I was appointed to the AL Council on Opiod Misuse and Addiction (UPDATE #2)

I was appointed by the governor's office to be on an executive committee to discuss ways to combat the rise in opioid addiction/overdoses here in the state.

I am in Montgomery now and we meet tomorrow.

I will discuss why there are so many addicts and so much heroin in our state/country (Mexico + FDA + pain management).

My proposed solutions are:
Kratom
Medical Marijuana
Decriminalized drugs (Portugese model)

as well as what other states are doing:
Oregon: making it more difficult to get scripts by having extra loopholes to jump through
Vermont: increased access to buprenorphine (much better than methadone)
Rhode Island: four part plan of: more treatment, overdose rescue, prevention, and recovery.

I am a big proponent of medical pot and buprenorphine.

Any other suggestions before they laugh me out of the room?




In all seriousness, the governors office contacted me about my "different perspective", so at least they are willing to listen.


An Update on Alabama Council on Opioid Misuse and Addiction (LONG):
We had our first session today in which we all spoke about our backgrounds. I was the only one with a drug policy background which is most likely why I was in a room full of doctors, judges, law enforcement, and bureaucrats.

There are six subcommittees:
Data collection
Prevention/Education
Treatment/Recovery Support
Prescriber/Dispenser Practices
Rescue (First responders)
Law Enforcement


After we were dividing up into the subcommittees (I'm on prevention/education), I stood up and asked about "alternative policies", specifically the Portugal model of decriminalization of all drugs. The Mental Health Commissioner of Alabama, Dr. Perdue, stepped to the microphone and said that "all options are on the table". This does not mean that AL will decriminalize drugs, but this does mean that they are thinking about taking a "health-first" stance when it comes to drug use, rather than a "criminal-first" stance that has been tried for over 40 failed years of drug policy.


Afterwards, several committee members were interested in my decade+ research, and I can promise you that there are people in power that are having a "change of perception" when it comes to drug policy here in Alabama.


Update II:
We met again last week in Montgomery.
The guys leading the committee are Secretary Perdue and Dr. Robert Moon. Both mental health experts.

Interesting fact:
In America, if you are prescribed 30 days worth of opioids, there is a 26% chance that you will be "addicted or have continual use" after a year, and a 13% chance that you will continue to use 3 years after your prescription is ended.

The guy who is finalizing the recommendation is a sociopath named Barry Matson, who is the chairperson of the Alabama Drug Abuse Task Force and the head of the Alabama District Attorney's Association.
Mr Mason gave a speech in which he lauded "today's marijuana", stating that the THC percentages he has come across is 90-95% (which is impossible) and that we are not really fighting a war on drugs in this nation, because if we were, we would go all out. More arrests and resources, more prisons, heavier punishments. He is the guy behind the bill to increase prison sentences from fentanyl. "If you had a pack of Splenda, that amount of fentanyl in a pack of Splenda - that could wipe out an entire gymnasium full of people", he scarily stated.
I regret not standing up, asking him direct and pointed questions, and calling out his bullshite. I have regretted it for the past couple of days. But alas, I sat there is a depressed awe.

I left the committee meeting after his speech received resounding applause. Alabama had an opportunity to show the rest of the country that we are not backwards and to be a model of drug policy reform. We are going to blow it.