National Advocacy Campaign

The Legal Action Center (LAC) and The State Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS) have partnered to develop the 'Roadmap for Smarter and More Effective Alcohol and Drug Policies.'

These are extraordinary times that demand major change in which everyone can believe. Our Roadmap meets that challenge with bold proposals that can save tens of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars.

In this difficult fiscal environment, it is even more important that we strengthen our collective advocacy for improved drug and alcohol policies. We must build on the field's great successes this past year -- passage of the mental health and addiction parity law and the Second Chance Act reentry legislation -- and continue that momentum to push for additional policy reforms that dramatically reduce alcohol and drug addiction and promote recovery for millions more Americans

Our five-year plan for dramatic national policy reform will:

• Expand and Improve the Health Responses to Addiction including lifesaving prevention, treatment, recovery support, and research.
• Remove Barriers to Recovery by repealing discriminatory laws and policies that prevent individuals with a history of addiction or related criminal record from obtaining the necessities of life.

Addiction to alcohol and drugs is a preventable, treatable disease. Prevention, treatment and recovery support save lives and money. People in recovery live productive and valuable lives. But prevention initiatives that have proven successful are severely under-funded and largely unavailable in most communities, and 90% of the more than 23 million young people and adults suffering from substance use disorders and addiction receive no care, a national disgrace. Despite their proven effectiveness, health responses to addiction that reduce the demand for alcohol and drugs receive barely 30% of our nation's investment in addressing this issue, with most resources going to international interdiction and law enforcement.

Untreated alcohol and drug addiction costs the U.S. economy over $300 billion every year in health care, criminal justice, social welfare, lost productivity, and other costs. People in recovery face many barriers to securing employment, housing and public benefits because of their addiction or criminal history.

It is long past time for a major change in national policy to combat alcohol and drug problems much more effectively. To achieve this goal, our "Roadmap" contains many specific recommendations to:

• expand successful prevention programs to dramatically reduce the number of young people who use alcohol and drugs;
• include equitable and adequate coverage of substance use disorders and addiction in national health care reform and provide care to at least one million more Americans;
• adopt regulations that will effectively implement the new federal law requiring parity in insurance coverage for addiction and mental health;
• support people in recovery to maintain their recovery by repealing discriminatory laws; and
• broaden research to learn more about the causes and most effective ways to reduce addiction.

Our national obligation to help the large numbers of veterans returning from serving their country overseas who have alcohol and drug problems makes quick adoption of these lifesaving reforms even more essential.

LAC and SAAS will soon launch a national campaign to advocate for adoption of the Roadmap's policy reforms. We welcome your support and encourage you to join us in this campaign. You can email us at sboyd@lac.org if you would like to join our advocacy efforts and/or receive regular news bulletins and alerts. If you would like to become a member of the Campaign's Founding 500 by making a donation of $1,000 or more, or to make a donation of any amount, Click Here.

The Roadmap was developed in consultation with many experts, advocates, and constituents from all over the country. We would like especially to acknowledge the assistance of Jenny Collier, John Carnevale, Melody Heaps, Sara Howe, Angi Halvorson, Carol McDaid, William Cope Moyers, Sue Thau, and Daphne Baille.

Although this is a time of many challenges, it is also a time of tremendous opportunity. We need to be a part of the change coming to Washington that will extend to communities around the country and look forward to working with you to dramatically improve policy for people with alcohol and drug histories so that millions more Americans are able to enjoy the benefits of recovery.

~Click here to contribute to the National Advocacy Campaign~

About Us

Legal Action Center is a thirty-five year old national non-profit law and policy organization that advocates for people with drug and alcohol addiction histories, criminal records and HIV/AIDS.

SAAS is the leading national organization that advocates on behalf of state associations of addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery providers. They represent thousands of providers in 42 states around the country.