The Effects of Drug Control Policies on Individual and Community Health for People of Color Proceedings of a Workshop (2023) / Chapter Skim
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3 The Role of Law Enforcement, Arrest, and Prosecution
3 The Role of Law Enforcement, Arrest, and Prosecution
Pages 11-18
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From page 11... ...
RACE AND INCARCERATION Josiah "Jody" Rich, of the Center for Health and Justice Transformation (formerly the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights) at the Miriam Hospital and Brown University in Rhode Island, began his career treating patients living with HIV/AIDS, including individuals in the prison system.
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From page 12... ...
There is a lesson here for the United States to study and replicate, Rich concluded. DRUG USE AND OVERDOSE DEATHS Scott Nolen, director of the addiction and health equity program at the Open Society Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, began his presentation by noting that his comments are based on "the fact that addiction sits in a space with all the other types of issues that people may have -- social determinants of health, racism, poverty, housing -- you name it."
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From page 13... ...
Thus, any discussion of solutions to opioid use must be rooted in a recognition of these historical missteps. More specifically, Nolen explained that many African Americans believe that treatment options that now exist for opioid use are related to the fact that White people are experiencing opioid dependence.
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From page 14... ...
Addiction should be seen as a health issue rather than a criminal issue, he noted. Good Samaritan Laws A Good Samaritan law allows a bystander or friend to call emergency services in the case of a drug overdose; it is so named because the point is that the individual who makes the call -- often an individual who is also using or carrying drugs -- cannot be prosecuted for drug use or possession of paraphernalia.
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From page 15... ...
Police activity around syringe exchange programs offers an example of how racial disparities in police encounters can translate into health disparities. One case study conducted in Baltimore and funded by the Open Society Foundations found that people of color were far more likely than White people to be arrested en route to or from the location of the syringe exchange program.
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From page 16... ...
Beletsky noted that this approach is unlikely to benefit communities of color because these communities "are so thoroughly traumatized by police interactions that they probably would never go to a police station to seek help for their addiction." Beletsky concluded by saying, "Substance use and especially problematic substance use is one of the key civil rights issues of our time" because of how this has systematically disenfranchised people of color. This, in turn, translates into health disparities.
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From page 17... ...
Beletsky explained that from his perspective as a supporter of harm reduction models, the harm reduction from policing also needs to be considered. The end result, he said, must be a reduction in the role of policing and criminal justice in the lives of people of color.
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