Positions of Various Denominations
and Other Religious Groups
* On March 1, 2002, eight denominations and other religious groups released a sign-on statement endorsing a variety of drug policy reform recommendations, including: less focus on law enforcement and prisons; better access to treatment; more effective drug education; restoring financial aid to students with drug convictions; demilitarizing international drug control efforts; and reducing or eliminating racial profiling, racially discriminatory sentencing, and mandatory minimum prison sentences.
Signatories include the National Council of Churches and the national
offices of the Evangelical Lutherans, Presbyterians, United Church of
Christ, Unitarian Universalists, and others. To read the full
statement and list of signatories, please click here: Eight Steps to
Effectively Controlling Drug Abuse and the Drug Market.
Numerous other denominations did not sign the statement because they did not agree with all eight steps. However, they still support many of the recommendations, and some go even further on some policy positions. Some of these are included below, and more denominations' positions will be added as we locate them.
* The most comprehensive and strongly anti-prohibition position by a religious denomination is the Statement of Conscience passed by the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association in June 2002. For example, it clearly recognizes that there is a difference between use, abuse and addiction, and among its many policy recommendations it includes the removal of criminal penalties for possession and the establishment of a medicalized system of regulated access. The entire statement can be read by clicking here and the most powerful excerpts can by read at http://www.uudpr.org.
* One of the all-time most significant interfaith drug policy reform accomplishments was that of the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency, which helped to convince President Clinton to grant clemency to twenty-three low-level, nonviolent federal drug offenders in December 2000. This project was spearheaded by Eric Sterling, who currently serves on the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative Leadership Council. The coalition's sign-on statement was signed by more than 600 faith leaders, the complete list of which can be read by clicking here.