Diversion for Non Addicts?

California is home to the national model of treatment instead of incarceration, which has granted over 200,000 people access to treatment through the criminal justice system in just six years since its implementation in 2001.  Although a landmark success, this program has been criticized for failing to distinguish, as a matter of policy, people with drug problems from people with drug law problems. To increase the personal and societal benefit of diversion, should policymakers expand such policies to address drug law offenders identified as non-using or non-addicted?  Or create policies for offenders that struggle with addiction problems but who have been convicted of other offenses? What should these programs look like and who should benefit? What can policymakers learn from experiences in California and Europe?

Moderator: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, Drug Policy Alliance, Los Angeles, CA

Panelists:

• Mike Lawlor, JD, State Representative, Connecticut General Assembly, East Haven, CT
• Lou Martinez, AOD Counselor,BSW Student, Prop 36 Counselor, The Effort, Sacramento, CA
• Alex Stevens, PhD, Senior Researcher, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, England
• Sharon Woo, JD, Assistant District Attorney, Office of the DA, City and County of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Prescribing Heroin  

After a long history of trying to “cure” opiate addiction by replacing it with other opiates, an increasing number of countries are trying something new: managing intake of the drug itself.  Is heroin-assisted treatment more effective and safer than methadone or other strategies?  Two experts discuss the research and operation of programs in Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Canada. 

Presenters:

• Peter Blanken, Senior Researcher, Central Committee on the Treatment of Heroin Addicts [CCBH], Utrecht, Netherlands
• Michael Jourdan, Editor, Centre of Alcohol and Drug Research, Copenhagen, Denmark
• David Marsh, MD, Medical Director, Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver, Canada

Marijuana & Health

This panel explores the medical potential of cannabis to treat a wide variety of medical conditions and facilitate an honest and open discussion about the benefits and risks of marijuana to human health, based on the most up to date scientific research and evidence.

Presenters:

• David Ostrow, MD, PhD, Director, Medical Marijuana Policy Advocacy Project (MMPAP), Chicago, IL
• Thomas Kujawski, Director of Development, National Association of People with AIDS, Silver Spring, MD
• Craig Reinarman, PhD, Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA

Beyond Zero Tolerance: Experience It for Yourself

This training session concentrates on the benefits of sustainable client/youth -centered programs in schools, youth drop-in centers, drug-treatment programs, housing programs, and shelters.  This session explores a reality-based drug education, support, and training program.  Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a 'Beyond Zero Tolerance' session and experience what an honest and interactive conversation about alcohol and other drugs is like.

Presenter:

• Chuck Ries, Director, UpFront, Benicia, CA

Understanding and Preventing Opioid Poisoning: a National Perspective

Opioid poisoning deaths, particularly from prescription drugs, have increased dramatically since 1990. This public health emergency has led to calls for increased research and surveillance, the development of naloxone distribution programs and to unique partnerships between government agencies, researchers, health departments and community agencies. Advocates and researchers discuss new challenges and prevention efforts.

Moderator: Sharon Stancliff, MD, Medical Director, Harm Reduction Coalition, New York, NY

Panelists:

• Dan Bigg, Director, Chicago Recovery Alliance, Chicago, IL
• Nabarun Dasgupta, MPH, North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition/UNC Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, NC
• Steve Jones

Building Momentum in Congress

It’s often said that Washington is the last place that drug policy reform will happen.  This may be true, but this past year has been more promising than anyone had expected.

Moderator: Bill Piper, Director of National Affairs, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, DC

Panelists:

• Rob Kampia, Executive Director, Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, DC
• Kris Krane, Executive Director, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Washington, DC
• Jesselyn McCurdy, Legislative Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union, Washington, DC
• Daniel Raymond, Harm Reduction Coalition, New York, NY
• Eric Sterling, President, Criminal Policy Justice Foundation, Silver Spring, MD
• Nkechi Taifa, Senior Policy Analyst, Open Society Institute and Open Society Policy Center, New York, NY
• Sanho Tree, Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, DC

PLENARY SESSION

Black America: the Debate Within

African American Communities around the country have faced an ongoing public health crisis as it relates to drug use and addiction for decades. But the government's solution, the War on Drugs, has been an abysmal failure; many consider the War on Drugs a new form of "Jim Crow" era racism. Why then, hasn't conservative, middle-class Black America taken on this issue as their own modern-day civil rights issue? Why haven't Black Americans focused on reclaiming their sons and daughters from the unfair drug sentencing practices that result in overflowing prisons?

Moderator: Rev. Ed Sanders, Senior Servant, Metropolitan Interdenominational Church
Coordinator, Religious Leaders for a More Just and Compassionate Drug Policy, New York, NY

Panelists:

• Isaac Fulwood, Professor, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC
• Marie Lopez Kirkley-Bey, Deputy Speaker, Connecticut Legislature, Hartford, CT
• Glenn Loury, Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences, Department of Economics, Brown University, Brookline, MA
• Dr. James Peterson, PhD, Assistant Professor of English, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA

Harm Reduction Goes to College: Is it Time to Lower the Drinking Age?

