Almost 40 years to the day former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed the Rockefeller Drug Laws, an effort is underway to change what some people view as the failed 'War on Drugs.'
The toughest-in-the-nation Rockefeller Drug Laws were copied by other states and led to the national 'war.'
A major conference continues Friday on ways to shift from a criminal-based to a health-based drug policy. The University at Buffalo and the Drug Policy Alliance, a national organization working to end the war on drugs, are hosting the forum on changing the state's drug policy at the Ramada Inn in Amherst.
"We'll have participants from around the state, all over the country, and actually we have people coming in from Canada and Portugal to speak. It's all about looking at what works, what doesn't work, and how do we put together drug policies that achieve better health outcomes and public safety outcomes," says Gabriel Sayegh, State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance.
Sayegh says the "lock 'em up, throw away the key" approach hasn't stopped drug use and addiction.
"We've been so tough that people are afraid to call for help and they feel stigmatized, they feel like they're going to be shamed if they come forward and say, 'I have a drug addiction problem. I need help.' Whether that is from a pill that they were prescribed by their doctor or a street drug that they found," he says.
Accidental drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in New York State. The U.S. incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country in the world and according to Sayegh, illicit drugs are cheaper, more pure, and more widely available.
"We spent a trillion dollars on this in 40 years but we're not getting the results that we said we wanted. So we really do need a rethinking and a reshaping of where this thing is at so that we can at least be putting our money in to programs that work," Sayegh says.
According to the DPA, while many elected officials agree drug policies must shift to a public health approach, state and federal budgets continue emphasizing enforcement, prosecution, and incarceration.