Decriminalize Vermont is a coalition of organizations and individual Vermonters committed to ending the harms of Vermont’s drug laws and promoting policies focused on health, equity and human rights.
People should not be subjected to degrading and traumatizing arrests, stigmatized, potentially incarcerated, and marginalized because of their use of controlled substances. The criminalization of drug possession deters people from seeking voluntary health services, including substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, and often creates barriers to getting a job, accessing housing, qualifying for credit, and obtaining a professional license. We must enhance systems of compassion and care instead of continuing to divert resources into wasteful systems of punishment and coercion.
These Organizations and many individuals throughout our state are committed to bringing that better approach to Vermont:
