{"id":53718,"date":"2022-03-21T04:15:18","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T12:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/21\/ann-arbor-could-decriminalize-drugs-with-student-led-effort\/"},"modified":"2022-03-21T13:46:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T21:46:25","slug":"ann-arbor-could-decriminalize-drugs-with-student-led-effort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/21\/ann-arbor-could-decriminalize-drugs-with-student-led-effort\/","title":{"rendered":"Ann Arbor Could Decriminalize Drugs With Student-Led Effort"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen both locally and nationally that criminalization does not work. It does not decrease drug use; it does not decrease overdose deaths.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Doug Johnson, Filter<\/strong><\/p>\n

A student group has launched a campaign to decriminalize drug possession and low-level distribution in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after months of consulting with members of the community. The University of Michigan chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) drafted the Ann Arbor Resolution to Advance Sensible Drug Policy<\/a>.\u00a0The resolution will be put to the city council, and has already won some political support.<\/p>\n

According to Kylee Crook, community organizing and events chair for the SSDP chapter, members made the most of some down time during the pandemic to create the initiative. The effort involved discussions with activists, politicians, treatment providers and people who use drugs, among other diverse groups. \u201cWe\u2019ve really been working on the resolution since revamping SSDP. It\u2019s a long game, and a long-term goal of ours,\u201d she told\u00a0Filter<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The campaign formally launched on March 16, accompanied by a Zoom\u00a0kickoff event which included speakers such as State Senator Jeff Irwin\u2019s (D-Ann Arbor) chief of staff, Annie Sommerville, as well as SSDP Chapter President Matt Dargay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to join SSDP in their\u00a0campaign to decriminalize drug possession in Ann Arbor,\u201d Sen. Irwin said in a press release.\u00a0\u201cThe \u2018War on Drugs\u2019 has been a\u00a0complete failure. Addiction is a health issue, not a crime. We need to focus on treatment and\u00a0rehabilitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The group\u2019s consultations with various community stakeholders led to a suggested permitted threshold of 15 grams of any drug\u2060\u2014significantly\u00a0higher\u00a0than in some other North American decriminalization\u00a0measures<\/a>. Crook said that they will campaign for the council to adopt the measure in July. A representative from the city said they would forward\u00a0Filter<\/i>\u2019s request for comment to the mayor\u2019s office; no comment has been received by publication time.<\/p>\n

Drug laws generally lie on the state and federal levels in the United States, but Crook noted that the resolution\u2014rather than \u201cpure\u201d decriminalization\u2014would shift the possession of drugs to be the lowest priority for local law enforcement.\u00a0It would ban use of city funds or resources to criminalize possession and use of drugs\u2014and do the same for distribution of drugs in quantities below that 15 gram threshold.\u00a0\u201cEffectively, it decriminalizes by moving it to the lowest priority in Ann Arbor,\u201d Crook said, acknowledging that federal and state drug laws would still apply on paper.<\/p>\n

This mechanism isn\u2019t unfamiliar to Ann Arbor. In 2020,\u00a0the city voted to make entheogens<\/a>\u2014including psilocybin mushrooms, peyote and ibogaine\u2014the \u201clowest law enforcement priority.\u201d The city has since started a yearly Entheofest.<\/p>\n

Detroit\u00a0and\u00a0Seattle\u00a0are among the cities that have taken similar steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be done in cities first, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re really excited for, and it\u2019s what our goal is. Cities have largely led that charge the past few years,\u201d Crook said.<\/p>\n

The resolution also calls for increased funding for \u201cproven recovery services.\u201d According to Crook, this means expanding naloxone access in the community\u2014particularly in the private sector\u2014and providing incentives for transitional housing to offer medications for opioid use disorder. \u201cThrough conversations with local treatment providers, that\u2019s what they requested and that\u2019s what they needed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Like the rest of the US, Michigan is experiencing a rise in overdose deaths. Between September 2020 and September 2021,\u00a02,933 people\u00a0died of overdose\u2014a 7 percent increase on the previous year. Although decriminalization doesn\u2019t directly address the adulterated drug supply, proponents argue that by decreasing stigma and fears of criminalization, it makes it more likely that people will access lifesaving services.<\/p>\n

Ann Arbor is a \u201cliberal college town,\u201d Crook said, and that\u2060\u2014together with the support it has already received\u2060\u2014makes her optimistic that the resolution could be adopted. While the SSDP chapter is currently focused on the city, it also hopes that the resolution could be used elsewhere going forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen both locally and nationally that criminalization does not work. It does not decrease drug use; it does not decrease overdose deaths,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just not working for us. We need a more public health-oriented approach, and we need a more people-centric approach, and we need a more compassionate approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was originally published by\u00a0Filter<\/a>, an online magazine covering drug use, drug policy and human rights through a harm reduction lens. Follow Filter on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, or sign up for its\u00a0newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Alabama Bill Would Force Women Who Want Medical Marijuana To Show Negative Pregnancy Tests<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post Ann Arbor Could Decriminalize Drugs With Student-Led Effort<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Ann Arbor Could Decriminalize Drugs With Student-Led Effort<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen both locally and nationally that criminalization does not work. It does not decrease drug use; it does not decrease overdose deaths.\u201d By Doug Johnson, Filter A student group has launched a campaign to decriminalize drug possession and low-level distribution in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after months of consulting withContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53718"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53719,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53718\/revisions\/53719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}