15th Annual Workshop
United States Drug Policy - Good Intentions, Unanticipated Consequences, and Policy Making Standards
Fifteenth Annual Summer Institute on Violence and Abuse Studies • Minnesota State University Moorhead • May 18-20, 2009

The focus of the 2009 workshop will be on drug policy and policy making, with particular emphasis on standards for policy making.

Drug policy for the past thirty years has resonated more with Evangelical morality than with any utilitarian objectives. This radical contrast with policy making in technical areas such as municipal water systems and bridges, where goals are clearly delineated and the means to achieve those goals are assessed using the best scientific evidence available. Political considerations are always relevant, even to bridge and water system building, but the facts about consequences also matter.

bullet This Workshop describes the history of drug policy from early 19th Century to today, showing how to prestige of powerful groups and ethnic animosities have dominated policy making at key moments.
bullet It will analyze how well intentioned policies sometimes lead to unintended and undesired social consequences.
bullet Finally, the Workshop review policy options to drug use that have been attempted as well as possibilities that have not been attempted.
 
Day One: Monday, May 18

8:00 a.m. Registration.

8:30 a.m.
HISTORY OF UNITED STATES DRUG POLICY

bullet Michael Doyle, Professor Emeritus, Criminal Justice, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks CA and Adjunct Professor, MSUM
US failed attempts to eliminate all use of selected psychotropic substances has been heatedly advocated and vigorously resisted from the beginning of national life. The controversy in the 1790s was alcohol use. Professor Doyle begins here, tracing racial and ethic animosities, theological and ethical controversies about free will, and (after 1900) medical concerns that thread through the intense rivalry between relatively small social groups to write drug laws.

Each of these themes remains part of contemporary struggles such as drug sentencing laws or medical marijuana. Furthermore, new campaigns against some psychotropic substances always trace the same trajectory; they have a natural history. Professor Doyle introduces viable (and more fanciful) policy options.

Note: There will be a 15-minute break during the morning session.

12:00 p.m.  Lunch.

1:30 p.m.
POLICY ALTERNATIVES

bullet Barry Nelson, Metro-Youth Partnership
Barry Nelson executive director of Metro-Youth partnership in Fargo, North Dakota. The aim of this organization is to help young people develop into health, happy adults through training and specific programs. In this session, Dr. Nelson will describe actual and possible approaches to drug policy.

3:00 p.m.  Break.

3:15 p.m.
CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

bullet Carol Grimm, Director of Health and Wellness, MSUM
bullet Karla Thoennes, Associate Directory, Student Life, NDSU
bullet Jean Sando, Associate VP for Academic Affairs/Dean of General Ed, MSUM
bullet Terry Dobmeier, Assitant Professor of Nursing, MSUM
Carol Grimm and Karla Thoennes will explain policies toward alcohol consumption on the NDSU and MSUM campuses. Jean Sando will present recent research findings about the effectiveness of the MSUM policy.

Dr. Dobmeier will identify the Amethyst Initiative and demonstrate how to learn about the initiative. This is a very controversial effort, begun in the Summer of 2008 by some College Presidents, to lower the legal drinking age in the United States. This initiative is dramatically different than that of either MSUM or NDSU
 
 

Day Two: Tuesday, May 19

8:30 a.m.
 DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT POLICY

bullet Jeff Larson, Brad Stuveland, Moorhead Police Department
The Moorhead Police Department will describe how they conduct drug investigations, including information about the discretionary use of informants, and bringing the cases forward for prosecution.

10:00 a.m.  Break.

10:15 a.m.
MN DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS POLICIES

bullet Andy Doom, Community Service Northern Regional Manager, Mn. Department of Corrections (St Cloud)
bullet Mike Stoltman, Community Service District Supervisor, Mn Department of Corrections (Moorhead)
Mr. Doom and Mr. Stoltman provide a brief history of the MN Department of Correction's (DOC) drug and alcohol testing of offenders under supervision in the community. The presentation summarizes the DOC drug and alcohol testing policy and describes how the policy was developed and is updated. They also discuss the objectives of and strategies for drug and alcohol testing and some of the practical issues of application, e.g. cross-gender testing, test timing, test targets, and responses to positive tests.

12:00 p.m. Lunch.

1:30 p.m.
CONTRASTING TREATMENT APPROACHES

bullet Connie Stevens, Share House, Fargo, ND
bullet Jeff McKinnon, South East Mental Health, Fargo, ND
Share House is a residential chemical dependency treatment facility serving clients with some ability to pay for services. Southeast Human Service (SEHS) serves clients without financial resources on an out-patient basis. Some SEHS clients have both mental health and chemical dependency diagnoses. Both programs prefer sobriety for their clients, but differ in tolerance and expectations regarding continued use. Part of the value of this presentation is a practical demonstration of differences in policy approaches to specific client groups.

3:00 p.m. Break.

