The Drug Policy Reform Act represents a sea of change in our nation’s drug policy by taking a health-focused approach to drugs instead of one based in criminalization. The bill’s provisions include:

• Shifting regulatory authority for drugs from the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration to the Department of Health and Human Services

• Eliminating criminal penalties for personal use possession of all drugs

• Creating a process to clear the criminal records of those charged with drug possession offenses

• Ensuring that drug use charges and convictions cannot be used to deny employment, housing assistance, federal benefits, and more…

• Investing resources in substance misuse treatment and connecting people to harm reduction services

The Drug Policy Reform Act is ambitious and advancing it through Congress will not be easy. But we owe it to every one of the hundreds of thousands of people currently incarcerated for drug offenses — as well as their families and communities — to keep up the fight until we win.

As we mark more than 50 years since President Richard Nixon first declared this cruel “war on drugs,” I am hopeful for the future. But there is so much more work to do — and it is urgent. TOGETHER, we can do this. Please sign and share. 

Thank you!