Here's what we're doing to
help end the war on drugs
- Speaking to audiences at public events about the human costs of the war on drugs. Request a speaker from Protect Families First.
- Organizing community forums and drug policy conferences.
- Mobilizing youth, family advocates, and community leaders to speak out against the war on drugs. Tell us your story and learn how you can get involved.
- Making information and research accessible to policy makers, thought leaders, and members of the press. Click here for resources or request a "No More Drug War" information packet.
- Training at-risk individuals and their loved ones how to prevent opioid overdose and administer naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication. Request a training for you or your organization.
What we've already accomplished
In 2012, Protect Families First organized and hosted Drug Policy Alliance's "New Directions Rhode Island: A Public Health and Safety Approach to Drug Policy"
- We've given presentations on harm reduction and overdose prevention at colleges, parent organizations, police departments, non-profit organizations, and state agencies.
- We educated lawmakers on the harms of incarceration-based approaches to the overdose crisis.
- We've trained more than 2,000 at-risk individuals and loved ones on how to prevent overdose and administer naloxone.
- We advocated for and helped implement a naloxone distribution program at the Department of Corrections so that prisoners can receive a free kit of naloxone upon release. We also started a program to train visitors at the Department of Corrections in overdose prevention and to distribute naloxone to visitors.
- We've organized community forums to discuss the impact of marijuana and drug policy on youth.
- We galvanized broad support to ultimately win the passage of a permanent and comprehensive Good Samaritan law that protects people, including those on parole/probation, who call 911 at the scene of an overdose from being charged with low-level drug crimes.
- We hosted the first public forum on overdose prevention sites in Rhode Island.
- We designed and hosted Drug Policy Alliance's New Directions Rhode Island conference. The theme of the conference focused on how the war on drugs harms families and youth.
