Friend,

Our planning for 2025’s International Drug Policy Reform Conference is well underway, and we are determined to build an event to meet this moment. If you’ve been to Reform before, you know that our amazing speakers, as well as the presence of so many experts in our field, make this conference unlike any other. 

In the face of incredible hostility and tests of our movement’s beliefs and resolve, we are tasked to use our time at this year’s conference to test old and new strategies, seed new coalitions and revitalize old ones, and, most importantly, discover and rediscover our voices. Now more than ever, Reform should be the platform to showcase the strength of our resolve. We cannot do that alone; we’re looking to you to help to make this year’s conference the most meaningful one yet. And there’s two ways you can offer your input – right now. 

ONE: Tell us who you'd like to see speak at a session. Who are the smartest, most dynamic experts and advocates doing great drug policy reform and harm reduction work? An "expert" is not just someone with an advanced degree, or in a senior position at their organization, or who works at a big non-profit, but also someone with living/lived experience, who does on-the-ground community work, who is generally passionate about ending the war on drugs. Every Reform, we invite around 200 experts and advocates from around the world to speak. So, who should we invite this year? (If it’s you – nominate yourself!) Let us know by Friday, April 4th. 

TWO: If you’re a researcher, apply to display a poster of your drug policy-relevant work. We invite researchers of all kinds to apply, including community-based researchers, junior researchers, researchers with lived and living experience of drug use and/or criminal legal system involvement, international researchers, and academically-affiliated researchers. This is a multidisciplinary conference, so people from a range of backgrounds are invited to submit their research: from history to public health, social work to addiction medicine, sociology to statistical modeling, and beyond. We love our community of brilliant drug policy nerds, and we can’t wait to receive your poster abstracts. Please send them over by Wednesday, April 30th. 

Be sure to forward this e-mail to folks who may have thoughts on speakers, or have important research to share. And if you haven’t already, please save the date to join us November 12-15, 2025, in Detroit, Michigan. We’ll be in touch soon with more important updates about hotels, registration, scholarships, and more.  

Thank you for helping us make this year’s Reform conference the most impactful yet. Together, we are building the future we deserve.