SUBSTANCE USE & VIOLENCE

Everyday I will passionately highlight that violence in our community is a public health issue rooted in decades of negligent public policy. My own mother got clean from crack cocaine one year before she became pregnant with me. I have family sitting in prison cells right now due to gun violence. Substance use and violence in our community are real life issues for me and I will fight to increase funding to anti-violence and substance use treatment community based organizations. Today, we are asking police to clean-up the streets when they can only sweep issues under the rug at best. At the same time, we’re underfunding other public safety/health approaches that have delivered strong returns with the meager support that they have received. I will support the following steps:

• Reallocate a greater portion of public safety dollars to community based organizations (CBOs) that focus on violence prevention

• Strengthen prevention program funding

• Increase funding for substance abuse programs

• Divert those suffering from addiction away from the criminal justice system and into treatment programs

• Advocate for addiction treatments in all health insurance plans

• Equitably spread treatment facilities across the City

• Identify street level dealers and put them into opportunity programs

• Fund youth opportunity program to create attractive alternatives to illegal drug trafficking 

• Champion aggressive administration of community outreach programs to intervene in drug markets

• Fund community-based anti-violence programs

• Champion awareness of domestic violence with survivors at the center