Members of the American Medical Association (AMA) have voted overwhelmingly in favor of endorsing the decriminalization of drug possession.
At their annual meeting yesterday in Chicago, the AMA voted 345 to 171 to adopt a new policy calling for the “elimination of criminal penalties for drug possession for personal use as part of a larger set of related public health and legal reforms designed to improve carefully selected outcomes.” This marks the first time the group has ever supported drug decriminalization.
Ryan Englander, an MD/PhD candidate who is a delegate from Hartford, Connecticut, said “The war on drugs is quite reminiscent of the phrase, ‘The beatings will continue until morale improves. We have tried for decades to criminalize our way out of a substance use crisis in this country, and it has not worked.”
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