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Dear John,
I wanted you to be among the first to hear the good news: the SAM family is growing!
Ten years after launching our small marijuana policy organization—which later turned into a movement— we are starting another one to tackle all drug policy issues, not just marijuana.
I don’t need to tell you that our nation is facing the worst overdose epidemic in our history, having lost more than 100,000 lives to illicit drugs in 2021 (and more than half a million when you include alcohol and tobacco). We are in desperate need of big ideas—real solutions that not only help those suffering from substance use disorders, but also emphasize prevention, and correct the policy failures that got us here. Despite today’s overdose epidemic, we are left with, at best, ideas that only help on the margin, and, at worst, ones that encourage further drug use.
That is why we are launching the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions later this month at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York. The Foundation will act as a “think/action tank” to both study and advocate for population-level policies aimed at reducing substance use initiation and disorder—for all drugs, including alcohol and tobacco.
It is unacceptable that in many areas of the US, drugs are more accessible than treatment. This is just one failure the Foundation will work to correct.
Our vision is a world in which children and families thrive, substance use is prevented, and there is rapid access to evidence-based treatment. We will convene powerful voices in drug policy from across the spectrum—from both public health and public safety—to amplify our collective work. In the process, the Foundation will work with several divisions, including the National Alliance on Model State Drug Laws and the Rosenthal Center for Addiction Studies.
If you agree that it is time for a robust, national organization to work on drug policy across the continuum of care, we invite you to join us!
Our rockstar Leadership Council includes Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, Former ONDCP Deputy Drug Czar and NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Ben Tucker, NAACP Illinois President Teresa Haley, Former White House Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, Washington State Representative Lauren Davis, Former HHS Assistant Secretary Howard Koh, Former DEA Administrator Karen Tandy, Phoenix House Founder Dr. Mitch Rosenthal, and more. Our Science Advisors include top researchers from Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and other institutions.
I will keep you updated with more details later this month when we officially launch, but in the meantime, you can sign up to receive emails from the Foundation on the website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
This month, as part of the launch, we’re doing a lot to get the word out. Right now, in partnership with Mobilize Recovery, we are actively collecting information from people affected by addiction in cities around the country to better understand what policies are working and what policies are failing. As part of the tour, I spoke on Wednesday in front of thousands at California’s official recovery rally; yesterday we had a great event in Aspen. We will be present in Denver, Atlanta, Washington, New York, and other places over the next two weeks alone.
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