Drug Policy Reform in Texas

The ACLU of Texas supports a range of drug policy reforms, with particular emphasis on changing the draconian policies that result in the unnecessary imprisonment of tens of thousands of low level offenders.

ACLUTX 2008 Summer Intern Announcement
The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Texas is accepting applications for summer 2008 law internships. The ACLU is one of the nation's foremost defenders of civil liberties and civil rights. We are a nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending the Bill of Rights through litigation, legislation, and public education. The Texas affiliate of the ACLU, founded in 1938, is headquartered in Austin, and includes a regional office in Houston and thirteen chapters with over 17,000 members statewide. Read More...

Governor Signs Texas’ First Needle Exchange Bill into Law
Governor Perry signed a Medicaid reform bill (SB 10) into law yesterday, which includes a provision authorizing the first legal needle exchange program in Texas. Read More...

ACLU Highlights Successes in the 80th Legislative Session
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas celebrates the day after Sine Die with many notable successes. Read More...

Era of Tulia-style drug task forces coming to an end in Texas?
Scandals, mismanagement and skewed priorities at Texas drug task forces paid for by the federal Byrne grant program appear to finally be catching up to the rogue units. More have announced they'll close shop at the end of March Read More...

Hurricanes, scandals could doom drug task forces
Texas drug task forces counting on renewed funding next March might find themselves hanging out to dry thanks to a bevy of scandals and an especially wet hurricane season on the Gulf Coast Read More...

Medical marijuana
Marijuana has over 5,000 years of historical medicinal use, and prior to 1937, at least 27 medicines containing marijuana were legally available in the United States. Read More...

Drug war incarcerates the innocent
The ACLU fought and won after innocent people were set up in a drug war sting in Hearne Texas. Read More...

ACLU National Drug Policy Project
For the first time in history, the number of inmates in American prisons and jails has exceeded 2 million people, a rate of incarceration that is the highest in the world! The ACLU believes that much of this incarceration could be avoided with better drug laws designed to discourage drug use through proven alternatives to incarceration. Read More...

VIDEO: Hearne, Tx: Scenes from the drug war
The story of a community engaged in a struggle to clear the names of those swept up in a corrupt drug raid. Read More...

Why shouldn't non violent drug offenders be incarcerated?
Incarcerating non violent drug offenders tends to make them more hardened criminals, making it more difficult to break the addiction and more likely that they will commit more crimes. Read More...

Harm reduction promotes civil liberty
Texas criminal laws create a barrier to effective public health initiatives and stand between doctors and the best treatment for their patients. Let doctors, not law enforcement, practice medicine! Read More...