Mercer County officials discuss Mental Health Court to curb violence

Marquette County outmatched the rest of Wisconsin in binge-drinking rates back in 2005. By 2012, instead of going up by 5% like the rest of Wisconsin did, Marquette county reduced theirs by 15%. Evidence points to the Healthy Communities Healthy Youth initiative launched in 2003.

Portugal has gone perhaps the farthest in decriminalizing drug use. It hasn't stopped drug usage, but it has reduced deaths, the spread of H.I.V., drug crime, and imprisonment.

In a regular court it is very difficult for a person with a history of drug abuse to regain custody of their children. The state of Wisconsin is promoting trauma-informed drug courts which offer participants the chance to get their children back if they pass a strict rehab program.

For many youth in India, illegal drugs are readily available, but rehab is socially stigmatized, government resources and information for narcotics are sparse, and there are few options for a user looking to get clean. A group of people in recovery in Sikkim has formed a football team as a means to recover, finding social support and exercise that is proven to aid in sustainable rehabilitation from drug use.

Non-violent offenders arrested during mental health episodes in Davidson County are sent to Mental Health Court rather than criminal court. Through this court, they are connected to safety net services such as housing, medication assistance, and therapy.

Emergency rooms across the country are initiating programs that address addiction and substance abuse. Usually emergency rooms are not equipped with mental health counselors, but to curb the opioid crisis, several are seeing increased uptake into therapy and programs when there are counselors available in the emergency rooms.

Kansas City is trying to prevent people who have mental health or substance abuse disorders, from committing crimes. In order to do that, the city created a police crisis intervention team. They help people access treatment through the Kansas City Assessment and Triage Center, or other treatment centers. “Everything we do here is to really bridge them into whatever that long-term need is.” It’s too early to tell if the method is working, but police officers, judges, and addicts, argue it is. “It's amazing. It puts a smile on my face every day, and I have got a future coming.”

In Vancouver, a program at the Crosstown Clinic is combatting drug overdoses by administering low-dose heroin to people who use drugs to keep them from experiencing withdrawal symptoms. The idea behind this approach is to treat the addiction like a medical problem rather than a criminal one.

Fifty years on, America's war on drugs has failed at its principal goals: to eradicate illicit drug use and sales, to repair communities damaged by the drug trade, and to prevent drug-related deaths. Despite massive amounts spent on law enforcement, which has created great social harms and fueled incarceration, drug use has rebounded to 40-year highs, drug overdose deaths are peaking, and supply of illegal drugs is abundant. Policy advocates say a combination of legalization and public-health approaches to the problems would accomplish more than the wasteful, ineffective "war" mentality used to date.

San Francisco considers the scaling of safe injection sites, which were successfully piloted in Vancouver, to become the first city in the United States to offer this service. However, the main challenge of starting such a service in San Francisco is helping the public get over the concern that safe injection sites encourage drug use for non-abusers. Community groups actively educated the public on the benefits of safe injection sites and politicians made trips to Vancouver to observe the success in action.