PRESS CONFERENCE CALLING FOR GOV. SCOTT TO SUPPORT H.72
Stand with us on Tuesday, May 7 to show your support for OPCs and urge Governor Scott to sign bill H.72!
VERMONT REIMAGINING DRUG POLICY CONFERENCE 2023
A one-day convening (via zoom) featuring nationwide experts on drug policy to examine the harms of existing criminal approaches to drug use and policies designed to strengthen systems of care & support. For more information, check out the conference page.
The Rise of Pregnancy Criminalization: A Pregnancy Justice Report
Criminalizing pregnant people worsens maternal, fetal, and child health. Pregnancy outcomes are at risk when pregnancy is criminalized — and the harm falls hardest on those who are already marginalized. A new report by Pregnancy Justice, The Rise of Pregnancy Criminalization, explores this trend. This webinar brings together a panel of experts to talk about the impacts of criminalizing pregnant people. Register at https://pregnancyjusticeus-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_C0zJeYx7Rxaxzn6J3AETgg#/registration.
International Drug Policy Reform Conference (Virtual Option)
The International Drug Policy Reform Conference runs from October 18-21 in Phoenix. A virtual option will include access to the three plenary sessions and nine educational breakout sessions via livestream, addressing topics from exploring the next era of drug decriminalization to global drug war reparations to psychedelic regulation and so much more. All of the virtual sessions will be recorded and available for viewing after the event. Register online to join the world’s premier gathering of people who are working to end the drug war and build a new world.
Vermont Medical Society webinar: Overdose Prevention Sites and Eliminating Penalties for Drug Possession - Exploring Health Centered Approaches to Addressing Substance Use
A webinar for members of the Vermont Medical Society featuring national experts sharing the evidence for authorizing overdose prevention centers and eliminating criminal penalties for possessing personal use quantities of illicit drugs, two topics likely to come before the Vermont legislature in 2024. Speakers Brandon Marshall, PhD and Ryan Kelly, MD, MS will discuss these strategies and inform policy discussions. With planning assistance from the Drug Policy Alliance
International Overdose Awareness Day Rally
Join the Vermont Overdose Prevention Network at City Hall Park in Burlington for an in-person event to remember those lost to overdose and speak out for evidence-based approaches to prevention. The event will also be streamed by Town Meeting TV and can be replayed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cip8uYPrWSU
Press Conference - Addressing Rising Overdose Rates
Decriminalize Vermont Coalition to Host Press Conference Calling for Bolder Action to Address Drug Overdose Crisis
The Decriminalize Vermont Coalition will host a press conference to remember the Vermonters lost to fatal overdose in 2022 and call for urgent legislative action to prevent future overdose deaths. Participants will bring attention to the March 13, 2023 Monthly Opioid Morbidity and Mortality Report released by the Vermont Department of Health, finding that through December 2022 there have been at least “237 opioid-related accidental and undetermined deaths among Vermont residents”, and call for urgent legislative action to authorize and establish critical harm reduction strategies such as overdose prevention centers, drug checking and decriminalization.