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, as well as running devastating anti-drug campaigns in foreign nations. This repeatedly failed attempt at prohibition results in the creation of dangerous black markets, and precludes treatment, harm-reduction strategies, and sound preventative education. Further, our criminal justice system and “correctional” facilities have become a system of punishment and control, relegating individuals to the periphery of society with few opportunities or resources available for healing, growth, and integration. The Riverstyx Foundation seeks alternatives to the war-on-drugs by supporting efforts that remove drugs from the black market and towards legalization or medicalization, as well as establishing more compassionate and effective methods for reducing the harms associated with drug use. Further, Riverstyx supports a variety of efforts to both reduce the number of non-violent offenders in prison and jail through pre-arrest diversion, mediation, as well as programs that provide opportunities for education and healing while in prison.

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. More than half of Medicare dollars are spent on patients who die within two months, costing society over $300 billion annually, often adding stress to families and actually reducing the quality of life for many. This cultural of “death denial” has also prevented society from empowering mentally sound individuals with terminal prognoses to be able to take greater control over their pain and timing of their death. The Riverstyx Foundation aims to support a more balanced approach that encourages avenues to reduce suffering through hospice and palliative care, providing people the opportunity to die with less suffering, and with greater dignity and peace.