2022 VT Governor's race: on Drugs

Brenda Siegel: Harm reduction, treatment & recovery on demand

Heal The Overdose Crisis: We can not keep trying to solve this crisis in way that we know do not work. When our family members die, we do not get them back.
• Harm Reduction First.
• Treatment & Recovery on Demand
• Medically Assisted Treatment On Demand
• Dual Diagnosis Support
• Criminal Justice Reform

Brenda Siegel: The War On Drugs is both racist and classist

Brenda Siegel: Emphasize harm reduction not arresting low-level traffickers

Siegel replied that arrests are usually concentrated on low-level traffickers who suffer from substance use disorder themselves, not "kingpins," and instead nodded to criminal justice reform. She said Vermont should emphasize "harm reduction first," referring to policies focused on mitigating the most severe outcomes of substance use. And she said the state should ensure treatment and recovery on demand, including medically assisted treatment, and better fund mental health services.

Indeed, Siegel immediately brought up Scott's veto of a bill last session that would have commissioned a feasibility study on opening an overdose prevention site.

Phil Scott: Add regulated marijuana sales to legalized possession

Ten of those states-- AK, CA, CO, IL, ME, MA, MI, NV, OR & WA--have launched marijuana sales for adults. In the 11th state, Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott signed a bill into law yesterday to add regulated sales to an existing law that legalized personal possession and cultivation.

Phil Scott: 4-legged stool: prevention, treatment, recovery, enforcement

Brenda Siegel: Safe injection sites would save lives, like my brother's

Scott first replied that he felt that question was unfair. But "we just don't have the resources" to put injection sites in every city and town, "taking those resources away from the measures we know work."

Seigel replied, "I don't think it's an unfair question for all the people whose families who've lost people to ask you if their lives were worth saving because many of their lives, if they were in overdose prevention centers, would have been saved. So I'm not asking if we should divert resources away because we need it all. But I'm asking if their lives were worth saving."

Phil Scott: No resources for injection sites; no recreational pot

Scott replied, "We have done a lot of work together over the last six years" on saving lives, Scott said, but as a rural state, "we just don't have the resources" to put injection sites in every city and town. Scott also said he could not support the injection sites, which he called an experiment, "taking those resources away from the measures we know work. And I don't believe we should be legalizing small amounts of recreational drugs either. And I don't think we should be erasing the records of drug traffickers as well. I don't believe your strategy will save every single life."

Seigel replied, "If they were in overdose prevention centers, would have been saved."

Phil Scott: Vetoed feasibility study on overdose prevention site

Scott shot back that "harm reduction is a big part of our strategy. It is something that we need to pay attention to, but it isn't about the so-called safe injection sites," he said.

Indeed, Siegel immediately brought up Scott's veto of a bill last session that would have commissioned a feasibility study on opening an overdose prevention site--a place where people can use illicit drugs without fear of arrest, and with medical supervision in case of an overdose.