Contact:
Rebecca Nieves McGoldrick, Executive Director of Protect Families First
908-399-1366, rmcgoldrick@protectfamiliesfirst.org
Rev. Alexander Sharp, Executive Director of Clergy for a New Drug Policy
773-494-0420, revaesharp@gmail.com
“Ending the Drug War, Healing our Communities: Cops, Docs, and Clergy Speaking with One Voice”
Faith leaders, law enforcement officers, and health professionals gather for conference at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Providence to discuss urgent need for drug policy reform
PROVIDENCE — For over forty years the war on drugs has been waged with the criminal justice system its primary weapon. This war has cost the United States over a trillion dollars and millions of lives. Today, 1 in 35 American adults is under control of the criminal justice system, with arrests, convictions, and lengthy sentences impacting Blacks and Latinos disproportionately. Drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, claiming the lives of more than 44,000 people each year, and tens of thousands of people in Mexico and Central America have been killed, disappeared, or displaced because of drug war violence. Leaders from faith, law enforcement, and medical communities are calling for immediate reform.
WHAT: Conference with three panel discussions focused on the war on drugs and alternative policies based in science, health, compassion, and human rights
WHEN: Saturday, December 5, 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
WHERE: Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 15 Hayes St., Providence, RI 02908
WHO: Rev. Alexander Sharp, Executive Director of Clergy for a New Drug Policy
Major Neill Franklin, Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Dr. David Lewis, Founder of Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies
Rev. Janet Cooper Nelson, Chaplain of Brown University
Father David M. Martins, Pastor of Saint Therese Old Catholic Church, West Warwick and Executive Director of Rhode Island Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts
Jordan Seaberry, Providence Community Organizer
Richard Van Wickler, Superintendent of Cheshire County Dept. of Corrections in New Hampshire
Michelle McKenzie, MPH, Research Associate at Brown University Medical School
Dr. James Crowley, former President of the Rhode Island Medical Society
Rev. James Keller, Presbyterian Church (USA)
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Protect Families First is a Rhode Island-based youth and family organization working to end the war on drugs. Learn more atwww.ProtectFamiliesFirst.org