What are model laws?

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 5-11-11

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 5-11-11. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3382

Question of the Week: What are model laws?

According to a 2007 review in the American Journal of Public Health,

“Model and uniform laws have a long pedigree. The original impetus for US uniform laws was the provision of the 1878 constitution of the American Bar Association that it promote “uniformity of legislation throughout the Union,” leading to the creation of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws [NCCUSL] …

“The NCCUSL defines a uniform law as “one in which uniformity of the provisions of the act among the various jurisdictions is a principal and compelling objective” and a model law as one whose “principal provisions . . . can be substantially achieved even though it is not adopted in its entirety by every state.

“The NACCSUL issued more than 200 “uniform laws,”

The Office of National Drug Control Policy funds the National Alliance of Model State Drug Laws. In 2010, the Alliance’s budget request equaled $1.25 million for a mission to

“prepare and conduct state model law summits and assist state officials in the promotion and adoption of summit-based laws.”

The Website for the Alliance contains links a number pre-composed model laws such as the Underage Alcohol Consumption Reduction Act, Revocation of Professional or Business License for Alcohol and Other Drug Convictions Act, Model Drug-Free Private Sector Workplace Act, and the Model Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol and Other Drugs Act, among many others.

However, the American Journal of Public Health reviewed many of these laws, concluded,

“It is striking, in this digital age, that [the sponsors of these laws] present little information on methods, adoption, and effectiveness…” of them.

These facts and others like them can be found in the United States chapter of Drug War Facts at www.drugwarfacts.org.