The Drug Policy Alliance

The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is a non-profit organization based in New York City. Their goal is to end the American “War on Drugs” campaign. The goal of the organization is to insure people will be treated with compassion and maintain human rights. They offer education on the misuse of drugs.

Well known journalist Walter Cronkite was a spokesman for the Drug Policy Alliance. He endorsed them through advertisements, publications, and fund raising efforts. Cronkite believed the “War on Drugs” was a financial disaster that led to many ruined lives.

The mission statement for the DPA states:

“The Drug Policy Alliance envisions a just society in which the use and regulation of drugs are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights, in which people are no longer punished for what they put into their own bodies but only for crimes committed against others, and in which the fears, prejudices and punitive prohibitions of today are no more.

Our mission is to advance those policies and attitudes that best reduce the harms of both drug misuse and drug prohibition, and to promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and bodies."

One unique aspect of the DPA is how it has an extensive library in New York called The Lindesmith Library. The Lindesmith Center in 1994 formed to conduct research on drug reform. They conducted NIDA studies on harm reduction and has served as a resource for drug education. In 2000 they merged with the Drug Policy Foundation to become the Drug Policy Alliance.

The DPA help write policies on decriminalizing drug use. The Opioid Overdose Reduction Act of 2014 was supported by the DPA. This Act would allow people to aid in opioid overdose drugs without civil liability. You can donate to the Drug Policy Alliance and help their cause to reform drug legislation in America.

Source:
http://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Opiod_ReductionAct_Summary.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Policy_Alliance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindesmith_Center