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Unjust and Untenable: Why D.C. Must Remove Criminal Penalties for Drug and Paraphernalia Possession

New York, New York (January 11, 2018)  – The Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic partnered with HIPS, a D.C.-based frontline, harm reduction organization working directly with communities who have been affected by the War on Drugs, to develop a report-based policy statement calling for the full decriminalization of all drugs for personal use. The report analyzes the racial disparities in the enforcement of drug laws in Washington D.C., addresses the long-term consequences of criminalizing drug use, and calls for a public health and human rights approach to drug use.

This report was authored by Hailey K. Flynn, Leitner Center alumna and 2016 Fordham Law graduate, in her capacity as Georgetown Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow at HIPS, and Christine ElDabh, Program Officer at the Leitner Center. It was researched and co-authored by Xiaowen Liang, Jelena Petrovic, and Fahimeh Mohammadi Kashkooli, LLM graduate students in the Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic at the Leitner Center. It was supervised and edited by Hailey Flynn and Professor Chi Adanna Mgbako, director of the Leitner Clinic.

Read “Unjust and Untenable: Why D.C. Must Remove Criminal Penalties for Drug and Paraphernalia Possession.”

Photo credit: Creative Commons/Mitchell Haindfield


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Leitner Center for International Law and Justice
Fordham University School of Law
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Tracy Higgins
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