Date:
Thursday, January 22, 2009 & Friday, January 23, 2009

Location:
New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029
[map]

Thanks to all who attended the New Directions for New York conference for making it an incredible success!  The Drug Policy Alliance and The New York Academy of Medicine brought together over 300 conference participants representing community advocates, researchers, service providers and legislators from all over the state in order to build a public health and safety approach to drug policy.  At the Thursday event, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver released his very first policy position paper and made his commitment to reform clear with these words:

“This evening, I am proud to tell you on behalf of my Assembly Majority colleagues that this year – 2009 – is the year we finally enact real reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws.  This is the year when we begin to transform drug policy in the state of New York.”  His sentiments were echoed by the incredible number of elected and appointed officials from New York State and City who participated on Thursday night and Friday as either featured speakers or conference participants. 

The Drug Policy Alliance and The New York Academy of Medicine are committed to helping bring about this new direction in New York’s drug policies.  In order to continue the work that the conference has begun, please sign up to the Drug Policy Alliance’s Action Network for further information on follow up meetings and reform efforts.  For more information about The New York Academy of Medicine’s ongoing research and policy work on substance use issues, please visit www.nyam.org.

Rockefeller Drug Law Reform

In May of 2008, six committees of the New York State Assembly—Codes, Corrections, Judiciary, Health, Social Services, and Alcoholism and Drug Abuse—convened historic hearings to replacing the Rockefeller Drug Laws with a public health approach to drug policy. The hearings, titled “The Rockefeller Drug Laws - 35 Years Later”, were held in New York City and Rochester, and brought together medical, treatment and public safety experts; government agencies; community members; religous groups; re-entry advocates; and many more. For hearing transcripts, testimonies, news articles and more, please visit the Drug Policy Alliance website.