High risk drinking among college students garners media attention, while administrators struggle for solutions. Some campuses are responding by increasing penalties and policing but a growing number are looking for pragmatic solutions and integrating harm reduction measures. At the same time some educators and students look at the harms of our age-specific prohibition and dare to pose the question, “Is it time to lower the drinking age?”

Moderator: Jennifer Kern, Research Associate, Drug Policy Alliance, San Francisco, CA

Panelists:

• Aaron Hess, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
• Alex Koroknay-Palicz, Executive Director, National Youth Rights Association, Washington, DC
• Deborah Lewis, M.Ed., Alcohol Projects Coordinator, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• John McCardell, PhD, Director, Choose Responsibility, Middlebury, VT

Collateral Damage: Immigrants and the War on Drugs

Silent and often overlooked casualties of the War on Drugs are immigrants, both documented and undocumented, accused of non-violent drug offenses. They often face especially harsh penalties, including deportation, usually without recourse to legal representation. Broken lives and families are often the “collateral damage” in this silent war.

Presenters:

• Alina Das, JD, MPA, Soros Justice Fellow, New York State Defenders Association Immigrant Defense Project, New York, NY
• Deepali Gokhale, Campaign Organizer, Racial Justice Campaign Against "Operation Meth Merchant", Atlanta, GA   
• Antonio Gonzales, President, William C. Velasquez Institute, Los Angeles, CA (INVITED)

Medical Marijuana Implementation State-to-State

States have faced a variety of successes, failures, and challenges in their implementation of medical marijuana laws.  This roundtable compares the distinguishing features of various state laws and explores common barriers and successful solutions to effective implementation.  The presentation focuses on Colorado, Montana, Hawaii, New Mexico, Washington and California.

Moderator: Daniel Abrahamson, JD, Director of Legal Affairs, Drug Policy Alliance, Berkley, CA

Panelists:

• Tom Daubert, Founder, Patients & Families United and Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy, Consultant to ACLU, Helena, MT
• Alison Holcomb, JD, Marijuana Education Project Director, ACLU of Washington Foundation, Seattle, WA
• Steven A. Jenison, MD, Public Health Physician, New Mexico Department of Health, Santa Fe, NM
• Pamela Lichty, MPH, President, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
• Brian Vicente, JD, Executive Director, Sensible Colorado, Denver, CO

IBOGAINE - An Effective Therapy for Chemical Dependence 

The discovery of ibogaine’s use as an anti-addictive agent was made by drug users in the nineteen sixties.  Its use in treating chemical dependence has been championed by drug user advocates in Europe and the United States ever since, and precipitated a four-year study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). This panel focuses upon whether ibogaine can be used safely and effectively to break the cycle of addiction, its antiviral effects, proposed mechanisms of action as well as the history of ibogaine and ibogaine user activism.

Moderator: Allan Clear, Executive Director, Harm Reduction Coalition, New York, NY; Howard Lotsof, President, Dora Weiner Foundation, Staten Island, NY 

Panelists:

• Irvin Beal, co-author, IBOGAINE STORY, Co-Founder, Cures not Wars, New York City, NY
• Jeffrey Kamlet, MD, Miami Beach, FL; Patrick Kroupa, Neurscience/RA, University of Miami, Dept. of Neurology, Miami, FL
• Dimitri Mobengo Mugianis, Freedomroot/VOCAL, Brooklyn, NY
• Clare Wilkins, Director, Ibogaine Association, San Diego, CA

Ban the Box: Winning Back the Right to Work

Formerly convicted/incarcerated individuals in many ways never stop being punished in the US. The stigma associated with a conviction, especially related to controlled substances, has become increasingly institutionalized through legal barriers to housing, employment, education and even association with family members and loved ones. Formerly incarcerated people in many cities are organizing to advocate for themselves and their civil rights. Ban the Box is one successful campaign that has reached across the country in recent years—from Boston to San Francisco. This training provides the information and advice you need to bring this campaign to your city, and to begin supporting the organization of formerly incarcerated people.

Presenters:

• Dorsey Nunn, Co-Director, Legal Service for Prisoners with Children/ All of Us or None
• Malik Rahim, LSPC/All of Us or None, New Orleans, LA
• Sakeenah Robinson, Organizer, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, San Francisco, CA
• Chuck Turner, Boston City Councilor, Boston, MA

Drugs and Behavior 101: A Tool to Teach Critical Thinking Skills

The panel addresses various issues surrounding the teaching of drugs and behavior to college-level students, particularly in our current climate where drugs have become so politicized.  It also explores the decision to include certain material in texts and exclude other material. 

