Contact: Johanna Kichton, [email protected], 202.660.0605

WASHINGTON, D.C.—People’s Action today released a statement by Drug Policy, Harm Reduction, and Criminal Justice Campaign Director Ellen Glover in response to Sen. Blackburn, Sen. Rubio, and Sen. Manchin’s recently introduced bills targeting harm reduction programs:

“Republican senators resorted to racist, dog-whistle tactics to politicize what should be a bipartisan issue–saving lives. Preventable overdose deaths skyrocketed in the last year. The consequences of this sensationalized rhetoric could be fatal.

“Care saves lives, not criminalization. People’s Action’s Overdose Crisis Cohort is glad to see the Biden Administration welcome harm reduction techniques and increase treatment access. Congress should reject this racist distraction and support common sense solutions to the overdose crisis by investing in harm reduction services and overdose prevention centers, passing the MAT Act to expand access to treatment, and ending criminalization.”

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People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations in 30 states, united in fighting for justice. We operate the largest progressive rural organizing project in the country. People’s Action and its member organizations coordinated one of the biggest distributed organizing programs in rural areas last election season.