Drug Policy Alliance

{{Short description|American non-profit advocacy organization}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2014}} {{infobox organization/Wikidata | fetchwikidata=ALL}}

The '''Drug Policy Alliance''' ('''DPA''') is a [[New York, New York|New York City]]–based [[nonprofit organization]] that seeks to advance policies that "reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition, and to promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and bodies".<ref>{{cite web|title=About Us|url=https://drugpolicy.org/about-us|access-date=2021-04-07|website=Drug Policy Alliance|language=en|archive-date=September 4, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904215820/http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The organization prioritizes reducing the role of criminalization in drug policy, advocating for the legal regulation of marijuana, and promoting health-centered drug policies.

==History== The Drug Policy Alliance was formed when the [[Drug Policy Foundation]] and the [[Lindesmith Center]] merged in July 2000.

=== Leadership === Lindesmith Center founder [[Ethan Nadelmann]] served as its first executive director,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-11-27 |title=Legalize all drugs? The man behind loosening pot laws in US eyes new goal |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/legalize-all-drugs-man-behind-loosening-pot-laws-us-eyes-flna2D11663337 |access-date=2026-05-26 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> followed by Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno beginning in October 2017.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 4, 2017 |publisher=Drug Policy Alliance |title=Meet DPA's New Executive Director, Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno |author=Derek Rosenfeld |url=https://drugpolicy.org/blog/meet-dpas-new-executive-director-maria-mcfarland-sanchez-moreno |access-date=2024-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019014415/https://drugpolicy.org/blog/meet-dpas-new-executive-director-maria-mcfarland-sanchez-moreno |archive-date=October 19, 2022 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Kassandra Frederique]] has served as executive director since September 2020.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schiller |first=Melissa |title=Drug Policy Alliance Board Announces Kassandra Frederique as Next Executive Director |url=https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/news/drug-policy-alliance-board-announces-next-executive-director/ |work=Cannabis Business Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hunter |first=Allison |date=2026-01-02 |title=Mamdani’s transition team taps several Haitian New Yorkers |url=https://haitiantimes.com/2026/01/02/mamdani-transition-haitian-new-yorkers/ |access-date=2026-05-26 |website=The Haitian Times |language=en-US}}</ref> ==Main issues== [[File:Harm reduction conference 2012 - 8201928066.jpg|thumb|right|DPA booth at a 2012 conference]]

===Drug war=== DPA believes that the [[war on drugs]] in America has failed. They present the argument that the United States has spent billions of dollars on making the country drug-free, but many illicit drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and many others, are more potent and prevalent than ever before.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/nationwide-trends|title=Nationwide Trends|last=Abuse|first=National Institute on Drug|website=www.drugabuse.gov|language=en-US|access-date=2016-04-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2015/07/13/marijuana-prohibition-and-the-war-on-drugs-have-utterly-failed|title=What Have We Been Smoking?|last=Crawford|first=Alejandro|date=2015-07-13|website=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=2016-04-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/business/in-rethinking-the-war-on-drugs-start-with-the-numbers.html|title=Numbers Tell of Failure in the War on Drugs|last=Porter|first=Eduardo|date=2012-07-03|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-04-12}}</ref>

===Communities affected=== DPA believes that the war on drugs does not affect all of the American population the same way, and that some communities are disproportionately affected.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bowling|first1=Ben|last2=Phillips|first2=Coretta|date=2007-11-01|title=Disproportionate and Discriminatory: Reviewing the Evidence on Police Stop and Search|journal=The Modern Law Review|language=en|volume=70|issue=6|pages=936–961|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2230.2007.00671.x|s2cid=23235460|issn=1468-2230}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/drug-war-new-jim-crow|title=The Drug War is the New Jim Crow|website=American Civil Liberties Union|access-date=2016-04-12}}</ref>

== Results == In 2020, DPA's advocacy and political arm, Drug Policy Action, spearheaded the passage of the [[2020 Oregon Ballot Measure 110|Oregon Ballot Measure 110]], which made Oregon the first state in the nation to decriminalize drug possession while significantly expanding access to evidence-informed, culturally responsive treatment, harm reduction and other health services.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/marijuana-oregon-elections-a7bf2c4477ca38a31bd140848c023061 |title=Oregon 1st in US to soften on hard drugs, 'magic' mushrooms |publisher=AP News |date=2020-11-04 |accessdate=2022-05-11}}</ref>

==See also== *[[Arguments for and against drug prohibition]] *[[Decriminalization of marijuana in the United States]] *[[Freedom of thought]] *[[Harm reduction]] *[[Prison reform]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{official website|https://www.drugpolicy.org/}}

[[Category:Cannabis law reform in the United States]] [[Category:Cannabis law reform organizations based in the United States]] [[Category:Drug policy organizations based in the United States]] [[Category:Drug policy reform]] [[Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York City]] [[Category:Organizations established in 1999]] [[Category:1999 establishments in New York (state)]] [[Category:Charities based in New York City]] [[Category:1999 in cannabis]] [[Category:501(c)(3) organizations]]