SENATE MEMORIAL 71

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Bernadette M. Sanchez

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO HEALTH POLICY COMMISSION TO CREATE A TASK FORCE TO EVALUATE NEW MEXICO'S CURRENT APPROACHES TO DRUG POLICY THROUGH THE USE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, TREATMENT, PREVENTION AND HARM REDUCTION AND TO DEVELOP STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE CHANGE.

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has long been concerned about substance abuse and its impact on the people of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, addiction is a chronic medical illness that is treatable, and drug treatment success rates exceed those of many cancer therapies; and

     WHEREAS, according to a recent report issued by the federal substance abuse and mental health services administration, an estimated fifty-five thousand New Mexicans need, but are not receiving, treatment for an illicit drug use problem and another one hundred twenty-four thousand need treatment for alcohol abuse; and

      WHEREAS, according to the Pew research centers, more than one out of every one hundred Americans is incarcerated, and a recent United States justice department report states that an estimated five hundred thousand people are incarcerated for a drug law violation nationally; and

     WHEREAS, at the end of 2007, over seven million three hundred thousand Americans, which is approximately one in every thirty-one adults, were incarcerated or on probation or parole, and roughly one-third of these were under correctional supervision for a drug law violation; and

     WHEREAS, the average cost of substance abuse treatment in New Mexico is one thousand two hundred ninety-five dollars ($1,295) per person per year, and the cost of incarcerating one person in either jail or prison averages twenty-seven thousand eight hundred thirty-seven dollars ($27,837) per year; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico spent approximately twenty-two million dollars ($22,000,000) to incarcerate nonviolent drug possession offenders in 2007; and

     WHEREAS, of the approximately five thousand six hundred people in New Mexico's state prison system in 2002, approximately eighty-seven percent were assessed as needing substance abuse services and seventy percent as substance abusing or dependent; and

     WHEREAS, according to a study by the RAND corporation, every one dollar ($1.00) invested in substance abuse treatment results in a savings to taxpayers of more than seven dollars ($7.00), through reduced societal costs of crime, violence and loss of productivity; and

     WHEREAS, the national treatment improvement evaluation study shows substantial reductions in criminal behavior, with a sixty-four percent decrease in all arrests after treatment, making public safety a primary beneficiary of effective drug treatment programs; and

     WHEREAS, federal, state and local costs of the war on drugs exceed forty billion dollars ($40,000,000,000) annually, yet drugs are still widely available in every community, drug use and demand have not decreased and most drug prices have fallen while purity levels have increased dramatically; and

     WHEREAS, according to the office of national drug control policy, only thirty-five percent of the federal drug control budget is spent on education, prevention and treatment combined, with the remaining sixty-five percent devoted to law enforcement efforts; and

     WHEREAS, cities and states across the country have experienced a rise in violent crime and must prioritize scarce law enforcement resources; and

     WHEREAS, many New Mexico teachers, prevention specialists and school districts are using effective and science-based drug prevention strategies that focus on building resiliency and honest communication with young people about drug use; and

     WHEREAS, over one-third of all HIV/AIDS cases and nearly two-thirds of all new cases of hepatitis C in the United States are linked to injection drug use with contaminated syringes, now the single largest factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country; and

     WHEREAS, Blacks, Latinos and other minorities use drugs at rates comparable to Whites, yet they face disproportionate rates of arrest and incarceration for drug law violations among persons convicted of drug felonies in state courts; and

     WHEREAS, according to the corrections department, one in ninety Hispanic men aged eighteen and older, one in thirty-one Black men aged eighteen or older and one in twenty-five Black men aged twenty to thirty-four are currently incarcerated in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the drastic change in sentencing laws in the last quarter century has led to a seven hundred percent increase in the incarceration of women, with drug law violations accounting for one-third of the increase; and

     WHEREAS, in order to promote the successful reentry into society of people leaving prison or jail, New Mexico must provide them with job training, transitional housing, family reunification services, behavioral health treatment and the restoration of voting rights; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico continues to be a national leader in effective, public health-based drug policies, as demonstrated by its 1997 enactment of the Harm Reduction Act, which created statewide syringe exchange programs; the department of health's 2001 overdose prevention and response initiative; and the good Samaritan provisions in Section 30-1-27.1 NMSA 1978, which was enacted in 2007; and

     WHEREAS, the use of a four pillar approach to drug policy, incorporating law enforcement, treatment, prevention and harm reduction, can save both lives and money in New Mexico;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico health policy commission be requested to create a task force to evaluate New Mexico's current approaches to drug policy through the use of law enforcement, treatment, prevention and harm reduction and to develop strategies for effective change; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force include representation from the governor's office; the legislative finance committee; experts in the fields of public safety, public health, substance abuse prevention, behavioral health treatment and harm reduction; the drug policy alliance; and at least two individuals who are in recovery from substance abuse; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force identify short-and long-term strategies for drug policies that save taxpayer money, hold agencies accountable and demonstrate a proactive, public health approach to drug policy development; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force establish criteria to evaluate the impact of drug use and drug policies on the health and welfare of New Mexicans; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force present its findings and recommendations, including a description of current approaches to drug policy and recommendations for effective strategies to more effectively address drug use and its consequences, to the interim legislative health and human services committee and other appropriate interim legislative committees by November 1, 2009; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the chair of the New Mexico health policy commission and to each of the organizations named to participate in the task force.

- 6 -