New Report Released: Healing a Broken System: Veterans Battling Addiction and Incarceration

The Drug Policy Alliance, the nation’s leading organization advocating alternatives to the drug war, will host a teleconference on Wednesday, November 4 at 11 a.m. PST. to discuss a new groundbreaking report, Healing a broken system: Veterans battling addiction and incarceration. The report examines the plight of returning veterans who struggle with addiction and incarceration. The teleconference will provide the scope of the problem with leading veterans’ groups and addiction experts and highlight recommendations for improved care as outlined in the new report

With hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers currently deployed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – and President Obama’s declared commitment to bring home all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by 2011 – the United States faces a mounting challenge in providing care for our returning veterans. Roughly 30 percent of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan report symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury, depression, mental illness or other cognitive disability. Left untreated, these medical conditions often contribute to substance abuse and addiction, fatal overdose, homelessness and suicide, as well as violations of the law, particularly nonviolent drug offenses.

The current generation of veterans joins the larger population of Vietnam-era veterans who have struggled with many of these same problems for decades. In 2004, more than 140,000 U.S. veterans were locked up in state and federal prisons, with tens of thousands more in county jails. Research shows that the single greatest predictive factor for the incarceration of veterans is substance abuse. Experts predict the number of incarcerated veterans will increase as more veterans return from Iraq and Afghanistan, unless urgent policy changes recommended in the report are adopted.

What: Teleconference

When: Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 11 a.m. PST

Call-in Information: 800-311-9402 Passcode: Veterans

Who:

• Moderator: Dan Abrahamson, Drug Policy Alliance, Director of Legal Affairs, co-author of the report
• General Stephen N. Xenakis, M.D., Special Adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Warrior & Family Support (Tentative)
• Tom Tarantino, Legislative Associate, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)
• Guy Gambill, veterans’ advocate
• Abel Moreno, Arizona Vets 4 Vets
• Dr. Bob Newman, MD, Director, Rothschild Chemical Dependency Institute, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York
• Teresa Bridges, Mother-In-Law of the late Fallen Hero Sgt. Shawn Dressler. Teresa’s daughter Amanda became addicted to opiates after his death while dealing with her grief. Teresa is now fighting Tricare to pay for Amanda’s maintenance treatment.

The report offers recommendations for improving the care of returning U.S. veterans including:

• Changes in state and federal statutes to focus on treatment instead of incarceration for veterans who commit nonviolent drug-related offenses.
• Adoption by government agencies of overdose prevention programs and policies targeting veterans who misuse substances or take prescription medications.
• Significantly expanded access for veterans to medication-assisted therapies such as methadone and buprenorphine to treat opioid dependence.

The report also will be disseminated at the International Drug Policy Reform conference in New Mexico on November 14 at a roundtable discussion titled: Veterans: Casualties of the Drug War.