Issue Areas
DRUG POLICY REFORM
Because of current societal fears and stigma regarding recreational drugs and drug users, the U.S. spends over $50 billion a year perpetuating their illegality, primarily to incarcerate addicts, racial minorities, the mentally ill, and economically disadvantaged individuals. This repeatedly failed attempt at prohibition also results in the creation of dangerous black markets, and precludes treatment, harm-reduction strategies, and sound preventative education. The fervor around the war on drugs has also prevented society from exploring the benefits of certain psychoactive materials that, in a controlled and therapeutic context, has proven to have great healing and transformative potential for many suffering individuals.
END-OF-LIFE
Similarly, the lack of acceptance and fear around death and dying has resulted in massive expenditures of often frivolous and artificial attempts to minimally prolong life at the end, while missing opportunities for reduction of suffering by shifting towards systems of palliative and hospice care. For instance, more than half of Medicare dollars are spent on patients who die within two months, costing tax payers over $300 billion annually, often adding stress to families and reducing the quality of life for many patients. This resistance to the natural course of life and death has also prevented society from empowering mentally sound individuals to be able to take greater control over their pain and the timing of their own death.