The truth is that these laws, once intended to target major cartel dealers, are presently used to prosecute friends and loved ones of the individual who has lost their life due to a fatal overdose. Those impacted most by drug-induced homicide laws also include people selling to support their own use. All too often, these individuals selling who have few options for procuring a sustainable income due to their criminal records (another failure on part of the faulty drug war) which further removes them from operating in the mainstream economy.

 The #Reframetheblame campaign calls for people who currently or may use drugs to sign "Do Not Prosecute" Directive Orders.  Designed in the tradition of a Do Not Resuscitate Order, we sign a DNP as a way of taking control of our lives. This a powerful statement on our behalf, declaring that we don't want our lives used as propaganda to continue a drug war that has brought nothing but pain and difficulty. The DNP states: “In the event that die of a drug overdose, I take responsibility for my use.  I do not want anyone charged with murder, or held responsible….” If anyone or anything is responsible for our untimely deaths, it is drug prohibition and our government's insistence that we double down on a racist and classist drug war policy that has proven ineffective over and over again.

  The criminal prohibition of drugs and nonviolent drug offenses, remains solely responsible for the jailing of millions. It is this criminalization that has also unleashed a multi-billion dollar black market on our communities.  A public health model approach requires that we move away from old drug war policy. Naloxone access/distribution, Good Samaritan laws, Fentanyl test strips, drug checking stations, treatment on demand and Medication Assisted Treatment ( MAT) are all examples of public health approaches that have shown to be effective in reducing overdose death among people who use drugs.

We are asking folks to please talk to your family members and loved ones about overdose, drug-induced homicide laws, and #reframetheblame  today. There is no substitute for honest conversation. Protect yourself and those that you love who use drugs. Unite with us collectively as we demand that our voices be heard, both in life and in death.

DRUG-INDUCEDHOMICIDE LAWSFACTSHEET

There are 20 states that currently have drug-induced
homicide laws: Delaware, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas,
Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin,
and Wyoming.
Four Midwestern states - Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, and
Minnesota - have been the most aggressive in prosecuting
drug-induced homicides with a total of 2,378 people
prosecuted from 2011 to 2016.
In 2017, a total of 13 states - Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia -
introduced bills to either create new drug-induced homicide
laws or strengthen existing ones.
There is ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE that drug-induced
homicide laws have any effect on rates of drug use or on the
number of people selling drugs, two of the primary things
they are touted as being able to do.
In fact, changes in drug laws that began to be rolled out in
the 1970's resulted in the number of people incarcerated for
drug crimes in the USA from 1980 to 2016 to grow by a
whopping 1,101%. In 2016 there were more overdose deaths in
the US than in any year prior.

#REFRAMETHEBLAME