The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) is officially backing the decriminalization of all drugs and paraphernalia, earning the praise of drug reform and harm reduction advocates.
Members of APhA’s House of Delegates voted to adopted the revised policy late last month, becoming one of the nation’s largest medical associations to endorse broad decriminalization.
“APhA supports decriminalization of the personal possession or personal use of illicit drug substances or paraphernalia,” the plank says.
However, the association remains opposed to the “legalization of the possession, sale, distribution, or use of illicit drug substances for non-medical uses.”
Members of APhA, founded in 1852 and representing over 62,000 pharmacy professionals nationwide, also voted to remove a prior policy plank that voiced support for the use of drug courts as an alternative criminal justice pathway for those with drug-related convictions.
Instead, a new policy says that it “supports voluntary pathways for the treatment and rehabilitation of individuals who have been charged with the possession or use of illicit drug substances and who have substance use or other related medical disorders.”
#APhA2023 House of Delegates is ready to get started! pic.twitter.com/ZgeE7uoyXX
— APhA HQ (@pharmacists) March 24, 2023
Sheila Vakharia, deputy director of the Drug Policy
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