Fact Sheet: Why Overdose Deaths Are Decreasing
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Decriminalize Drugs, Invest in Health Services
Communities need a health-focused approach to drugs. Yet, drug offenses are one of the leading causes of arrest in the U.S. The U.S. must stop arresting and jailing people for drugs. Instead, they should reinvest the savings into addiction services and social supports. This includes voluntary treatment, housing, employment, harm reduction, recovery services, and peer support. The Drug Policy Alliance is the leading organization advocating for drug decriminalization.
What is Drug Decriminalization?
Drug decriminalization means that people are no longer arrested or incarcerated for drugs for personal use. No longer enforcing personal drug possession saves money. These savings can go towards needed services and supports. This includes voluntary treatment, housing, employment, harm reduction, recovery services, and peer support. Drug decriminalization does not legalize drugs.
Arrest & Incarceration Prevent Upward Mobility
Possession of even small amounts of drugs can have lifelong consequences. This includes preventing a person from getting a job, a student loan, or a place to live.
Drug Decriminalization Allows for Community Investment
Divesting from criminalization allows us to invest in needed supports. This includes housing, job training, and voluntary treatment. Evidence shows that investing in these services helps people thrive.
Source: The Sentencing Project, BerkeleyDecriminalization Reduces Harms of Criminalization
When Oregon decriminalized drugs, thousands fewer Oregonians were arrested and saddled with criminal records for low-level possession that can create lifelong barriers to jobs, housing, and services.
Source: Drug Science, Policy and Law
What DPA is Doing:
- Leading legislative campaigns in various states and at the federal level. This includes New York, Vermont, and Washington, D.C.
- Providing support to allies pushing legislation in various states. This includes Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Washington.
- Convening experts via a “national decrim table” to guide a national decriminalization movement.
- Bringing together movement leaders that seek to decriminalize people at large. This includes other behaviors, conditions, and identities, as well as drugs.
- Building partnerships with advocates around issues such as housing, homelessness, and economic justice
Stay informed on DPA's work around decriminalizing drugs and investing in health.
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