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REPORTS
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Life Sentences:
Collateral Sanctions Associated with Marijuana Offenses
Quick Summary: In addition to the punishment imposed by the
judge, a
misdemeanor conviction for possession of marijuana can trigger automatic
bars on educational aid, a bar on serving as a foster parent, denial of
federal housing assistance, revocation or suspension of occupational
licenses, and suspension of one’s driver’s license. A felony conviction (for
example, growing a marijuana plant) can result in all of these sanctions,
and more.
If marijuana offenses are considered less of an affront
to civil society than violent crimes such as murder, rape, or kidnapping, our study shows that this
consideration is rarely found in any of the collateral sanctions. A person
convicted of growing marijuana (a felony in most states) is often subjected
to the same, and sometimes greater, collateral sanctions than a person
convicted of murder, rape, or robbery.
This report examines
these sanctions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and ranks the
jurisdictions in order or severity.
>> Read
Report
Pharmacotherapy and the Future of the Drug
Executive Summary: Over the next decade
an increasing number of new “pharmacotherapy” medications will become
available with the potential to tremendously impact the use and abuse of
illegal drugs and the overall direction of national and international drug
policy. These pharmacotherapy medications are designed to block or
significantly reduce the “highs” elicited by illegal drugs. Used as part of
a drug treatment program, pharmacotherapy medications may provide a valuable
aid for people seeking a chemical aid in limiting or eliminating problem
drug use. However, the tremendously politicized nature of the “drug war,”
raises substantial concerns that in addition to those who choose to use such
medications, some people will be compelled to use them. In the absence of
extraordinary circumstances, governmental action compelling a person to use
a pharmacotherapy drug would violate a number of constitutional guarantees
and other legal rights protecting people from forced medical
treatment. Among the rights potentially implicated by compulsory use of
pharmacotherapy drugs are the right to informed consent, the right to bodily
integrity and privacy, the protection against cruel and unusual punishment,
and the right to freedom of thought.
>> Read
Report
Cognitive Liberty & The First Amendment
CCLE's Amicus Brief to the US Supreme Court in
US v. Sell
The fundamental right to control one’s own
intellect and mental processes is protected by the First Amendment, and is
eviscerated if courts permit the government to forcibly drug citizens. If
government agents, with the concurrence of the courts, can constitutionally
order the forcible manipulation of Dr. Sell’s mind in order that he may
stand trial, then any accused defendant, who poses no danger to self or
others, is also at jeopardy of losing his or her First Amendment right to
freedom of thought. This is particularly true in light of ongoing
pharmacological and technological developments, which provide unprecedented
tools for forcibly altering the inner workings of the mind.
>> Read
Brief [PDF, 254.5K]
Report on Salvia Divinorum
and its Active Principle, Salvinorin A
In October 2001, the Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics (ccle) collaborated with several
experts on Salvia divinorum and prepared a report covering the
plant's history, effects, medical use, and low abuse potential. The analysis
concludes that
Salvia divinorum is not an appropriate candidate for scheduling.
>> Read
Report
Report on Medical Marijuana,
the First
Amendment and Cognitive Liberty
In 2003, CCLE's legal team began briefing state lawmakers on the cognitive
liberty implications of medical marijuana, and marijuana prohibition in
general.
>> Read
Report
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