Home : Drug Policy

LEARN MORE  >> The informants are watching us... But who's watching the informants? Preliminary research indicates that up to 80% of all drug cases in America may be based on information provided by informants. An informant can be a useful law enforcement tool – a necessary evil – if used properly.  But putting police work in the hands of known criminals and blindly trusting that justice will be done is an unnecessary evil.  Learn more >> BREAKING NEWS: Encouraging Developments in Informant System Reform >> AUDIO: Davey D Remixes The Wire's Ed Burns >> VIDEO: Inside Recent Congressional Hearing >>

Damage Of Drug War On Prominent Display At Telluride Film Festival This Weekend (8/28/2008)
TELLURIDE, CO – The devastating impact of America's "war on drugs" will be on prominent display this weekend at the Telluride Film Festival with the premiere of "American Violet," a film based on the racially charged drug war scandal that rocked the town of Hearne, Texas, several years ago. Directed by Tim Disney and written by Bill Haney, the film stars Alfre Woodard, Will Patton and Tim Blake Nelson.

Federal Court Rules US Government May Not Deliberately Subvert Californias Medical Marijuana Laws (8/20/2008)
SAN JOSE, CA - In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a federal court today held that the U.S. Constitution bars deliberate subversion by the federal government of state medical marijuana laws.

ACLU Expresses its Disappointment in Congress for Failing to Eliminate Aid Penalty in HEA Reauthorization (7/31/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed its disappointment in Congress for failing to repeal the aid elimination penalty in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). The aid elimination penalty bars students with drug convictions – often minor, first time and misdemeanor offenses – from receiving critical college aid.

Federal Court Rules Strip Search Of 13-Year-Old Student For Ibuprofen Unconstitutional (7/11/2008)
SAN FRANCISCO – The American Civil Liberties Union applauded a federal appellate court ruling today that school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old Arizona girl when they strip searched her based on a classmate’s uncorroborated accusation that she possessed ibuprofen. Today’s 6-5 ruling from an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reverses an earlier decision by a divided three-judge panel of the same court. Eight of the eleven judges on the en banc court held that the strip search violated Savana’s constitutional rights, and a six-judge majority further held that the school official who ordered the search is not entitled to immunity as a result of his actions.

International Drug Policy Up For Debate At Landmark UN Forum (7/7/2008)
VIENNA, Austria – The American Civil Liberties Union today joins a diverse coalition of civil and human rights organizations participating in the United Nations’ “Beyond 2008 Forum,” a historic opportunity to assess the past decade of international drug policy and to shape its future course. The ACLU and others will speak to the inability of current, principally punitive drug policies to reduce the supply of or demand for illicit drugs, as well as the significant violence, health problems, and civil and human rights violations directly attributable to these policies.