U.S. Conference of Mayors Adopt Resolution in Support of President Obama's Drug Policy Reform Plan

Mayors Pass Resolution Endorsing 2013 National Drug Control Strategy

Washington, D.C.: During their 81st  annual meeting in Las Vegas, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution in support the Obama Administrations 2013 Drug Control Strategy. The resolution, sponsored by Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, supports the President’s science-based plan for reform which contains over 100 specific local and federal actions to reduce drug use and its consequences and expand prevention, treatment, and alternatives to incarceration.

Amongst the programs outlined in the resolution are the Drug-Free Communities Program, Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) and implementation of the Affordable Care Act to provide access to treatment to millions of Americans needing treatment for substance use disorders.

The programs and policy reforms set forth in the 2013 Strategy,  are built upon decades of scientific research that demonstrate addiction is a chronic disease of the brain that can be successfully prevented and treated, not a moral failure on the part of the individual. The Strategy directs U.S. Federal agencies to expand community-based efforts to prevent drug use before it begins, empower healthcare workers to intervene early at the first signs of a substance use disorder, expand access to treatment for those in need, and support the millions of Americans in recovery.

The Strategy details actions to implement the most significant expansion of access to substance use treatment in generations. Through a new rule made possible by the Affordable Care Act, insurers will cover treatment for substance use disorders just as for any other chronic disease. Specifically, this rule expands mental health and substance use disorder benefits and Federal parity protections for 62 million Americans,[i] making it a key element in the Administration’s public health approach to drug policy in the United States.

For a copy of the adopted resolutions from U.S. Conference of Mayors81st annual meeting in Las Vegas, click here.

To read the Strategy and learn more about the Administration plan, visit: www.wh.gov/drugpolicyreform