Reports

The Human Toll of Criminalizing Drug Use in the United States

This report finds that enforcement of drug possession laws causes extensive and unjustifiable harm to individuals and communities across the country. The long-term consequences can separate families; exclude people from job opportunities, welfare assistance, public housing, and voting; and expose them to discrimination and stigma for a lifetime. While more people are arrested for simple drug possession in the US than for any other crime, mainstream discussions of criminal justice reform rarely question whether drug use should be criminalized at all.

illustration of many people in hand cuffs
A man holds a flower and the message "Humanity for All" in front of a line of soldiers

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