Rocky gets award for drug policy reform

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson has received an award from a national group that promotes alternatives to the "war on drugs." The Drug Policy Alliance gave Anderson the Richard J. Dennis Drugpeace Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Drug Policy Reform - which is given to individuals who "most epitomize loyal opposition to drug war extremism," according to the Drug Policy's Web site. The site noted Anderson's decision to pull funding for D.A.R.E., and the city's training of police in harm reduction and the city's efforts to educate sex workers about how to protect themselves. More recently, the mayor created a campaign urging drug users to call 911 when their friends overdose. The alliance called Anderson the "most outspoken and effective local elected official in the United States when it comes to drug policy reform." Anderson accepted the award in Long Beach, Calif., last week during the 2005 International Drug Policy Reform Conference. The Drug Policy Alliance says its goal is to reduce harm associated with drug use through a variety of methods, such as legalizing marijuana use for medical purposes, ending criminal penalties for marijuana except in some cases, repealing mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, redirecting government drug control resources from criminal justice to public health and education, supporting harm reduction programs and science-based drug education. - Heather May