her usual composure, and did not offer warm embraces, but jotted notes down about the things confided to her for ammunition later.
Hillary did note heroin, methamphetamine, and prescription medications are silently taking their toll on small towns. Behind the scenes Clinton instructed her advisors and policy makers to begin devising new plans for drug policy. The New York Times quotes Jake Sullivan, Hillary’s campaign’s senior policy director,
“She came back… and said, ‘I want you guys to go beyond standard policies and really take a hard look at some of the more creative or forward-looking policy positions.’”
Although her outward perspectives on drug policy seem to be promising for those affected by untreated drug addictions, we don’t quite know what Hillary has in mind for bringing in new light on an age-old debate. Sullivan worries Clinton hasn’t said much that is tangible, and concrete. He believes her adversaries may take advantage of her vagueness. Although we know her campaign is considering new, hopefully progressive, policies on drug addiction (we’re crossing our fingers for new federal assistance for drug and alcohol addiction treatment) we can’t be sure what she has in store for us just yet.
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May 29, 2015 at 08:25PM
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