according to the United Nations World
rugh report an average of 523 people
died of drug related causes every day
you may know someone who’s been affected
if not it’s likely that you will our
policies and the stigma escalated by
those policies is killing people in
destroying lives our son is a poster
child for what’s wrong with the war on
drugs he’s been to hell and back
fighting multiple health issues
including substance use disorder our
experience included a SWAT team raiding
the residence of an innocent family
who’d rented his apartment when he’d
left the state to enter treatment 15
months earlier we watched as the
criminal justice system compromised tens
of thousands of dollars of treatment
that we paid for and that our son had
dedicated his life to prosecutors
uprooted his new life threatened
incarceration and nearly bankrupted him
with fees and fines to punish him for
seven pills in his pocket
15 months earlier for which he’d never
been charged until now our son was
incarcerated for missing one community
service appointment while at a doctor’s
appointment with us while in jail for
that offense all prescription drugs were
denied him putting him into withdrawal
behind bars inmates aren’t allowed to
see their regular physicians but his
doctors later told us that what that
cold turkey withdrawal from those
medications could have been
life-threatening and they created
excruciating pain depression anxiety
drug cravings and an increase in
addiction with addiction of Factor
absolutely
but should drug possession charges
result in years of persecution and
denial of medical care I don’t think so
as an attorney I knew our sons rights
had been violated but few behind bars or
in the system want to poke the bear that
controls their life and deadlines for
filing of lawsuits expire long before
periods of supervision end our
experience open my eyes to see things
that most people don’t see other than
those we’ve deemed to be criminals it
helped me to understand that our system
is not only ineffective in controlling
the addiction and overdose epidemic it’s
actually fueling it I needed to
understand the truth about drug policy
so I researched I interviewed experts
and other families who’d been impacted
and I documented my findings the results
of my research both infuriated me and
led me to an important aha moment what
infuriated me was that our families
experience was not unique and was
actually less severe than what many go
through from years in prison for
nonviolent drug charges to a year or
more in jail never seeing the Sun and
connecting with family only through
grainy video screens short-term jail
stays can become death sentences when
medications used to treat addiction are
withheld increasing the risk of overdose
upon release by 14 times it became
obvious that the basis of our policies
our assumptions from the 1930s when we
didn’t have the benefit of today’s
science and medicine
my aha moment was that current science
including medications shatters the basis
of old assumptions science crumbles the
foundation for the war on drugs it no
longer makes sense to believe that
addiction is a moral failing or that we
should punish them so they make better
choices we’re punishing patients because
they don’t have access to medications
and other treatment that would allow
them to make better choices medications
don’t remove moral failings but they do
if we reallocate our tax dollars from
funding incarceration supervision and
prosecution and we reallocate those to
medical treatment everyone that needs
medical treatment could receive it
without stigma and without fear so let’s
just let’s just accept what science has
told us addiction can be treated as a
medical issue let’s assume that you have
symptoms of diabetes what would
typically happen you’d see a physician
treated in that specialty tests would be
created test would be completed
assessing your overall medical condition
and an individualized treatment plan
would be created likely suggesting
insulin ongoing medical care and
lifestyle changes now you might accept
those lifestyle changes but periodically
you might slip on cake or another
favorite but let’s consider a different
treatment scenario someone saw you eat
that cake police arrived and you’re
arrested and looking at possible jail
time and a criminal record and what if
medical treatment and medications were
denied and peer support meetings were
ordered as the only treatment protocol
and if you weren’t successful with that
treatment you may be put put behind bars
and accused of not
attorneys not doctors are directing your
treatment and family members and other
loved ones are told to withdraw support
and that advocating for good treatment
might be harmful because after all
you’re a diabetic and you need to hit
bottom do you think you’d succeed if
we’re successful in treating other
medical conditions with medical care why
wouldn’t we do that with substance use
disorder you can impact decisions made
by government next time you think about
supporting a politician or a program ask
yourself will this policy further punish
those struggling with addiction
increased funding might just mean more
prisons drug courts escalate the power
of lawyers and one size all fits
one-size-fits-all treatment using our
court systems to treat a medical
condition makes no sense we’ve spent
over a trillion in taxpayer dollars in
the United States alone on the war on
drugs since 1971 the results the United
States is the country with the highest
drug use the highest incarceration rates
and the highest overdose rates we are
making progress many countries are
reassessing their drug policy we have
long-standing decriminalization and
legalization in multiple countries
giving us a road map to determine
what’s worked and what hasn’t some
criminal justice professionals are
coordinating treatment in lieu of
incarcerating patients in some prisons
and jails are making medications
available but in the vast majority of
places punishment is still the norm not
the exception and with medications being
so successful they’re completely
unavailable in over 75 percent of
countries worldwide and where they are
available many criminal justice settings
treatment programs peer support meetings
and sober houses prohibit their use I’m
happy to share that our son is now a
successful professional enjoying life
medications to treat his substance use
disorder and his other other health
issues a move to a less punitive
jurisdiction and dedicated treatment
professionals that assess what he needed
and found what worked for him combined
with a lot of determination on his part
led to his success but we could have
lost him and obsolete policies created
excruciating pain for all of us our son
once told us mom they’ll never think of
us they’ll never think of me as anything
but a criminal my heart went out to him
but also to all the others that have
been impacted by the war on drugs and
the myths about addiction it’s time to
replace judgment with medical care it’s
time to fund medications instead of
prisons it’s time to stop the stigma and
to begin hope and recovery it’s time to
end the war on drugs [Applause]
