Religious Groups and the Drug War

The injustices of the drug war have not escaped the notice of Americans of faith.

On March 1, 2002, eight denominations and other religious groups released a 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. The signatories were the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, the Progressive Jewish Alliance, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Religious Society of Friends. The complete statement is at http://www.idpi.us/dpr/8steps.htm.

The Unitarian Universalist Association has been a leader in advocating more just and compassionate drug policies. The General Assembly of the UUA passed its "Alternatives to the War on Drugs" Statement of Conscience on June 22, 2002. This thoughtful, comprehensive statement calls for treating drug use as a health issue, not a crime. See http://www.uudpr.org.

Several major religious denominations have passed resolutions and signed statements explicitly supporting immediate legal access to medical marijuana for patients who have obtained their doctors' approval. These include the Episcopal Church in 1982, the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Association in 2002, the Union for Reform Judaism in 2003, and the United Methodist Church and Progressive National Baptist Convention in 2004. The 2004 statement reads, "Licensed medical doctors should not be punished for recommending the medical use of marijuana to seriously ill people, and seriously ill people should not be subject to criminal sanctions for using marijuana if the patient's physician has told the patient that such use is likely to be beneficial."

The Progressive National Baptist Convention, which represents a primarily African-American congregation, also passed a resolution outlining the unjust and racially biased effects of mandatory minimum sentencing. It concludes, “To ensure that an individual’s punishment fits the crime, judicial discretion should be restored. Accordingly, we advocate the repeal of mandatory minimum prison sentences.”

A recent statement by Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy defined the challenge the drug war presents to the religious community clearly and succinctly although it was not made in a religious context. He said, "The political phrase 'tough on crime' should not be a substitute for thoughtful reflection or lead us into moral blindness."