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September Newsletter
Drug Policy Alliance Proposes Bold Solutions on International Overdose Awareness Day
In recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day, on August 31, DPA urged policymakers to adopt Bold Solutions to the Overdose Crisis, including innovative harm reduction services, drug education, evidence-based treatment, and policy reforms that would help reduce overdose, which claimed nearly 70,000 lives in the U.S. alone last year.
“Because people are still dying at an alarming rate, we must be willing to consider alternative approaches such as overdose prevention centers or eliminating criminal penalties for personal drug use that, though proven successful in other countries, may still seem radical,” said Lindsay LaSalle, DPA’s Director of Public Health Law and Policy. “Portugal and Canada were similarly impacted by high overdose mortality and have successfully implemented ‘outside-the-box’ solutions. It’s time for U.S. policymakers to move beyond the rhetoric and get realistic about what it’s going to take to save lives.”
Read More
DPA Releases Video on the Importance of Overdose Prevention Centers
DPA has published a poignant video about the importance of bringing overdose prevention centers, sometimes called supervised consumption services, into our communities.
Currently, there are more than 120 of these centers operating worldwide. Research indicates that they have consistently led to fewer overdose deaths among participants, increased enrollment in drug treatment services, and reduced littered syringes and public intoxication. Not a single death has ever occurred at one of these facilities.
The Drug Policy Alliance is leading the effort to authorize and implement overdose prevention centers nationwide, is helping draft and move legislation in California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Utah, and Vermont.
Watch Here.
DPA Clips, Podcasts and Stories
The Importance of Marijuana Legalization
Melissa Moore, DPA’s Deputy State Director of New York, explains the benefits of marijuana legalization and the harms of ongoing prohibition during a debate on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.”
Watch Here.
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U.S. Overdose Crisis Becoming More Urban
Overdose death rates in cities are now overtaking those of rural areas for the first time in several years, according to a new federal analysis. For years, death rates from drug overdoses rose faster in rural America, as supply chains of opioids and other drugs expanded. But urban overdose death rates overtook those of rural counties in 2016, the analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.
“It is older, entrenched users who had known how to navigate the heroin supply,” said Dr. Sheila Vakharia, DPA’s Deputy Director of Research and Academic Engagement. “Now that fentanyl has entered the drug supply, they are facing that extra risk factor.”
Death rates in rural areas were higher than in urban areas from 2007 through 2015, the CDC found. But the urban and rural lines have never been far apart. While opioid use was spreading across middle America, deaths from heroin continued to rise in the cities, Dr. Vakharia said.
Learn More.
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Sanders, Warren Back Major Shift to Fight Drug Overdoses
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have endorsed overdose prevention centers, a stance that conflicts with that of the federal government. Overdose prevention centers provide sterile, controlled settings for people to use pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of trained health professionals and peers.
“For a presidential candidate to come out and publicly support it, particularly when the administration has a very public stance against it, is significant,” said Lindsay LaSalle, DPA’s Director of Public Health Law and Policy.
“It shows that there are candidates who, in the context of the opioid crisis — which is still going strong — that they’re willing to think outside of the box and look at interventions that have proven successful in other countries.”
Learn More.
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Thousands of New Yorkers to Have Their Marijuana Convictions Expunged
New York will begin expunging thousands of low-level marijuana convictions after a new law went into effect that reduced penalties for possession across the state. Nearly 25,000 people will see the low-level convictions wiped from their records, including 10,872 in New York City and another 13,357 in the rest of the state.
Melissa Moore, DPA’s Deputy State Director of New York, described expunging past criminal records for marijuana possession as a “significant” step forward.
“It should provide a measure of relief for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who were unjustly caught up in the criminal legal system because of biased and targeted enforcement of prohibition,” Moore said.
DPA campaigned throughout the last legislative session to secure this victory, a compromise measure to address some of the harms of prohibition after the legislature failed to pass full legalization.
Learn More.
Drug Policy in the News
New York Times: Where New York Stands on Marijuana
The Globe Post: Marijuana Justice: How Legal Cannabis Can Help Address US Racial Disparities
Vice: America’s Jails Are Pretending the Opioid Crisis Doesn’t Exist
Washington City Paper: D.C. Is Ready to Make Legal Marijuana a Boon for Big Business. But What About for Racial Justice?
Marijuana Moment: Federal Data Shows Youth Marijuana Use Isn’t Increasing Under Legalization
Weed Maps: Youth Marijuana Use Doesn’t Rise When it’s Legal. Federal Data Prove It.
Register Now: International Drug Policy Reform Conference
Registration is open for DPA’s International Drug Policy Reform Conference, which will be taking place in St. Louis from November 6-9, 2019. This biennial event attracts more than 1,500 people representing 80 countries, all eager to listen, learn, and strategize about local, state, national, and international drug policy issues.
There are still rooms available at the Union Station Hotel. Be sure to take advantage of our reduced rate by reserving your room directly through this link.
Register now.
Donate
Put DPA in your will or estate plan. Find out more about how to join The Ashawna Hailey Planned Giving Society today.
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