The Drug Policy Alliance Network, and its partner organization the Drug Policy Alliance, educates Americans and others about alternatives to current drug policies on issues ranging from marijuana and adolescent drug use to illicit drug dependence, the spread of infectious diseases, policing drug markets and alternatives to incarceration.

The following are some of our recent triumphs:

• New Mexico Becomes Twelfth Medical Marijuana State
• DPA Stirs International Debate with Magazine Cover Article
• Syringe Access Makes Strides in Los Angeles
• New Jersey Saves Lives With Syringe Access
• DPA to Create Statewide Methamphetamine Education Program in New Mexico
• DPA Promotes Policy Change Through Grants Program
• DPA Defends Treatment
• DPA Protects Medical Marijuana Patients
• DPA Launches Drug Education Project

New Mexico Becomes Twelfth Medical Marijuana State

The Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico advocated for the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, a bill to allow qualified patients suffering from certain serious illnesses such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy, to possess and use medical marijuana for relief of their symptoms.
 
April 2, 2007: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signs the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act into law.

DPA Stirs International Debate with Magazine Cover Article

Foreign Policy, a highly influential international magazine of global politics, economics, and ideas, put an article by Ethan Nadelmann, DPA executive director, on the cover of its September/October 2007 issue. The article inspired discussions of drug policy in a number of high-profile media outlets, including National Public Radio and FOX News.

August 28, 2007: The September/October 2007 issue of Foreign Policy hits newsstands. The cover reads: "Legalize It: Why it's time to just say no to Prohibition."

Syringe Access Makes Strides in Los Angeles

In Los Angeles County, DPA is leading implementation of the Disease Prevention Demonstration Project (DPDP), a program to make clean syringes available for purchase in pharmacies. Between February 2007 and November 2007, the program enrolled approximately 250 pharmacies. Increasing access to sterile syringes is a proven way to reduce the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C.

November 20, 2007: The Long Beach City Council votes to participate in the DPDP.

November 16, 2007: DPA’s harm reduction coordinator presents on the DPDP at the Fifth Annual Hepatitis C Summit in Los Angeles.

February 2007: The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health implements the Disease Prevention Demonstration Project.

New Jersey Saves Lives With Syringe Access

After four years of work by the Drug Policy Alliance Network in New Jersey, the state passed a law that permits the creation of pilot syringe exchange programs in six cities. Four cities have applied and been approved to start programs. This marks the end of New Jersey’s distinction as the last state in the U.S. to deny any form of sterile syringe access to control the spread of disease.

November 27, 2007: Atlantic City launches the state’s first legal syringe access program.

December 19, 2006: New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signs a syringe exchange bill into law.

DPA to Create Statewide Methamphetamine Education Program in New Mexico

Backed by a federal grant awarded in early 2007, DPA New Mexico will create a statewide methamphetamine education program. The program will include a methamphetamine prevention campaign designed by and for youth, which will be broadcast on television and radio stations throughout New Mexico. The program, DPA's first federally funded effort, will focus on credible, science-based information rather than ineffective, overly simplistic scare tactics.
 
October 30-31, 2007: DPA New Mexico and partners host a state-wide conference, “Building Positive Communities: A Public Health Approach to Teen Methamphetamine Prevention.”

January 2007: DPA is awarded a federal grant to create a New Mexico methamphetamine prevention campaign.

DPA Promotes Policy Change Through Grants Program

A grant-making program administered by DPA awarded grants to 41 groups working to raise awareness about the negative consequences of and alternatives to current drug policies at the local, state and national level.

September 2007: The Promoting Policy Change Grants Program distributes $1.2 million in grants to 41 groups.

DPA Defends Treatment

DPA's office of legal affairs is successfully defending Proposition 36, California’s groundbreaking treatment-instead-of-incarceration law. In 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill, SB 1137, that would permit the jailing of Prop 36 participants who are engaged in substance abuse treatment. The changes in SB 1137 run counter to the intent of Prop 36, and DPA challenged the changes in a lawsuit.

September 14, 2006: An Alameda County Superior Court judge enters a preliminary injunction to keep the changes from going into effect while the court evaluates their constitutionality.

DPA Protects Medical Marijuana Patients

We have achieved a critical victory for the rights of sick and dying medical marijuana patients with a court ruling that upholds California’s medical marijuana laws and demonstrates that states do not have to march in lockstep with the federal government's failed war on drugs. Along with the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans for Safe Access, DPA intervened in a lawsuit brought by three counties attempting to challenge the state’s medical marijuana laws. DPA filed briefs in the case, made oral arguments, and worked closely with the attorney general’s office to craft persuasive arguments for the court. 

December 6, 2006: A San Diego Superior Court judge rejects the contention of three California counties that federal laws prohibiting all use of marijuana invalidate state medical marijuana laws.

DPA Launches Drug Education Project

We launched the Beyond Zero Tolerance project for reality-based drug education in high schools with a booklet written by Rodney Skager, Ph.D. This was followed by the first ever Beyond Zero Tolerance conference, which brought together experts in the fields of drug abuse prevention and education, offering participants realistic, pragmatic, and cost-effective strategies for implementing effective drug education and disciplinary practices in secondary schools. DPA's San Francisco office, under the direction of Marsha Rosenbaum, collaborated with Dr. Skager to formulate the California Statewide Task Force for Effective Drug Education. Beyond Zero Tolerance--the booklet, a companion video, and the conference--were products of that task force.

October 25, 2006: The Beyond Zero Tolerance conference, hosted and co-sponsored by DPA, takes place in San Francisco.

September 2006: DPA produces a video to bring the Beyond Zero Tolerance recommendations to life for educators.

September 2005: DPA publishes Beyond Zero Tolerance, a drug education booklet for parents and educators.