3:15 p.m.
DRUG COURT

bullet Lisa Borgen, District Court Judge (Clay County, MN)
bullet Matt Greenley, Clay County Attorney (Clay County, MN)
bullet Tama Puhr, MN Dept. of Corrections Field Agent (Moorhead)
bullet Don Kautzman, Drug Court Program Coordinator (Clay County, MN)
Drug Courts are a recent innovation that attempts to coordinate a response to offenders with drug and alcohol dependency that embraces service providers outside the Justice System. In 2008, Clay and Becker Counties received a Federal grant for a Drug Court, which the County Commission embraced as one of several "alternatives to incarceration." This presentation develops one court's innovative approach to addressing chemical dependency.

 

   Day Three: Wednesday, May 20

8:30 a.m.
DRUG POLICY ON INDIAN LANDS

bullet Wayne Trottier, Jr, Superintendent of Schools for the Fort Totten School District and Tate Tropa Tribal Schools
American Indians live in a legal context unlike that of any other legal actor in the United States (from States and cities to labor union and human adults). Federal law recognizes a special kind of Indian sovereign authority to govern themselves, subject to an overriding federal authority. The US Justice Department policy on Indian sovereignty recognizes tribes as having "sovereign status" as "domestic dependent nations." Socially, this special status has not prevented systematic and severe economic and other discrimination. All of this is reflected in the chemical dependency issues on Indian lands.

Dr. Trottier addresses the unique problems of formulating and implementing a drug policy on American Indian lands.

10:00 a.m. Break.

10:15 a.m.
BREAK OUT SESSIONS

Dilemmas in drug policy making. Students will form small groups, each assigned a fact situation that requires analysis and a policy to address the fact situation

12:00 p.m. Lunch.

1:30 p.m.
THE INTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF OUR WAR ON DRUGS.

bullet Chuck Samuelson, Executive Director, Minnesota Civil Liberties Association
From Carrie Nation to the WCTU to MADD, our society has struggled with the contradiction between Americans' love of mood altering substances and deep seated commitment to puritancial mores. Since the introduction of the war on drugs in teh late 1960s, the US has incarcerated a significant portion of our young males, broken the back of the black family, disenfranchised more black citizens than Jim Crow laws did, and spent enough money to repair our educational system. This has been done without reducing the number of people using illegal drugs, without reducing the supply of drugs and without reducing the potency of available street drugs. These effects do not include destablizing the constitution or putting increasing number of our police officers at risk. Nor do they include the impact upon society's support for all the elements of our ciminal justice system. Perhaps the time has finally come for a harm reduction rather than an abstinence model.

3:00 p.m. Break.

3:15 p.m.
DRUG POLICY, A MARKET ANALYSIS.

bullet Dr. Oscar Flores, Chair and Professor, Department of Economics, MSUM
Dr. Flores offers a basic and broad overview of how economists think about illegal drugs. Dr. Flores will address the obvious and hidden costs and benefits of current drug policy. Some of these costs and benefits are intended, while others are unintended.


 

Location:
Science Lab (Tiered lecture hall) (SL 104) All sessions will be held in Science Lab 104 on the Minnesota State University Moorhead campus. Free parking is available in Lots A and C only (see campus map - http://web.mnstate.edu/home/campustour/buildings.htm) without a permit. Parking in other lots will not be permitted. Parking in reserved lots could result in your vehicle being towed at your expense.

Credits:
Participants many earn one pass-fail undergraduate credit in sociology, criminal justice, social work, education or nursing.  This requires attendance at all session and a completed Institute evaluation.  For one graduate credit, graduate students must meet the undergraduate requirement. In addition, graduate students must write a paper demonstrating their understanding of Institute concepts learned and how these apply to actual or potential human service situations.  Graduate credits are available in counseling (ED 599) or social work (SW 599).  Information on cost is on the registration form.

Housing:
Participants may be able to reserve dormitory rooms on campus for $25 per person per night.  Linens and towels will be furnished. Guests may check into housing at 4:00 p.m. the afternoon of arrival. To make reservations, call Kim at the Housing Office at 218.477.2118. The availability of  housing cannot be guaranteed. The Housing Office accepts cash, credit cards or checks only.

Meals:
Coffee, juice and rolls will be served before each day's sessions begin.  Meals are on you own.

Continuing Education:
Applications for continuing education credits (CEUs) have been submitted to the North Dakota Board of Social Work Examiners, the Minnesota Board of Social Work and Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training.  A certificate of attendance will be provided to each participant.  There is no additional fee for receiving CEUs.

Summer Institute on Violence and Abuse Studies Planning Committee:

bullet Mark Hansel, Director - MSUM, Criminal Justice
bullet Elizabeth Johanson, Assistant to the Director, MSUM Sociology
bullet Terry Dobmeier, Committee Member, MSUM Nursing
bullet Olivia Melroe, Committee Member, MSUM Psychology
bullet Susan Peterson, Committee Member, MSUM Social Work
bullet Denis Stead, Committee Member, MSUM Sociology
bullet Lee Vigilant, Committee Member, MSUM Sociology
bullet Rick Young, Committee Member, Career Corrections Agent, Court Services, Moorhead, MN