Unlike in the past, the current overdose crisis is prompting more compassionate responses emphasizing the need for treatment over incarceration (at least rhetorically) and eliciting sympathy for its victims rather than condemnation. Nonetheless, drug war strategies persist. Increases in overdose deaths have led to calls for enhanced and extreme prison punishment, especially when it comes to fentanyl.

The Drug Enforcement and Policy Center at The Ohio State University and the Drug Policy Alliance, with support from the Charles Koch Institute, are organizing a one-day, invitation-only briefing for federal criminal justice reform leaders to discuss the overdose crisis and approaches to defeating punitive criminal justice proposals. The event will include  presentations on the nature of the overdose crisis, the trend towards tough sentences for synthetic drugs, and how drug policy relates to the broader criminal justice reform movement.

The briefing will be followed by a strategy session lead by policy advocates reviewing past successes and formulating new approaches for fighting back against harmful policy proposals.

To find out more information, please visit the event website. If you have any questions, please contact Jana Hrdinova at hrdinova.1@osu.edu or Michael Collins at mcollins@drugpolicy.org.

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