USA: AMA's House of Delegates says yes to drug decriminalization

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USA: AMA's House of Delegates says yes to drug decriminalization

24 June 2024
Joyce Frieden
Medpage Today

The American Medical Association (AMA) voted to support eliminating criminal penalties for drug possession for personal use at the annual House of Delegates meeting in Chicago on Wednesday.
"The war on drugs is quite reminiscent of the phrase, 'The beatings will continue until morale improves,'" said Ryan Englander, an MD/PhD candidate who is a delegate from Hartford, Connecticut, speaking on behalf of the New England delegation. "We have tried for decades to criminalize our way out of a substance use crisis in this country, and it has not worked ... We need to move to something different and better, something that actually works."