Washington – Voters in three US states approved ballot measures on November 8, 2016, to legalize the use and possession of small amounts of marijuana, part of a continued shift in United States drug policy, Human Rights Watch said today. In addition, Oklahoma voted to reduce its criminal penalties for drug offenses by making possession a misdemeanor instead of a felony.“Personal drug use shouldn’t be addressed by the criminal justice system, and the results on election day helped move things in the right direction,” said Antonio Ginatta, US advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “The US continues to move away from criminalizing marijuana use and toward rational drug policy grounded in a respect for privacy and human rights.”
The three states that legalized marijuana for personal use are California, Massachusetts, and Nevada. Results are pending on a similar ballot measure in Maine. Arizona’s legalization measure failed. California, Massachusetts, and Nevada join four other states – Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington – that have legalized marijuana use and possession over the past four years.
The state ballot measures are similar: they apply only to people age 21 and older – use by someone under 21 is still prohibited. People are allowed to possess up to one ounce (28.5 grams) of marijuana and grow up to six plants for private use – Massachusetts allows people to keep up to 10 ounces in their homes. People may transfer marijuana to other adults so long as the transfer is not a sale. California and Massachusetts also give local governments the authority to license establishments where marijuana can be used on-site.
US enforcement of drug possession laws ruins individual and family lives, discriminates against people of color, and undermines public health., Human Rights Watch said. A recent report by Human Rights Watch and the ACLU shows that police make more arrests for drug possession than for any other crime. The long-term consequences can separate families, exclude people from job opportunities, welfare assistance, public housing, and voting; and expose them to discrimination and stigma for a lifetime.
“In its decades-long failed attempt to combat drug use, the US has unfairly and excessively punished communities, harmed families, and made it more difficult for individuals who’ve used drugs to get a job and a home,” Ginatta said. “These election results should push more states to consider their own legalization measures.”
Marijuana continues to be illegal under federal law, though the Obama administration has stated that it would not interfere with state policy related to marijuana use. President-elect Donald Trump’s position on state marijuana policy is not clear.
The Oklahoma ballot measure – State Question 780 – while not legalizing personal use, is still an important step toward reducing the harm caused by criminalizing drug possession, Human Rights Watch said. Prior to approval of this ballot measure, a person could serve up to 10 years in prison for possession of a controlled substance other than marijuana. With passage of this measure, all drug possession crimes are now capped at a one-year maximum. – Human Rights Watch
Trump should govern with respect for rights
Washington, DC – United States President-elect Donald Trump should abandon campaign rhetoric that seemed to reject many of the United States’ core human rights obligations and put rights at the heart of his administration’s domestic and foreign policy agendas, Human Rights Watch said today. Official results gave Trump the necessary electoral college votes to win.
“Now that he has secured victory, President-elect Trump should move from the headline-grabbing rhetoric of hatred and govern with respect for all who live in the United States,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director at Human Rights Watch. “He found a path to the White House through a campaign marked by misogyny, racism, and xenophobia, but that’s not a route to successful governance. President-elect Trump should commit to leading the US in a manner that fully respects and promotes human rights for everyone.”
The US presidential campaign was dominated by a number of controversial statements and policy proposals by Trump. When announcing his intent to run for president in June of 2015, Trump stated, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best… They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” He also proposed banning Muslims from entering the US.
During a primary debate, Trump floated bringing back waterboarding and “a hell of a lot worse.” He has also stated that he would keep the Guantanamo Bay detention facility open and “load it up with some bad dudes.” Late in the campaign, a 2005 video of Trump appearing to brag about sexually assaulting women became a focal point of the campaign. Trump later apologized for his statements. After the release of the tape, more than a dozen women accused Trump of sexual assault.
President-elect Trump will inherit enormous global and domestic human rights challenges when he takes office in January 2017, including how to address the US role in conflicts where a crushing toll in civilian lives has become the norm, whether in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, or Yemen. In Yemen, the US has become a party to an armed conflict that has seen its ally Saudi Arabia inflict devastating and indiscriminate violence on the country’s civilian population.
Trump has an opportunity to put his often-abhorrent campaign rhetoric behind him and place human rights at the center of his domestic and international policies. He should recognize that US government credibility in promoting rights, good governance, and the rule of law cannot be fully realized unless the US government itself demonstrates a better record on issues like the rights of women and children, criminal justice, Guantanamo, drone strikes outside conventional war zones, and justice for torture.
“It is difficult to press other countries to respect human rights when your own government is sometimes ignoring them,” said Roth. “At home, for example, President-elect Trump should address criminal justice and immigration reform, and place special emphasis on addressing systematic racial discrimination.”
At the international level, Trump should focus especially on the growing global crackdown on civil society and free expression, including in Russia, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh. His administration should also come up with new approaches to address totalitarian governments like North Korea, and press for an end to growing repression in countries whose governments are increasingly consolidating power, like Turkey.
The president-elect should also seek to strengthen arms control norms by working with other countries to finalize a legal ban on fully-autonomous weapons systems (“killer robots”) and taking further steps to end the US use of land mines and cluster munitions, joining international treaties that restrict their use.
Beyond the federal election, several important propositions were put to voters on November 8, including whether Californians would vote to repeal the state’s death penalty and whether Nebraskans choose to not reinstate capital punishment after their state legislature voted for its abolition. Several states also voted on whether to legalize the personal use of marijuana. – Human Rights Watch
