PREVENTION NOT PRISONS

Arizona has a harsh and punitive approach towards people who struggle with substance abuse disorder. The enforcement of our state’s drug laws ruins lives and tears apart families and communities. It is also racially biased — Black Arizonans the most as they are twice as likely to be arrested for drug possession as other Arizonans, despite using drugs at the same rate.

Arizona’s outdated drug laws have allowed for thousands of people to be thrown in prison and have contributed to our high incarceration rate — our state holds the eighth-worst incarceration rate in the country. In 2019, Arizona imprisoned over 4,000 people just for drug possession. It’s past time for our state to move towards an evidence-based public health approach. Treating drug possession and paraphernalia possession as misdemeanor offenses instead of felony offenses would be a small but important step in that direction and help reduce the inequity in the criminal justice system.

That is why the ACLU of Arizona, along with our allies, is launching Prevention not Prisons, a defelonization campaign. Please help us by asking your lawmakers to support defelonization legislation in 2022.

If you receive a response from your lawmaker, please forward it to us at info@acluaz.org.

Message Recipients: Your House and Senate Representatives

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Subject

Over 4,000 people were in Arizona prisons in 2019 just for drug possession — all due to our state’s harsh laws treating personal drug possession as a felony. A felony conviction burdens a person with a lifetime of collateral consequences, such as increasing the likelihood of reoffending thereby making it difficult to secure a job or housing. It’s time we update Arizona’s antiquated drug laws and treat drug possession as a misdemeanor offense, as other states like Utah and Oklahoma have recently done.

Message Body

As your constituent, I want to hear your views on legislation that would defelonize the simple possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia and treat them as misdemeanors instead. Will you commit to supporting this policy in 2022?

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]

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PREVENTION NOT PRISONS

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