Leading the way: Toward a public health & safety approach to drug policy in New York

The Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy and the Drug Policy Alliance invite you to participate in a conference about establishing more effective approaches to drug policy in New York.

Forty years ago, on May 7, 1973, then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed legislation establishing a new drug policy in New York: the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The laws represented a criminalization-focused approach to drug policy, with long, mandated prison terms for even first-time drug law violations. Other states soon followed New York, thus beginning America’s unprecedented race to incarcerate.

In examining New York’s drug policies, the conference will engage with an upcoming report by DPA and The New York Academy of Medicine: Blueprint for a Public Health Safety Approach to Drug Policy. Drawing from disciplines such as public health, drug treatment, harm reduction, medicine, public safety, law, sociology and criminal justice, the conference will convene key political leaders, government officials, community organizations, leading academics, service providers, advocates and people directly impacted by the range of drug policies in New York State.

Read here more information about the event.

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