Interfaith Drug Policy Strategy, winter/spring 2005
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December 23, 2004

1. IDPI’s 2005 State Legislative Agenda
2. Ministers speak out in New York
3. Martha Stewart calls for drug sentencing reform!

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1. IDPI’S 2005 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
 
Dear faithful friend of justice,
 
I am pleased to unveil the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative’s 2005 state legislative agenda and to seek the commitment of your energy, time, and/or resources to achieve our goals.
 
As you read IDPI’s plan, think about how you might fit into it. 
 
If you support more compassionate drug policies, I am committed to helping you find a way to make a difference that fits your interests and abilities.  No matter what state you live in, where you worship, or how much time or money you have, there is a way for you to help. 
 
Are you able to organize a Drug Policy Rapid Response Team in your congregation to help meet the grassroots needs of the campaign? Are you able to contribute financially so that our work can continue?  Will you send a letter to your state legislator about a bill?  Do you know of an organization that you can convince to support a state policy change?  If you have any other ideas, let us know.
 
In our first year we learned a lot about what works -- and what doesn’t -- to influence state legislation.  We are also learning how to most effectively meet the needs of the legislative campaign organizers in each state and the people of faith whose assistance is sought.  In consultation with the drug policy reform groups spearheading these campaigns, we have selected the areas in which people of faith can make the biggest impact.  The nation’s top political analysts and organizers on the issues of prison, civil liberties, and drug policy have told us where our help is most needed . . . and now we’re passing their wisdom along to you.
 
If you see your state in the lists below, know that you are geographically on the front line in the battle for drug policy reform.  You, personally, are needed here.  No matter what drug policy issue you care about the most -- sentencing reform, medical marijuana, replacing the violent criminal markets with regulated access, etc. -- by taking action on the specific issue that will be considered by your state legislature this year, you will be helping the whole drug policy reform movement take a giant step forward.  Regardless of how much you care about the particular bill under consideration, your involvement will build momentum toward the specific reforms of greatest concern to you.
 
Even if your state is not on the lists below, you will be hearing from us soon about federal legislation being considered in 2005.  Moreover, the people on the front lines need your support to do their crucial work in their state legislatures this year.  The sooner that victory is secured in these states, the sooner that your state will become a hotbed of drug policy reform activity.
 
****IDPI’s Agenda****
 
* We will be organizing people of faith in favor of medical marijuana legislation in Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico and New York.
 
* We will be organizing people of faith in favor of drug sentencing reform in Alabama, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, and New York.
 
* In Alaska, we are mobilizing people of faith to replace the criminal market for marijuana with reasonable regulations and taxation.
 
If you live in any of these states and you are willing to help, please call me ASAP at 301-933-7681 or respond to this email with your telephone number(s) and the best times to reach you.
 
****IDPI’s Tactics****
 
We have developed a menu of activities for each state:
 
Action alerts:  As the campaigns get underway, we will be sending messages specifically to the folks who live in each state to give specifics on what is needed.  For example, sometimes we will ask you to contact your legislator.  Other times we might ask you to attend a demonstration, write a letter-to-the-editor, etc.
 
Phone calls:  Sometimes it is worthwhile for me to get on the phone and call the people on our list to drum up grassroots support and to find the leaders among you who can take charge in your congregation.
 
Outreach mailings to clergy:  Having a list of religious leaders who support our legislative agenda can be very useful in convincing legislators.  We have volunteers and part-time help developing a prospect list of religious leaders from denominations that support specific policy changes.  We will soon send a mailer asking them to add their name to a sign-on statement.  Some of the clergy who send the sign-on letter back will speak at news conferences and testify at legislative committee hearings.
 
Engaging denominational leaders: For the supportive denominations, we will urge their regional and/or state-level leaders to give witness to their denominations’ positions by testifying, sending in written testimony, activating the congregations they serve, etc. 
 
