Under the Controlled Substances Act, drugs are classified into legal, regulatory categories by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This is known as “drug scheduling”, and it’s generally guided by a drug’s potential for abuse, and its medical value – and then the idea of classwide scheduling came along. In 2018, in a misaligned approach to addressing the overdose crisis, President Trump used classwide scheduling to classify all fentanyl-related substances (FRS) as Schedule I controlled substance...
Feb 10, 2022•37 min
The harm reduction movement began as a reaction against drug war policies that criminalize, punish, and hurt people – and a need to save lives. As a public health approach that aims to reduce the harms related to drug use and minimize risk, it offers a fresh and compassionate alternative to the war on drugs. In her new book, New York Times bestselling author Maia Szalavitz chronicles the fascinating and impactful history of this movement. DPA's Sheila Vakharia sat down with Maia to talk about he...
Sep 20, 2021•35 min
The drug war has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives—and it’s time to uproot it. The Drug Policy Alliance has been working closely with other advocacy organizations to create Uprooting the Drug War, a project that shines a spotlight on the insidious ways the drug war has spread into the systems of child welfare, public benefits, employment, immigration, housing, and education. This episode is the third in our monthly podcast series featuring a DPA partner sharing their experiences fighting...
Jul 21, 2021•33 min
In this episode of “Puff or Pass”, our series on the portrayal of drugs and drug users in popular culture, DPA’s former digital communications interns Dilara Balkan and Marisa Hetzler take us on a journey through fashion, irony, and drug (mis)education with an exploration of the D.A.R.E. shirt. How did the infamous D.A.R.E. program transition from failed Copaganda “drug education” to a counterculture sartorial statement? Listen to find out -- and learn why D.A.R.E.’s abstinence-based approach to...
Jul 14, 2021•15 min
Have you ever noticed just how many series, films and documentaries focus on the drug trade? The “narcos” narrative is so popular, and so ingrained, that it’s universally known. It's also really problematic, and on this episode, we'll do some digging into why. Screenwriter and director Priscila García-Jacquier was born and raised in Colombia, whose economy, people, and reputation have been intimately affected by drugs. “For countries so shaped by the drug trade, whenever I read about it, it feel...
Jun 30, 2021•27 min
The drug war has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives—and it’s time to uproot it. The Drug Policy Alliance has been working closely with other advocacy organizations to create Uprooting the Drug War , a project that shines a spotlight on the insidious ways the drug war has spread into the systems of child welfare, public benefits, employment, immigration, housing, and education. This episode is the second in our monthly podcast series featuring a DPA partner sharing their experiences fighti...
May 19, 2021•43 min
The drug war has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives—and it’s time to uproot it. The Drug Policy Alliance has been working closely with other advocacy organizations to create Uprooting the Drug War , a project that shines a spotlight on the insidious ways the drug war has spread into the systems of child welfare or family regulation, public benefits, employment, immigration, housing, and education. Today we kick off a new monthly series on Drugs & Stuff, with each episode featuring a D...
Apr 14, 2021•37 min
As we approach the one-year anniversary of Breonna Taylor's killing, the connection between deeply problematic policing and the criminalization of drugs has never been more apparent. On this episode, we take a deep dive into the changes that some communities are already making. Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty sat down with DPA Senior Staff Attorney Grey Gardner to discuss the exciting new all drug decriminalization law in Oregon, Measure 110, as well as a community safety initiative i...
Mar 10, 2021•43 min
Today, news broke that the Department of Justice has reached an $8 billion-plus settlement with Purdue Pharma for its role in the opioid crisis. This money should be used to combat the public health emergency of overdose deaths, but another public health emergency -- the COVID-19 pandemic -- has taken hold of media coverage and government spending. As overdose deaths continue to increase, where will this money actually go? We sat down with Christine Minhee, an expert on opioid litigation and cre...
Oct 21, 2020•43 min
Jessie Dunleavy always knew her son Paul was unique. He struggled throughout his life -- to learn, to be accepted -- and she tried however she could to help him along the way. But as he got older, and began to struggle with drug use, system after system began to shut them out. Where he needed hope, he got silence; where he needed support, he got punishment. In April 2017, Paul overdosed and died. Devastated by his passing, Jessie began to learn as much as she could. In the process, she uncovered...
