Drug advocacy groups are important to the mission we all share: to save lives through recovery. These groups are making incredible progress in increasing public awareness and improving policies on advocacy about drugs. Advocacy groups often stem from personal tragedies.

1.     Shatterproof: Stronger Than Addiction

• • Slogan: Prevention works. Treatment is effective. Recovery is possible for everyone.

• • About Shatterproof: Shatterproof was started by Gary Mendell, a father who lost his son Brian to the disease of addiction in 2011. Gary says, “Research exists that could have saved Brian and countless others like him. But is not being implemented throughout communities and healthcare system.” Shatterproof has organized the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Task Force, whose mission is “to fundamentally improve substance use disorder treatment in the United States, in terms of both quality and patient outcomes.”

• • Shatterproof is a family-based organization that educates and unites families. Their stories can be found on their website. They also share information, advocate for policy change, and raise funds.

2.     Drug Policy Alliance

• • Mission: To advance those policies and attitudes that best reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition and to promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and bodies.

• • About: The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is one of the nation's leading advocacy groups promoting drug policies that are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights. Our supporters are individuals who believe the war on drugs is doing more harm than good. Together we advance policies that reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition and seek solutions that promote safety while upholding the sovereignty of individuals over their own minds and bodies. We work to ensure that our nation’s drug policies no longer arrest, incarcerate, disenfranchise, and otherwise harm millions – particularly young people and people of color who are disproportionately affected by the war on drugs.

• • DPA is actively involved in the legislative processes in many states. Their current issues of focus include reform of marijuana laws, Good Samaritan Laws, race and drug use, needle exchange programs, and many others.

  • The DPA is the leading organization in the U.S promoting alternatives to the war on drugs. They are currently prioritizing, decriminalizing drugs and building health-based alternatives, uprooting the drug war from civil systems, disempowering police in drug enforcement and response, reducing punishments for people in the drug trade, reinvesting drug war rescues into communities most harmed, and eliminating the poison drug supply through responsible legal regulation of all drugs 

3.     To Write Love on Her Arms

• Vision: The vision is that community, hope, and help would replace secrets and silence.
• About: To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) is a nonprofit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and invest directly in treatment and recovery.
• TWLOHA is a support community that raises funds and organizes charity donations that are aimed at engaging communities and connecting individuals to the help they deserve.
• Events: TWLOHA is backed by Warped Tour, an annual nationwide concert series held in the summer.
• About To Write Love on Her Arms: To Write Love on Her Arms was founded by Jamie Tworkowski. One of Jamies best friends struggled with addiction, depression, self-injury, and suicidal thoughts. “All he wanted to do was help a friend and tell her story.” -They believe you were created to love and be loved, people need other people, your story is important, better days are ahead, and hope and help are real. 

4.     The Brent Shapiro Foundation: Making the world a better place for all. 

• • Goal: Our goal is to turn the fear, helplessness & grief caused by this disease into a powerful force of hope & healing.

• • About: Founded upon personal tragedy, it is our vision to conquer alcohol and drug dependence by turning the fear, grief, and helplessness caused by this disease into awareness, compassion, and support. It is the mission of the Brent Shapiro Foundation for Alcohol and Drug Awareness to become the national leader in the fight against drug and alcohol dependence by:
    • Raising awareness through education
    • Removing the stigma and isolation associated with this disease by inviting everyone to join in a national dialogue
    • Providing support to parents on how to communicate with their children and with other parents about alcohol and drugs
    • Creating educational tools designed to help parents, teachers, and communities to identify, when necessary, to intervene with those as high-risk.
    • It is our belief that the solution lies in a new, different, and fresh approach. We intend to use a simple model for educating parents, teachers, children, and communities about this disease.
    • We believe that increasing awareness is the first step to change – change the way this disease is viewed, change the way it is identified and prevented, and change the way people who have this disease are viewed by society.

• • This organization was started by Robert and Linell Shapiro in honor of their son Brent who passed away in 2005 from addiction. Partnering with the Variety Boys and Girls Club, the Brent Shapiro Foundation seeks to educate, advocate, and support youth and parents.

5.     Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Institute for Recovery Advocacy

• • Getting involved in the fight against addiction and for recovery.

• • Mission: Provide a trusted national voice on all issues related to addiction prevention, treatment and recovery and to facilitate conversation among those in recovery, those still suffering and society at large. We are committed to smashing stigma, shaping public policy, and educating people everywhere about the problems of addiction and the promise of recovery.

  • This foundation educates the public and policymakers about substance use disorders and recovery, shape public policy, and transforms stigma into compassion. 

  • The advocacy institute’s top priorities are expanding access to addiction care, public education and dismantling the stigma associated with addiction. This is another advocacy group that works aggressively to reform drug policies that will address the nation’s opioid addiction crisis.

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