The Drug Policy Alliance is the nation’s leading organization promoting drug policies that are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights. Our work covers a wide range of critical issues.

Like alcohol Prohibition in the early 1900s, drug prohibition has not only failed its mission but has made its mission impossible. The failures of prohibition are painfully obvious: wasted money, wasted lives and wasted opportunities.

View all drug war issues.

 

Marijuana prohibition is an utter failure. Public opinion has shifted in favor of reforming federal and state marijuana laws. Legalizing marijuana would allow law enforcement agencies to focus on real crime and bring in new sources of tax revenue.

The United States imprisons more people than any other nation in the world, largely due to misguided drug laws and mandatory sentencing requirements. Since the 1970s, drug war practices have led to the conviction and marginalization of millions of Americans – disproportionately poor people and people of color – while failing to reduce problematic drug use, drug-related disease transmission or overdose deaths.

Harm reduction is a public health philosophy and intervention that seeks to reduce the harms associated with drug use and ineffective drug policies. A basic tenet of harm reduction is that there has never been, and will never be, a drug-free society.

People get emotional about kids and drugs, for good reason. However, that emotion has led to some ineffective, discriminatory and harmful policies. At the Drug Policy Alliance, we care about protecting youth from the potential harms associated with both drug use and drug prohibition.

The Drug Policy Alliance is a leading voice in the movement to reclaim the rights and freedoms of all people — no matter what they choose to put into their bodies. While DPA does not encourage or advocate drug use, we are guided by the strong conviction that using drugs is private and personal, not the business of the government or criminal justice system.