24 Jul South LA Takes Fight for Drug Reform to the Ballot in November

By Saúl Sarabia

More than 800,000 Californians have signed petitions to give voters a chance to change six of the lowest level, non-violent crimes — such as simple drug possession and shoplifting under $950 — from felonies to misdemeanors.

The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act will redirect up to $250 million to mental health, drug treatment, school-based prevention, and crime victim programs. It will not apply to people with previous felony records for rape, murder or child molestation.

“For years, South L.A. has been leading the charge for our tax dollars to be used to help people overcome addiction, not for incarceration,” says Karren Lane, director of Community Coalition’s Prevention Network, which organizes social service providers in South Los Angeles. “We plan to make a major push in South L.A., so that voters have their say in the passage of this initiative, by involving thousands of neighbors in the November election.”

Even law enforcement has come to embrace the community’s approach.  The two named co-sponsors of the initiative are San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón and former San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne. In addition to law enforcement officials, the initiative is supported by crime victims, teachers, academics, rehabilitation experts and civil rights organizations across California.

If passed, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act would make possession of any drug for personal use a misdemeanor. The maximum sentence for a misdemeanor is one year in county jail, while repeat offenders with felony charges could end up in prison for three years. By reducing the number of felony convictions, the initiative will help reduce discrimination that people with criminal records currently face throughout their lifetime.

These changes would bring state policy in line with the community movement in South L.A. to replace failed law enforcement approaches from the “War on Drugs” with community-based prevention approaches. Community Coalition was founded out of a conference to examine the crack epidemic in African American communities in the 1990s.

“Local activists concluded that Black and Brown neighbors could come together to organize against the root causes of addiction and for prevention, not wasteful law enforcement approaches, which make drug problems worse,” says Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president and CEO of Community Coalition.

Once formed, the organization fought against the Los Angeles Police Department’s use of “battering ram” tanks to destroy suspected “crack houses,” state laws to deny food stamps and welfare to people with drug-related felony convictions and federal cuts to social services that would end prevention programs.

Today, Community Coalition is working to increase state funding for re-entry services and part of a coalition pushing the L.A. City Council to reduce the reliance on background checks for employment and housing.

“By actively engaging in the battle to pass the Safe Neighborhood and Schools Act, South L.A. has another opportunity to provide leadership on changing laws and policies that negatively impact poor people and communities of color,” says Lane.

The deadline to register to vote for the Nov. 4 election is Oct. 20. 

Sarabia is the former director of Community Coalition’s Prevention Network and a contributor to The Movement.