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October Newsletter
Register Now: International Drug Policy Reform Conference
Registration closes in one month 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. Reserve your room at the host hotel by October 14 to take advantage of our reduced rate.
Register Now
DPA Victory: Federal Judge Finds Supervised Consumption Site Does Not Violate Federal Law
A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that a planned supervised consumption site (SCS) in Philadelphia does not violate the federal “crack house” statute.
This is a huge victory! DPA has been leading the effort to establish SCS in the United States for nearly 15 years, drafting and introducing legislation in multiple states and building powerful community support in San Francisco, New York City, and other cities across the country.
Last year, in response to a planned effort by nonprofit organization Safehouse to open an SCS site in Philadelphia, the Department of Justice sought a declaration from a federal district court that SCS would be in violation of federal “crackhouse” statutes. We coordinated a major friend-of-the-court effort, helping to secure pro bono legal services and coordinate the filing of over a dozen amicus briefs representing over 100 individuals and organizations from a range of constituencies. We also advised Safehouse's counsel in defending the Government’s attempt to prevent its opening.
This week’s ruling is a significant victory in the fight to save lives. Though legal questions remain, this decision sets an important legal precedent. We hope it also sends a signal to the Trump Administration that punitive responses are not the way to address overdose, and that the administration will rethink efforts to interfere with state-level drug policies that prioritize individual and community health.
Learn More.
DPA Victory: NYC Takes Steps to Limit Family Separations based on Marijuana Use Allegations
Earlier this year, New York City Council held a series of hearings for legislation that was part of a Marijuana Justice package that DPA’s NY Policy Office helped to inform. This included a discussion on the impact that criminalization has upon families and parents who have their children removed because of alleged marijuana use – often following a nonconsensual drug test of a parent who has just given birth and absent any indication of harm to the child. Following the hearing, the NYC Health and Hospitals Department issued a bulletin to staff declaring that this approach is not acceptable, leading to a dramatic shift.
DPA is proud to have contributed to this progress, and of the incredible advocacy of our partners at public defender groups and family advocacy organizations. Step by step, we’re working to dismantle the way the drug war has become intertwined with far-reaching systems and entities.
DPA Joins 117 Orgs in Releasing a #VisionForJustice2020 Platform, Including Proposals to End the War on Drugs
People of color are disproportionately harmed by our legal system. Our nation needs a new system that acknowledges the humanity of all people, is just and equitable, and creates opportunities for second chances. That’s why the Drug Policy Alliance has joined more than 100 groups – led by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Civil Rights Corps – to release #VisionForJustice2020 & Beyond, a policy platform that proposes a unified vision for dismantling the current legal system and building a new one that respects the humanity and dignity of all people. This includes a call to immediately end the failed policies of the war on drugs, and proactively invest in the communities that it has harmed the most.
Learn More.
DPA Clips, Podcasts and Stories
Marijuana Legislation Passed by House Lacks Racial Justice Provisions
Policymakers are under pressure from different camps as marijuana prohibition continues to slowly crumble across the country. On one side are civil rights and some drug policy reform groups, which center racial justice in their campaign for reform. Communities of color have been targeted by racially-biased enforcement of punitive marijuana laws for over 80 years. However, racial justice-oriented groups aren’t the only ones pushing to change marijuana laws. There is also the booming, multibillion-dollar legal cannabis industry, which has become a powerful lobbying force in state legislatures and Congress as more states legalize medical and recreational marijuana.
Last week, the industry took priority in Congress as the House passed its first landmark marijuana reform bill since Democrats took the majority last year: the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act.
Learn More.
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Should Pennsylvania Legalize Adult-Use Marijuana?
Governor Wolf’s decision to embrace adult use marijuana legalization not only is common sense, but also makes social, financial, public health and public safety sense, and will undoubtedly benefit all Pennsylvanians in one way or another.
Queen Adesuyi, policy coordinator at DPA's Office of National Affairs, puts forward a persuasive argument in favor of adult-use marijuana legalization in this debate piece.
Learn More.
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Honor Mac Miller by Reducing Overdose Deaths, Not Expanding the Drug War
The news that Cameron James Pettit had been arrested on federal charges in connection with the death of the rapper Mac Miller brought Miller's overdose back to the headlines. The up-and-coming artist’s death last September from a combination of alcohol, cocaine, and fentanyl is symptomatic of the crisis that our country is undergoing right now. The latest data estimates that 68,000 Americans died from an accidental overdose in 2018.
Yet these charges show that the Trump administration is intent on doubling down on the drug war in a way that is both futile and counterproductive. Prosecuting someone for drug-induced homicide may seem like a way to secure justice, but in reality it repeats the mistakes of the 1980s.
Learn More.
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U.S. Jails and Prisons Failing to Provide Treatment for Opioid Addiction
Incarcerated people are 40 times more likely to overdose upon release, but jails and prisons across the country are failing to provide inmates the necessary treatment for opioid addiction.
The standard of care to treat opioid use disorder is called medication-assisted treatment (MAT), which includes drugs like methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone. While this standard has been accepted by most federal agencies, less than one percent of correctional facilities nationwide provide MAT to people behind bars, even though opioid use is prevalent in the criminal justice system.
Dionna King, policy manager at the Drug Policy Alliance, joined the podcast The Takeaway to explain what’s happening in prisons and jails across the U.S.
Listen Now.
Drug Policy in the News
Marijuana Moment: Congressional Bill Would Protect Students from Losing Financial Aid over Drug Convictions
LiveScience: 'Trippy' Bacteria Engineered to Brew 'Magic Mushroom' Hallucinogen
Vice: These Cops Are Seizing Cash from People Who Smell Like Marijuana Before They Fly to California
Politico: Why the most pro-marijuana Congress ever won’t deal with weed
BBC News: Australian Capital Territory legalizes personal cannabis use
Chacruna: The upcoming Psychedelic Liberty Summit - presented by the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines - will bring together thought-leaders from across the globe to discuss the future of psychedelic liberty
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