Sep 02, 2020•42 min
Keri Blakinger has worked for years as a journalist (currently at The Marshall Project ) covering the criminal justice system and exposing the abuses within it. She comes with experience that most reporters don’t -- in 2010, she was arrested for drug possession and spent two years in the system herself. Matt Sutton, DPA's Director of Media Relations, who also has first-hand experience of the system due to a drug charge, sat down to talk with her. In their discussion, they reflect on the obstacle...
Aug 19, 2020•43 min
In her own community in Santa Fe, New Mexico, DPA Senior Director Emily Kaltenbach sees police with assault rifles, submachine guns, grenade launchers, and even tanks. To help us understand the far-reaching implications of the presence of this military equipment, Emily joined us to explain the policy, practices, and history behind the militarization of police, and how deeply embedded it is as a tactic of fighting the failed drug war. As an expert in local-level reform, she lays out the key refor...
Jul 15, 2020•15 min
On the latest edition of our “Puff or Pass” series examining how drugs and people who use drugs are portrayed in pop culture, DPA’s marketing coordinator Ifetayo Harvey digs into a recent episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit . In a dramatic episode that covers many angles -- from problematic drug use to corrupt medical providers, from the intersection of drug policy with other systems to opioid overdose -- one question ties it all together: are the cops portrayed in SVU an accurate r...
Jun 24, 2020•19 min
Drug courts -- programs that seek to reduce drug use through mandated treatment and close judicial oversight -- sound like a good alternative to incarceration. In theory they are thought to save money and increase access to treatment but in practice they cherry-pick eligible participants and allow judges to preside over treatment decisions. Kerwin Kaye, Associate Professor of Sociology, American Studies, and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Wesleyan University, recently published a boo...
Jun 10, 2020•50 min
When the Drug Policy Alliance publicly released our harm reduction-based drug education curriculum Safety First in October, the world was a different place. In the months since, it’s evolved into an even more crucial resource. We’ve had continuing conversations with students, parents and teachers; a collaboration with the mental health foundation Made of Millions; and adaptations for Google Classroom. I talked to Senior Program Manager Sasha Simon about how and why we’re continuing the push to m...
May 20, 2020•23 min
We’ve all been there: you’re watching TV or a movie, playing a video game or listening to some music, when drugs enter the storyline. This can go well -- and it can also go really badly. On this episode, we’re introducing a new series we call “Puff or Pass.” It examines how drugs and people who use drugs are portrayed in pop culture, for better or worse. Kicking this series off for us is Brian Hackel, currently interning for DPA’s communications team. He digs into a recent episode of The Simpson...
May 13, 2020•18 min
Immigrant detention centers are bleak places in the best of times, but during a pandemic they are absolutely dangerous. And yet U.S. immigration enforcement has carried on as COVID-19 continues to spread, exacerbating the stress and anxiety that people who are non-citizens and/or undocumented already feel when dealing with a system that is unforgiving in its measures. This week activist Alejandra Pablos joins us to share her experience in one of these centers, in conversation with DPA’s Director...
May 06, 2020•1 hr 1 min
On previous episodes, we’ve talked about the impact of COVID-19 in the context of public health and incarceration. But, as an organization, how has Drug Policy Alliance been affected? What about our work has changed, and what stays the same? I asked DPA’s Managing Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, Kassandra Frederique, to break it down for us. (Visit www.drugpolicy.org/covid19 for more information about DPA’s pandemic response.)...
Apr 29, 2020•19 min
Of the first seven people who died of COVID-19 in federal prison, five of them were there for drug offenses. In this moment, the inhumanity and disastrous health consequences of our prisons and jails are clearer than ever. In this episode, DPA’s Managing Director of Policy Advocacy and Campaigns, Kassandra Frederique, sits down with CJ Ciaramella, criminal justice reporter at Reason, and Sakira Cook, Director of the Justice Reform Program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, t...
Apr 22, 2020•47 min
In her previous work as a civil rights attorney during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, DPA Senior Staff Attorney Mary Sylla saw firsthand the lack of adequate healthcare available to people who are incarcerated. To better understand how to solve the problem, she went back to school for a Masters in Public Health. On today’s episode, Mary talks about the current reality of health injustice in prisons and jails through the lens of COVID-19.
