Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Four Decades to Build 70,000 Affordable Homes? Count That as a Success.

    In 1975, community members organized to urge the New Jersey state government to require cities to build their fair share of affordable multifamily housing. Dubbed “The Mount Laurel Doctrine,” the legislation, backed by local advocacy groups, has helped build 20,000 affordable housing units.

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  • In Portland's Self-Governed Dignity Village, The Unhoused Make Their Own Rules

    Dignity Village is a self-governed community in Portland, Oregon, where people experiencing homelessness can live as long as they want. The village houses 65-80 people who pay $75 a month and put in 10 hours of community-related work a week to live there.

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  • ‘Safety First' Drug Education Program Acknowledges the Failings of ‘Just Say No'

    Studies show that abstinence-based prevention drug programs like D.A.R.E don't work. To provide another option, the Drug Policy Alliance, a non-profit, developed its own curriculum called “Safety First.” The 15-lesson curriculum was piloted in five schools under the San Francisco Unified School District.

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  • People in Solitary Confinement and Volunteers Team Up to Garden, Imagine a World Without Prisons

    The Solitary Gardens project started in New Orleans and has been copied in multiple other places as a combination art exhibit and therapeutic link between incarcerated people and the outside world. People on both sides of the prison walls collaborate in pairs to design a garden that grows flowers and herbs chosen by the incarcerated person. The gardens match the tiny dimensions of a solitary-confinement cell. The healing herbs are used to help others, and the exercise overall gives incarcerated people a sense of connection to the earth, part of the project's prison-abolition message.

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  • Michigan's New Clean-Slate Law Makes State a Leader in Criminal Justice Reform

    A new law in Michigan will automatically expunge misdemeanors and felonies after several years, making it easier to find employment for those who have a record. The automatic nature of the expungement removes the barriers of cost and time for successfully completing the long application process. A clean slate makes it easier for people to improve their lives through better housing and higher pay, leading to lower rates of recidivism.

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  • How Oregon's Radical Decriminalization of Drugs Was Inspired by Portugal

    After Portugal decriminalized hard drugs in 2001 to treat drug use as a health problem and not a crime, the country expanded treatment services that produced sharp drops in drug-overdose deaths and HIV infections. Its numbers of people incarcerated on drug charges also dropped by nearly half. The Drug Policy Alliance studied Portugal's approach and made a modified version of it the model for Oregon, where courts and prisons have been the gateway to the state's limited treatment services. Oregon voters approved decriminalization and a vast increase in treatment programs that will roll out in 2021.

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  • New York City Pilots Mobile Methadone Program to Help Treat Addiction Audio icon

    New York City is piloting a methadone distribution system for residents struggling with opioid addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially intended to avoid unnecessary visits to medical centers, the model is now championed by policy experts as a permanent solution for reaching more patients. “It’s amazing, unprecedented, ground-breaking, and will be something that we’ll continue to fight to make sure that it stays in place after COVID has passed,” one proponent said.

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