Religion-specific lobbying of state legislators:  Often times there is a legislator who needs to be influenced who happens to be a member of a supportive denomination.  In such cases, we will send letters and make phone calls to share their denominations’ perspective with them.  (This usually works best with the help of a local religious leader.) 
 
****How You Can Help****
 
Last year, the people of faith we mobilized made a significant impact in the passage of medical marijuana legislation in Vermont and the passage of treatment instead of incarceration legislation in Maryland.  In other states our efforts helped to build momentum that will eventually lead to legislative victories.
 
This year, we know more about how to make a difference, we have larger lists of supporters and supportive denominations, and we have more time to plan.  Together, we can help the drug policy reform movement to pass compassionate drug legislation in more states this year. 
 
Remember, we are an office of two with an annual budget of less than $90,000.  We still need to raise an additional $30,000 to accomplish all the aforementioned goals.
 
If you are willing to contribute, give me a call at 301-933-7681 or go to http://www.idpi.us/join/.  Or send a check to the address below. 

(Because IDPI focuses on influencing legislation, donations are not tax-deductible.  If you would like to make a large donation, please call to discuss tax-deductible options.)
 
I look forward to working with you to make this a more compassionate and less coercive world.  May this holiday season bring peace and joy to you and your loved ones.
 
Be well, be free,
 
Troy Dayton, Field Coordinator
Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative
2808 Weisman Road
Silver Spring, MD 20902

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2. NEW YORK MINISTERS GET PUBLISHED
 
Last week, the state legislature in New York finally made some changes to the state’s harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws.  Unfortunately, it was too little, too late.  So, we wrote a letter-to-the-editor and passed it around to some clergy in New York.  In 24 hours we got seven ministers from four different denominations to sign a letter-to-the-editor that we sent to New York papers.  This letter is pasted below. New York Newsday decided to run it with edits on 12/17/04.
 
Dear editor:
    
We in the faith community were delighted that the legislature made some changes to the Rockefeller drug laws. However, we will not rest until mandatory sentences are replaced with judicial discretion.
 
A consensus exists among religious denominations that mandatory sentencing is immoral, violating the universal religious principles of justice and mercy.
    
The following groups have a position against mandatory sentencing: U.S. Catholic Bishops, National Council of Churches, United Methodists, Evangelical Lutherans, Presbyterians (USA), United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalists, Episcopal Church, Reform Jews, Progressive National Baptists, and many more.
    
Thousands of people are rotting in prison with rapists and murderers for non-violent, low-level drug crimes because of these laws.  Judges should decide, on a case-by-case basis, how much prison and/or treatment an offender receives.
    
We urge all people of faith to contact their legislators to ask for mandatory sentencing repeal. That’s real Rockefeller drug law reform.
 
Sincerely,
 
Charles Thomas, executive director, Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative
Rev. Dr. Ronald W. Steward, Antioch Fellowship Christian Center (Progressive National Baptist) 
Rev. Eddie Lopez, Jr., La Resurrecion (United Methodist)
Rev. John R. Long, chair, Dept. of Church and Society, Presbytery of Western NY (Presbyterian)
Rev. Dr. Stanley Sears, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Plattsburgh (Unitarian)
Rev. Bruce Southworth, Community Church of New York (Unitarian)
Rev. Timothy Behrendt, Courtland Unitarian Universalist Church (Unitarian)
Rev. David M. Bryce, First Unitarian Society of Westchester (Unitarian)

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3.  MARTHA STEWART CALLS FOR SENTENCING REFORM!
 
On Martha Stewart’s webpage (http://www.marthatalks.com/) she posted an open letter about the women she is serving jail time with. 

It says, in part, “I beseech you all to think about these women -- to encourage the American people to ask for reforms, both in sentencing guidelines, in length of incarceration for nonviolent first-time offenders, and for those involved in drug-taking. They would be much better served in a true rehabilitation center than in prison where there is no real help, no real programs to rehabilitate, no programs to educate, no way to be prepared for life "out there" where each person will ultimately find herself, many with no skills and no preparation for living.”

Go Martha!