Ethan Nadelmann from Drug Policy Alliance has news for us:
Biggest Reform in History Makes the Ballot
I have been traveling back and forth to California this year, working on a ballot initiative that represents the most significant reform of prisons and sentencing in the history of the United States. We’re calling it the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act or “NORA” for short and we’ve just heard from the California Secretary of State that it has officially qualified for the ballot.Our research shows a substantial majority of Californians really like what’s in NORA. It provides a solution to the state’s prison overcrowding crisis through a combination of measures that will simultaneously and safely reduce the size of the prison population, provide effective treatment and rehabilitation, reduce recidivism and crime, and save taxpayers billions of dollars.
You might also be interested to know that NORA includes a provision that changes the penalty for marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction — like a traffic ticket. This single change will protect some 40,000 people a year convicted of simple marijuana possession from the serious and life-long collateral consequences of a criminal record.
Californians will have the chance to cast your vote on NORA in this November election.
