The campaign is being launched by a group of doctors that support the reform of drug policies. It aims to equip physicians with new skills so they can play a bigger role in advocating decriminalization. The organizers say that more voices in the medical field are needed to participate in discussions about cannabis, harm reduction and psychedelics.
Doctors for Drug Policy Reform, or D4DPR as it is also known, has been working on a new toolkit for advocates and healthcare professionals. The kit focuses on the “Transitioning to a health-focused approach from a criminal justice model of drug use.” The toolkit includes guides that will help activists create opinion pieces, engage lawmakers and media and “reframe drug abuse through a compassionate public-health lens.”
We’re building a core team of ‘on-call’ health professionals A recent D4DPR e-mail about this effort funded by a grant provided by the Drug Policy Alliance(DPA) states that “there are many people who will lend their voices when advocacy opportunities present themselves.” “Now more than ever, we need healthcare professionals like you to speak up—especially when critical legislation is being debated.”
Bryon Adinoff, D4DPR president, said to MEDCAN24 it is “imperative that healthcare professionals participate”.
He said, “We’d like to help them learn to speak out and how to do so in the correct way.”
D4DPR’s new initiative prioritizes cannabis regulation, decriminalization of psychedelics and their therapeutic use as well as the establishment of overdose prevention centres. Adinoff stated that other medical professionals have not been “sufficiently active” in the area.
“Prohibition, in general, has really hurt communities and individuals around the globe,” said he. We’re obliged to speak out.
The new D4DPR Toolkit contains factsheets on advocacy and a guide to best practices. It also includes ways for advocates to network with each other.
In an email sent to its supporters, the group says: “Your insights and credibility can shift public opinion and influence public policies, as well as reduce stigmatization that hurts our patients.” Together, we can develop drug policies that are based on science, dignity and care.
Adinoff emphasized that healthcare professionals have a strong position in the public’s opinion. “Rightly and wrongly, study after survey shows us as most trusted voices.”
He said, “People trust us.” “Even in this time of anti-science, I still think we have a better likelihood of being trusted to do the right thing—and say the right thing—compared to most other professions.”
D4DPR asks interested advocates to email them to find out more information about the program.
The group’s new advocacy campaign complements other campaigns it has undertaken to affect public policy. D4DPR released a policy paper in March calling on states to criminalize possession and personal use of several psychedelics.
It argues that criminalizing personal possession and use of psychedelics would be a waste of money. A coherent state-level framework for decriminalization would be better aligned with evidence-based drugs policies and ensure a just and effective response towards substance abuse.
The decriminalization white paper came on the heels of another D4DPR position paper about treatment strategies for opioid use disorder. Hunter Platzman argues in the paper that policymakers shouldn’t rely on agonists such as buprenorphine and methadone, but instead should use safer interventions such as prescribing pharmaceutical grade heroin.
The paper claims that agonists are well-established, legal treatments. However, less than 35% of those with an opioid addiction use them. Some people cannot access these therapies, while others refuse to use them. Prescription heroin, Platzman argues in the report, “demonstrates superior efficacy compared to traditional medications like methadone” and is far less lethal than highly toxic synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl.
In April of last year, meanwhile, D4DPR argued in a separate position paper that hemp-derived cannabinoids should be regulated more like marijuana.
This paper states that our understanding of certain compounds, such as delta-8-THC is very limited. Many have not been seen in nature, and the toxicology of these compounds is unknown.
D4DPR’s position, it said, was that “all intoxicating cannabinoids” should be subjected to a regulatory regime to ensure the public’s safety.
The cannabinoids paper was an attempt to bridge what the group described as a policy gap between between hemp—legalized federally through the 2018 Farm Bill—and marijuana, which remains federally illegal.
The problem was caused by the artificial separation between hemp and cannabis plants. They are both identical plants. Adinoff, at that time, told MEDCAN24: “One has low levels of THC while the other doesn’t.” It’s the only thing that got us in trouble.
D4DPR was long known as Doctors for Cannabis Regulation (DFCR) but rebranded in 2023 to reflect a growing focus on “a wider range of drug policy issues beyond cannabis,” including psychedelics and broader harm reduction matters, leaders said at the time.
Cannabis Seeds Brought To Orbit by SpaceX Crumble Into Sea and Set Back Mars Mission to Grow Marijuana
Sponsored Content
This informative article is brought to you by NUBO CBD →