Washington Times panel: Citizens, policymakers should reduce harm from addiction, climate change
From Washington Times:
“While the intentions of governments both here and abroad may be noble in addressing drug use and other risky behaviors, the first point of action should be a realization that silver bullet solutions do not exist,” said Mazen Saleh, policy director for Integrated Harm Reduction at the R Street Institute, a Washington-based think tank…
“The primary piece of trying to make it apolitical is showing policymakers what is going on in their state, right?” Mr. Saleh said. “Who is affected, what their constituency is dealing with and suffering from and then showing other alternatives than either complete prohibition or incarceration or some of these heavy-handed kinds of interventions that have been proven time and time again to be ineffective…”
“Citizens in the U.S. underestimate some of the impact that they can have on local elections and legislation,” Mr. Saleh said. “So make your voice heard, attend hearings, things like that, because these are essentially your communities, right? And so as being a responsible citizen, it’s you [who] have to engage in the protection of your communities.”
