Next up: Ending the "War on Drugs"
UPDATE: Project has launched! 🚀 End the War on Drugs.
At Ember, our members brainstorm, discuss, and agree on a new project to take on each quarter. For January through March 2023, we're focusing on ending the drug war. Okay, okay, we know we aren't going to end the drug war ourselves in three months. However, we can dig through a bunch of complex information to identify specific actions we can take toward addressing this big, pervasive problem. By taking action, we can move the needle.
Context
The US government's "War on Drugs" has actually been a war on people, especially those most marginalized. It has produced and continues to produce devastating personal harms, including many harms we hardly notice now because they've become normalized. "It's just the way it is." We are accustomed to drug criminalization and punishment showing up across many parts of our everyday lives: education, employment, housing, child welfare, immigration, public benefits, and more. If the US would shift drug policies from punishing people to providing voluntary health and support services for people who need them, the ripple effect through our society would be a huge step toward a humane future.
There are already organizations doing great work in drug policy reform. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. So, we're currently pouring over existing resources. For example, Drug Policy Alliance, the Action arm of which was at the forefront of Oregon's recent move to decriminalize drugs, has a treasure trove of resources, like their project, Uprooting the Drug War, which shows how far-reaching, deeply-rooted, and interwoven the devastating effects of the drug war are.
Ember-style Actions
We seek to identify actions, things we all can do in our everyday lives to support shifting social norms and policy toward a humane future. We're a group of creative thinkers insistent on action beyond donations, petitions, and retweeting (though those are a start!). We might come up with a guide to deprogram the DARE miseducation we received in middle school or perhaps a campaign targeting a specific person with power to make a policy change or a tech tool helping people have conversations with their employers about their orgs' drug testing policies or...we don't know yet. We're still in the research stage and staying open to what might emerge.
Want to team up?
Are you an illustrator? Together, we could create an amazing product to unlearn DARE. Are you a drug policy expert? Chime in to point us in a synergistic direction. Are you a dancer? Maybe we need interpretative dance tiktok videos and we just don't know it yet! There are many ways to put talents to work and with a small, nimble team we have the ability to do just that.
If you are interested in pitching in on this project, let us know. It could be a one-time collaboration or you might consider applying to become a member.
Stay tuned
There is much more to say, but for now, we're going to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We'll let you know when we figure something out!
