Free! 6 Ethics or Social/Cultural credits.
In 2001, Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalize the consumption of all drugs. Twenty years on, the U.S. is suffering its worst addiction epidemic in American history. In 2016 alone, an estimated 64,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses—more than the combined death tolls for Americans in the Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq Wars, a number exceedingly surpassed in 2020 with 93,331 overdose deaths.
In Portugal, meanwhile, the drug-induced death rate has plummeted to five times lower than the E.U. average at 6 per million, compared to the United States' 315 per million. Its rate of HIV infection has dropped from 104.2 new cases per million in 2000 to 4.2 cases per million in 2015. Drug use has declined overall among the 15- to 24-year-old population, those most at risk of initiating drug use.
Join NASW-NJ, our sponsor, The College of New Jersey, and a national and international panel of experts for this riveting conversation.
Topics to include:
History of the Racist War on Drugs & Proposed Policy Solutions
Antiracist Addiction Treatment Requires Decriminalization & Harm Reduction
The Future of Decriminalization in New Jersey
Panelists
Sandy Gibson, PhD, LCSW, LCADC, Professor, TCNJ
Sheila P. Vakharia, PhD, Policy Manager, Office of Academic Engagement, Drug Policy Alliance
Jenna Mellor, Executive Director, Harm Reduction New Jersey
Rev. Charles Boyer, Pastor of Bethel A.M.E. church, and Founder of Salvation and Social Justice
Andrew Tatarsky, PhD, Founder and Director of the Center for Optimal Living
Kasia Malinowska, PhD, MSW, Director of the Global Drug Policy Program at the Open Society Foundation
Nuno Capaz, PhD, and Head of the Dissuasion Commission, Portugal
Tera Hurst, BSW, Executive Director, Oregon Health Justice Recovery Alliance
Jennifer Oliva, JD, MBA, Associate Professor of Law, Seton Hall University