Apr 15, 2020•16 min
Joe Rubin is a public school teacher in San Francisco, and health is his favorite subject. In his 36 years of experience, he’s never taught anything quite like DPA’s Safety First drug education curriculum. DPA’s Safety First Program Manager Sasha Simon sat down with Joe to dig into what makes the curriculum special, why it appeals so deeply to teachers and students, and why the harm reduction approach is so critical.
Dec 12, 2019•42 min
The Drug Policy Alliance has spent years developing a completely new take on drug education: a curriculum based in harm reduction and science, not a fear-based abstinence-only approach. It’s called Safety First , and it’s now freely available for the first time ever. We sat down with DPA’s Safety First Program Manager Sasha Simon to get the brief rundown on what Safety First is, and why it’s a really big deal.
Dec 05, 2019•8 min
DPA’s biennial International Drug Policy Reform Conference takes place in St. Louis, Missouri this November 6-9. Our own Ifetayo Harvey sat down with Stephanie Regagnon, founder of Ava’s Grace Scholarship Program , and Chad Sabora, co-founder and executive director of the Missouri Network for Opiate Reform and Recovery , to talk about the impact of their work, the context of drug policy reform in the St. Louis community, and the importance of the Reform Conference being there. To learn more abou...
Nov 01, 2019•10 min
Over the last few years, we’ve seen huge increases in opioid overdose deaths, and many of them can be traced to powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Drugs & Stuff is back with journalist Ben Westhoff, whose new book Fentanyl, Inc. chronicles his incredible four-year investigation into the world of novel psychoactive substances (NPS). Ben sat down with DPA’s Stefanie Jones to talk about his journey from first hearing about NPS at festivals, tracing the production line into China, and lea...
Oct 31, 2019•36 min
In the latest episode of Drugs & Stuff, we are joined by DPA’s Sheila Vakharia, Ph.D., a researcher in the office of Academic Engagement. Sheila joined Gabriella Miyares to talk about Sheila’s professional journey to becoming a leading voice in harm reduction and social work. Sheila helps DPA staff and others understand a range of drug policy issues while also responding to new studies with critiques and analysis. She plans conferences and convenings on cutting edge issues in the area of dru...
May 08, 2019•38 min
Gretchen Bergman, executive director of A New Path , joined Drugs and Stuff recently to share why her work around addiction and treatment is intimately personal. She shares her personal story and shows the power of a mother’s love. Bergman served as state chair for California’s Proposition 36, which mandated treatment instead of incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. A native of San Diego, she is owner/director of Gretchen Productions, a Fashion Show Production Company started in 1979. Her...
Apr 18, 2019•29 min
In 2009, New York reformed its notorious Rockefeller Drug Laws. Ten years later, veteran drug law reform activists Anthony Papa and Terrence Stevens join “Drugs and Stuff” to reflect on the destruction the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws wreaked on so many New Yorkers and share their thoughts on the reforms. Anthony Papa, manager of media relations for the Drug Policy Alliance, was handed a mandatory minimum fifteen years to life for a first-time nonviolent drug law offense. While incarcerated, ...
Apr 03, 2019•27 min
In the latest episode of Drugs and Stuff, DPA’s Ifetayo Harvey sat down with Alejandra Pablos , a reproductive justice advocate and immigration activist who is facing deportation for a drug offense. As a young person, Alejandra was arrested and convicted of several charges, including possession of drug paraphernalia. After she spent two years in a detention center in southern Arizona, she lost her residency and was placed into deportation proceedings. Alejandra has worked to advocate for human a...
Dec 21, 2018•18 min
DPA’s revolutionary high school drug education curriculum “Safety First” was piloted at Bard High School Early College Manhattan this spring. The results are in, and they’re very encouraging for the future of drug education. Sasha Simon, DPA’s Safety First Program Manager, and Drew Miller, the health teacher from Bard who taught the “Safety First” curriculum, returned to Drugs & Stuff to tell us about their experiences and the positive results that came out of the analysis of the pilot progr...
Jun 27, 2018•24 min
We were lucky to talk with Bernard Noble, who recently came home after serving more than 7 years in a Louisiana prison. Bernard was finally granted parole after being sentenced to 13 years for allegedly possessing two joints of marijuana. You’ll hear all about this grave injustice directly from the man whose case drew national attention as an example of extremely harsh drug sentences in the United States, and how an entire family is tragically affected when a parent is sent to prison. We were al...
Jun 12, 2018•30 min
