The Communal Impacts of Drug Criminalization in Maryland

criminal elements involved in the illicit drug trade, leading to more street violence. The
standard argument from decrim advocates, that decrim does not lead to more street drug
sales, does not address this concern, as community members expressed concern not only
about decrim making things worse, but the perpetuation of a status quo reality of
violence they deem unacceptable.
Multiple interviewees brought up the anti-violence legacy of community-led institutions
like the Nation of Islam and the Black church, demonstrating the secular, public health,
and human social service focus that has dominated the conversation around drug decrim
and how often it fails to engage critical stakeholders.
Any drug decriminalization policy seeking to gain support from people who
have framed drug policy liberalization as a tool for social control and
community destabilization must center a comprehensive response to street
violence and empower communities to address their own problems.
Go Back to Go Forward-Locating Public
Health’s Place in The History and Present
of Anti-Blackness
“I've worked in recovery homes, drug court
programs, op/in-patient, medication management
clinics, everywhere…the truth of the matter is that it
is driven by money. How much time is [it] going to
take someone to move through our treatment
protocols? So that way we can prove to the state that
we are meeting our goals, and that way we can
prove that we deserve more money than the
university. How much money do we have to do
things, to take clients into the community, or to do
things socially with clients? How much of the
creation of alternative programming is going to
take away from this primary programming that we
feel is more efficacious than whatever the alternative
programming is, and more in alignment with
potentially the funding sources? The drive is of
course more about how do we keep our jobs? How
do we keep money coming in?”
Overall, advocates spoke on the history of Baltimore,
as a comprehensive web of oppressive institutions.
One of the central takeaways is that decriminalization
advocates take accountability for their relationship
within these institutions.
While harm reduction advocates have been keen to
try to delineate their advocacy from drug courts and
mandatory treatment, arguing that decriminalization
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