Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl (HALT) Act (H.R. 467) in a 289-133 vote. This legislation would ramp up mandatory minimum sentencing for fentanyl analogues. It would also permanently schedule all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I without first testing them for benefits or harm. […]
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Governor Walz Signs Human Services Budget Proposal with Policy Language and Funding for Overdose Prevention Centers St. Paul, MN – Today, Governor Tim Walz signed Senate File 2934, the Human Services budget proposal. The proposal includes language mandating the Minnesota Commissioner of Human Services to “establish safe recovery sites that offer harm reductions services and […]
Sacramento, CA – Today, the Assembly Public Safety Committee held a special hearing to consider a series of bills seeking to increase penalties for fentanyl-related offenses, including AB 367 (Mainschein), AB 955 (Petrie-Norris), AB 675 (Soria), AB 1058 (Patterson), AB 474 (Rodriguez) and AB 33 (Bains). The committee also considered AB 701 by Assembly Member […]
Marijuana Banking Bill Sees Improvements Championed by the Drug Policy Alliance and Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition, But Further Fixes Are Needed to Ensure Fairness for Black and Brown-owned Marijuana Businesses Washington, D.C. – Today, the Secure and Fair Enforcement Act, or “SAFE Banking Act,” was reintroduced in the U.S. House and Senate. The bill […]
More Public Health Tools are Urgently Needed. But White House Pushing Supply-side Interdiction Will Only Lead to New, Stronger Drugs, Resulting in More Harm. Washington, D.C. – In response to the White House today designating fentanyl combined with xylazine as an emerging threat, Maritza Perez Medina, Director of the Office of Federal Affairs at the […]
Washington, D.C. – In response to President Biden’s pre-released State of the Union outline detailing increased crack downs on fentanyl-related substances, Maritza Perez Medina, Director of the Office of Federal Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, released the following statement: “We are glad to see President Biden continue to call for increased access to evidence-based […]
Continuation of Failed Drug War Criminal Responses and Absence of Overdose Prevention Centers Run Counter to Hochul’s Commitments to Reducing Overdose Deaths in New York New York, NY – In response to Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State priorities she announced today, Toni Smith-Thompson, Director of the New York State Office for the Drug […]
Washington, D.C. – Today’s passage of the federal omnibus package is the latest indication of Congress’ failure to effectively address the overdose crisis. While the package includes additional funding for overdose prevention activities and passage of the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, it also includes another two-year extension of the Trump-era temporary scheduling of fentanyl-related […]
Washington, D.C. – In response to President Biden today announcing that he will pardon all simple federal marijuana possession charges and urge Governors to take similar actions at the state level, Kassandra Frederique, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, released the following statement: “We are thrilled to see President Biden holding true to his commitment […]
Los Angeles, CA – Governor Newsom signed AB 2195 the Alternate Plea Act, a first-in-the-nation proposal that will allow prosecutors to offer a public nuisance plea to individuals facing a drug conviction in appropriate cases at the prosecutor’s own discretion. The bill was authored by Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles). The public nuisance plea will carry […]
