Bill to Decriminalize ALL DRUGS Introduced on 50th Anniversary of Nixon Declaring WAR on DRUGS

Today, on the 50^th anniversary of Nixon declaring the “war on drugs,” Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Cori Bush have officially introduced the Drug Policy Reform Act, a bill to federally decriminalize ALL drugs that they unveiled earlier this week at the press conference the Drug Policy Alliance hosted. DPA has been a strategic partner on the development of this legislation and will be actively advocating for its passage in Congress.

DPA’s Executive Director, who is currently testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on why we must end and begin repairing the damage of the war on drugs, released the below statement:

“With the introduction of this bill, we have the opportunity to begin turning the page on the drug war and start a new chapter today — one in which the systems we have in place in this country begin providing people support, instead of punishment, and where everyone is entitled to the same respect and human dignity no matter what their relationship with drugs is,” Kassandra Frederique, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance said. “While the bill itself won’t end the drug war wholesale, it does put it on notice and ends the number one excuse law enforcement has to harass, surveil, assault and even kill Black, Latinx, Indigenous and low-income people. We may have endured 50 years of terror as a result