Presenters:

• Mark Galizio, PhD, Professor and Chair of Psychology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC
• Carl Hart, PhD, Associate Professor, Columbia University, New York, NY
• Charles Ksir, PhD, Professor, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY

Harm Reduction Therapy: Clinical and Ethical issues in Practice

Practitioners who use the concept of harm reduction as their guide for treating substance misuse must have a deep and thorough understanding of trauma, and develop a sophisticated ethical perspective. This workshop presents a harm reduction-informed treatment model and focus on the challenges that clinicians face in this country’s climate of zero tolerance.

Presenters:

• Patt Denning, PhD, Director of Clinical Services, Harm Reduction Therapy Center, San Francisco, CA
• Frederick Rotgers, PsyD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA
• Andrew Tatarsky, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Harm Reduction Psychotherapy and Training Associates, New York, NY
• Traci Willliams, MFT, Staff Therapist, Harm Reduction Therapy Center, San Francisco, CA

Against the Odds: Reversing the Personal and Cultural Impact of Incarceration

A prison sentence is just the beginning of a long, hard journey back into the 'free' world. Along the way, even loved ones and close friends can drop out of the picture; spouses and children are nearly always much worse for the wear. From the psychological trauma of incarceration to the very stability of entire neighborhoods, towns, and cities, mass incarceration is destabilizing our society in innumerable ways. What's to be done? Panel participants seek to identify some of the less-discussed aspects of 'collateral consequences,' and to offer their ideas for remedies and intervention strategies that can be enacted in the here and now. 

Moderator: Silja Talvi, Author, Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the Prison System and Senior Editor, In These Times, Seattle, WA

Panelists:

• Norris Henderson, Co-Director, Safe Streets Strong Communities, New Orleans, LA
• Kathleen Kane Willis, Director,  Roosevelt University’s  Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy, Chicago, IL
• Suzanne Mayo, MA, Doctoral Student, Kansas State University, Manhattan,
• Carol Shapiro, Founder & President, Family Justice, New York, NY
• Mike Whitty, PhD, Professor, University of Detroit Mercy, Birmingham, MI

National Marijuana Policy: New Directions

Leaders in the drug policy movement discuss the major features of federal marijuana prohibition and identify new strategies to challenge, confront, and ultimately change, federal anti-marijuana laws and policies. 

Presenters:

• Graham Boyd, Director, ACLU Drug Law Reform Project, Santa Cruz, CA
• Rob Kampia, Executive Director, Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, DC
• Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance, New York, NY
• Steph Sherer, Executive Director, Americans for Safe Access, Washington, DC
• Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director, NORML/NORML Foundation, Washington, DC

Making the News: How to Get the Media to Cover Your Issue

This workshop reviews the nuts and bolts of getting your issue in the news.  It will examine what makes something newsworthy, how to write a press release, pitch a reporter and conduct an interview.  Internet media-from blogs to online action alerts-will also be discussed.

Moderator: Tommy McDonald, Deputy Director of Communications, Drug Policy Alliance, New York, NY

Panelists:

• Mary Jane Borden, MBA, APR, Business Manager, DrugSense/MAP, Westerville, OH
• Cole Krawitz, Communications Strategist, The SPIN Project, San Francisco, CA
• Bruce Mirken, Director of Communications, Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, DC
• Tony Papa, Communications Specialist Drug Policy Alliance, New York, NY

Elevator Arguments

One of the keys to being an effective advocate for reform is understanding how to effectively talk about the issue, especially since drug policy reformers have lots of stereotypes to overcome. This workshop engages audience participants and tests their ability to cater the reform message to a variety of audiences.

Presenter:

• David Guard, MPP, Associate Director, StoptheDrugWar.org (Drug Reform Coordination Network), Washington, DC
• Pete Guither, DrugWarRant.com, Bloomington, IL

Dismantling the School-to-Jail Pipeline: Drug Policy Reform and Juvenile Justice

Between 1990 and 2000, the arrest rate for all youth crimes fell but the arrest rate for drug law violations rose by 105%, and the number of juvenile drug cases resulting in incarceration increased by 62% over the 10 year period. At the same time, some jurisdictions report that almost half of all their referrals to juvenile court originate from schools. Zero-tolerance school policies for alcohol and other drugs contribute to a “schools to jails pipeline” displacing many at-risk youth, particularly youth of color, from their communities, families and educational institutions.  Leaders in the field of juvenile justice discuss ways to alleviate the negative impact of the war on drugs for youth.

Moderator: Jasmine Tyler, Deputy Director, Office of National Affairs, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, DC

Panelists:

• Tshaka Barrows, Program Manager, Burns Institute, San Francisco, CA
• James Freeman, JD, Staff Attorney, Advancement Project, Washington, DC
• Dana Kaplan, Executive Director, Juvenile Justice Project of LA, New Orleans, LA
• Bart Lubow, Director, Program for High Risk Youth, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD