Episode 42: Movement for Family Power’s Lisa Sangoi on the Drug War and the Family Regulation System
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance
Release Date: 04/14/2021
Episode 48: Classwide Scheduling of Fentanyl-Related Substances Won’t Save Lives - It Will Overcriminalize Them
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance
Under the Controlled Substances Act, drugs are classified into legal, regulatory categories by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This is known as “drug scheduling”, and it’s generally guided by a drug’s potential for abuse, and its medical value – and then the idea of classwide scheduling came along. In 2018, in a misaligned approach to addressing the overdose crisis, President Trump used classwide scheduling to classify all fentanyl-related substances (FRS) as Schedule I controlled substances. This means that any substance that was structurally similar enough to fentanyl became...
info_outline
Episode 47: Maia Szalavitz Considers Harm Reduction’s Past and Future
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance
The harm reduction movement began as a reaction against drug war policies that criminalize, punish, and hurt people – and a need to save lives. As a public health approach that aims to reduce the harms related to drug use and minimize risk, it offers a fresh and compassionate alternative to the war on drugs. In her new book, New York Times bestselling author Maia Szalavitz chronicles the fascinating and impactful history of this movement. DPA's Sheila Vakharia sat down with Maia to talk about her research, her book's timeliness, and...
info_outline
Episode 46: The Brotherhood Sister Sol’s Dr. Marsha Jean-Charles on the Drug War and the Education System
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance
The drug war has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives—and it’s time to uproot it. The Drug Policy Alliance has been working closely with other advocacy organizations to create Uprooting the Drug War, a project that shines a spotlight on the insidious ways the drug war has spread into the systems of child welfare, public benefits, employment, immigration, housing, and education. This episode is the third in our monthly podcast series featuring a DPA partner sharing their experiences fighting the drug war in one of those six systems. ’s Dr. Marsha Jean-Charles and DPA’s Gabriella...
info_outline
Episode 45: “Puff or Pass”: The Iconic, Ironic D.A.R.E. Shirt
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance
In this episode of “Puff or Pass”, our series on the portrayal of drugs and drug users in popular culture, DPA’s former digital communications interns Dilara Balkan and Marisa Hetzler take us on a journey through fashion, irony, and drug (mis)education with an exploration of the D.A.R.E. shirt. How did the infamous D.A.R.E. program transition from failed Copaganda “drug education” to a counterculture sartorial statement? Listen to find out -- and learn why D.A.R.E.’s abstinence-based approach to drug education was so unsuccessful, what alternatives exist, and where you can get...
info_outline
Episode 44: Screenwriter Priscila García-Jacquier on Challenging the Narcos Narrative
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance
Have you ever noticed just how many series, films and documentaries focus on the drug trade? The “narcos” narrative is so popular, and so ingrained, that it’s universally known. It's also really problematic, and on this episode, we'll do some digging into why. Screenwriter and director Priscila García-Jacquier was born and raised in Colombia, whose economy, people, and reputation have been intimately affected by drugs. “For countries so shaped by the drug trade, whenever I read about it, it feels more like I'm doing 23andme than just like reading about history, you know?" Priscila...
info_outline
Episode 43: The Ordinary People Society’s Pastor Kenneth Glasgow on the Drug War and the Public Benefits System
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance
The drug war has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives—and it’s time to uproot it. The Drug Policy Alliance has been working closely with other advocacy organizations to create , a project that shines a spotlight on the insidious ways the drug war has spread into the systems of child welfare, public benefits, employment, immigration, housing, and education. This episode is the second in our monthly podcast series featuring a DPA partner sharing their experiences fighting the drug war in one of those six systems. ’s Pastor Kenneth Glasgow and DPA’s Gabriella Miyares discuss how the...
info_outline
Episode 42: Movement for Family Power’s Lisa Sangoi on the Drug War and the Family Regulation System
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance
The drug war has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives—and it’s time to uproot it. The Drug Policy Alliance has been working closely with other advocacy organizations to create , a project that shines a spotlight on the insidious ways the drug war has spread into the systems of child welfare or family regulation, public benefits, employment, immigration, housing, and education. Today we kick off a new monthly series on Drugs & Stuff, with each episode featuring a DPA partner sharing their experiences fighting the drug war in one of those six systems. We begin with ’s Co-Founder and...
info_outline
Episode 41: Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty Talks All Drug Decriminalization and Alternatives to Policing
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance
As we approach the one-year anniversary of Breonna Taylor's killing, the connection between deeply problematic policing and the criminalization of drugs has never been more apparent. On this episode, we take a deep dive into the changes that some communities are already making. Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty sat down with DPA Senior Staff Attorney Grey Gardner to discuss the exciting new all drug decriminalization law in Oregon, Measure 110, as well as a community safety initiative in Portland that offers an alternative to policing. As a community leader and advocate for the last...
info_outline
Episode 40: Christine Minhee on the Promises and Perils of Opioid Litigation
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance
Today, news broke that the Department of Justice has reached an $8 billion-plus settlement with Purdue Pharma for its role in the opioid crisis. This money should be used to combat the public health emergency of overdose deaths, but another public health emergency -- the COVID-19 pandemic -- has taken hold of media coverage and government spending. As overdose deaths continue to increase, where will this money actually go? We sat down with Christine Minhee, an expert on opioid litigation and creator of the opioid settlement tracker: a project that asks, "Will opioid settlements actually be...
info_outline
Episode 39: After Her Son Overdosed and Died, Jessie Dunleavy Realized it Was Preventable
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance
Jessie Dunleavy always knew her son Paul was unique. He struggled throughout his life -- to learn, to be accepted -- and she tried however she could to help him along the way. But as he got older, and began to struggle with drug use, system after system began to shut them out. Where he needed hope, he got silence; where he needed support, he got punishment. In April 2017, Paul overdosed and died. Devastated by his passing, Jessie began to learn as much as she could. In the process, she uncovered unknown details of her son’s life, glimpsed the depth of the injustices he was subjected to, and...
info_outlineThe drug war has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives—and it’s time to uproot it. The Drug Policy Alliance has been working closely with other advocacy organizations to create Uprooting the Drug War, a project that shines a spotlight on the insidious ways the drug war has spread into the systems of child welfare or family regulation, public benefits, employment, immigration, housing, and education. Today we kick off a new monthly series on Drugs & Stuff, with each episode featuring a DPA partner sharing their experiences fighting the drug war in one of those six systems. We begin with Movement for Family Power’s Co-Founder and Co-Director Lisa Sangoi and DPA’s Gabriella Miyares discussing the difficulties families face in the family regulation system, and what we can do to fight for family power.
DPA is proud to partner with Movement for Family Power through our Advocacy Grants Program. To learn more about grants opportunities, visit drugpolicy.org/grants.
To learn more about how the Family Regulation System became Ground Zero for the drug war, check out the Ground Zero Report, a collaboration among MFP, DPA, and the NYU Family Defense Clinic.
For more information on the resources Sangoi mentions in the episode, visit:
The Bronx Defenders—Family Defense Practice
National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women & Girls
Email [email protected] to get involved with the campaign to repeal the Adoption and Safe Families Act
Visit the Reimagine Support campaign page to learn more about the campaign to challenge unconsented drug testing of pregnant people, new parents and newborns and reporting to the family regulation system in NY State
Elizabeth Brico’s blog Betty’s Battleground
Dinah Ortiz, Vice Chair of North Carolina’s Survivor Union
Parent Legislative Action Network
Bobbie Butts and Vonya Quarles
Family Reunification, Equity, and Empowerment
Kelis Houston of the NAACP Minneapolis
Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare, book by Dorothy Roberts