rugh report an average of 523 people
died of drug related causes every day
you may know someone who’s been affected
if not it’s likely that you will our
policies and the stigma escalated by
those policies is killing people in
destroying lives our son is a poster
child for what’s wrong with the war on
drugs he’s been to hell and back
fighting multiple health issues
including substance use disorder our
experience included a SWAT team raiding
the residence of an innocent family
who’d rented his apartment when he’d
left the state to enter treatment 15
months earlier we watched as the
criminal justice system compromised tens
of thousands of dollars of treatment
that we paid for and that our son had
dedicated his life to prosecutors
uprooted his new life threatened
incarceration and nearly bankrupted him
with fees and fines to punish him for
seven pills in his pocket
15 months earlier for which he’d never
been charged until now our son was
incarcerated for missing one community
service appointment while at a doctor’s
appointment with us while in jail for
that offense all prescription drugs were
denied him putting him into withdrawal
behind bars inmates aren’t allowed to
see their regular physicians but his
doctors later told us that what that
cold turkey withdrawal from those
medications could have been
life-threatening and they created
excruciating pain depression anxiety
drug cravings and an increase in
addiction with addiction of Factor
absolutely
but should drug possession charges
result in years of persecution and
denial of medical care I don’t think so
as an attorney I knew our sons rights
had been violated but few behind bars or
in the system want to poke the bear that
controls their life and deadlines for
filing of lawsuits expire long before
periods of supervision end our
experience open my eyes to see things
that most people don’t see other than
those we’ve deemed to be criminals it
helped me to understand that our system
is not only ineffective in controlling
the addiction and overdose epidemic it’s
actually fueling it I needed to
understand the truth about drug policy
so I researched I interviewed experts
and other families who’d been impacted
and I documented my findings the results
of my research both infuriated me and
led me to an important aha moment what
infuriated me was that our families
experience was not unique and was
actually less severe than what many go
through from years in prison for
nonviolent drug charges to a year or
more in jail never seeing the Sun and
connecting with family only through
grainy video screens short-term jail
stays can become death sentences when
medications used to treat addiction are
withheld increasing the risk of overdose
upon release by 14 times it became
obvious that the basis of our policies
our assumptions from the 1930s when we
didn’t have the benefit of today’s
science and medicine
my aha moment was that current science
including medications shatters the basis
of old assumptions science crumbles the
foundation for the war on drugs it no
longer makes sense to believe that
addiction is a moral failing or that we
should punish them so they make better
choices we’re punishing patients because
they don’t have access to medications
and other treatment that would allow
them to make better choices medications
don’t remove moral failings but they do
if we reallocate our tax dollars from
funding incarceration supervision and
prosecution and we reallocate those to
medical treatment everyone that needs
medical treatment could receive it
without stigma and without fear so let’s
just let’s just accept what science has
told us addiction can be treated as a
medical issue let’s assume that you have
symptoms of diabetes what would
typically happen you’d see a physician
treated in that specialty tests would be
created test would be completed
assessing your overall medical condition
and an individualized treatment plan
would be created likely suggesting
insulin ongoing medical care and
lifestyle changes now you might accept
those lifestyle changes but periodically
you might slip on cake or another
favorite but let’s consider a different
treatment scenario someone saw you eat
that cake police arrived and you’re
arrested and looking at possible jail
time and a criminal record and what if
medical treatment and medications were
denied and peer support meetings were
ordered as the only treatment protocol
and if you weren’t successful with that
treatment you may be put put behind bars
and accused of not
attorneys not doctors are directing your
treatment and family members and other
loved ones are told to withdraw support
and that advocating for good treatment
might be harmful because after all
you’re a diabetic and you need to hit
bottom do you think you’d succeed if
we’re successful in treating other
medical conditions with medical care why
wouldn’t we do that with substance use
disorder you can impact decisions made
by government next time you think about
supporting a politician or a program ask
yourself will this policy further punish
those struggling with addiction
increased funding might just mean more
prisons drug courts escalate the power
of lawyers and one size all fits
one-size-fits-all treatment using our
court systems to treat a medical
condition makes no sense we’ve spent
over a trillion in taxpayer dollars in
the United States alone on the war on
drugs since 1971 the results the United
States is the country with the highest
drug use the highest incarceration rates
and the highest overdose rates we are
making progress many countries are
reassessing their drug policy we have
long-standing decriminalization and
legalization in multiple countries
giving us a road map to determine
what’s worked and what hasn’t some
criminal justice professionals are
coordinating treatment in lieu of
incarcerating patients in some prisons
and jails are making medications
available but in the vast majority of
places punishment is still the norm not
the exception and with medications being
so successful they’re completely
unavailable in over 75 percent of
countries worldwide and where they are
available many criminal justice settings
treatment programs peer support meetings
and sober houses prohibit their use I’m
happy to share that our son is now a
successful professional enjoying life
medications to treat his substance use
disorder and his other other health
issues a move to a less punitive
jurisdiction and dedicated treatment
professionals that assess what he needed
and found what worked for him combined
with a lot of determination on his part
led to his success but we could have
lost him and obsolete policies created
excruciating pain for all of us our son
once told us mom they’ll never think of
us they’ll never think of me as anything
but a criminal my heart went out to him
but also to all the others that have
been impacted by the war on drugs and
the myths about addiction it’s time to
replace judgment with medical care it’s
time to fund medications instead of
prisons it’s time to stop the stigma and
to begin hope and recovery it’s time to
end the war on drugs [Applause]
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