Consequences of Prohibition
Politics & Advocacy
StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) is pleased to be a Partner in the free upcoming conference, "New Directions: A Public Health and Safety Approach to Drug Policy." New Directions DC will be the first-ever full day conference on drug policy reform on Capitol Hill. Join us to reframe the drug policy debate in the United States to focus on a public health, rather than a criminal justice, approach.
When asked about the war on drugs on the campaign trail President Obama said, "I believe in shifting the paradigm, shifting
the model, so that we focus more on a public-health approach [to drugs]." Polls show the American people agree. But what exactly is a public health approach to drugs? By bringing together a broad spectrum of organizations to examine the four pillars of any successful drug strategy ?-- Prevention, Treatment, Policing, and Harm Reduction -- the one-day New Directions conference seeks to answer that question.
Conference Objectives:
- Clarifying the role of national government in determining drug policy;
- Brainstorming new approaches to difficult policy and implementation problems;
- Fostering connections among groups that have not traditionally worked together, but should;
- Developing a shared course of action to build evidence-based policies and strategies; and
- Identifying where further research is needed.
Agenda:
- 8:45-9:15 -- Registration and Breakfast
- 9:15-9:30 -- Opening and Welcoming Remarks
- 9:35-10:50 -- Panel: The War at Home
- 11:00-12:15 -- Panel: Treating Drug Use as a Health Issue
- 12:15-1:00 -- Lunch and Speaker
- 1:00-2:15 -- Panel: Reducing Crime and Incarceration
- 2:25-3:40 -- Panel: Protecting Treatment from the Criminal Justice System
- 3:45-5:00 -- Roundtable: A New Bottom Line in US Drug Policy
Partial Speaker List:
- Lynn M. Paltrow, JD, Founder and Executive Director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women
- Deborah Peterson Small, Executive Director and founder of Break the Chains
- P. David Soares, JD, Albany County District Attorney
- Kash Heed, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Vancouver-Fraserview and Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General
- Thomas Zeltner, MD former Secretary of Health for Switzerland and Director-General of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) of Switzerland
New Directions is presented by the Drug Policy Alliance, the National Association of Social Workers, the National Black Police Association, and Physicians for Human Rights, and takes place June 17, 8:30am-5:00pm, in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room B338, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Please RSVP to [email protected].
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
It's unbelievable
[email protected],Vancouver,B.C.CanadaThat this is the first ever all day conference on drug reform on capitol hill.Really says a lot about why US drug policy is so vicious and unyielding.Giving someone 50 years for selling a little crack within 1000 yards of a school is crazy.In an urban setting it's hard to find any place that isn't within 1000 yards of a school.That Marc Emery was facing a life sentence for a crime that doesn't even exist in Canada tells me that there's a lot of work to be done.Good luck to everyone involved.Do your homework and try to have an area that is your first concern nailed down as it is usually all a person can do to have the floor once.Make sure you can make your point and answer all questions.It sounds like this might be your one shot,although you should make it one of your goals to set up another such meeting as soon as possible,even if it's next year.
Add new comment