This three-hour professional development module is intended to educate different service providers, community members, coalitions, and other entities on the War on Drugs and how it has fostered racialized drug policies in the 21st century. Like alcohol Prohibition in the early 1900s, drug prohibition has not only failed its mission but has made its mission impossible. This training will build off the previous module (Addressing Stigmas and Biases in Our Work) and will explore the history of the War on Drugs, while connecting it to the 3 different levels of racism.
We will also explore racialized drug policies throughout U.S. history, and come to an understanding of how the drug war has fueled mass incarceration, health disparities, social inequities, and the current waves of overdose deaths in the United States. Helpful frameworks, such as the Iceberg Analogy, will allow participants to connect how certain events are fueled by underlying racial structures. Participants will also brainstorm tactics and strategies to address some of the ramifications of the War on Drugs in their own communities.