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Mothers from the United States, Canada, UK and Mexico are Speaking Out to Protect Drug Dependent Populations and Demand That They Receive Harm Reduction ServicesMay 11, 2024 (Spring Valley) -- In May 2024, Moms United to End the War on Drugs (U.S.) with partners Moms Stop the Harm (Canada), Recovering Justice (UK) and Red de Enlaces Nacionales (Mexico) are re-launching their #momsunited campaign (What Moms around the World Want for Mother’s Day).
Mothers are losing children to mass incarceration, drug war violence and accidental overdose across borders, due to to what organizers call, "the failed global war on drugs." These moms are urging people to listen to their stories and to understand the need for a compassionate and tolerant approach to drug use and substance use disorders. They propose 8 actions that organizers claim will produce positive outcomes in saving the lives and liberties of our children:
- Stop criminalizing our children who use substances
- Training for health care providers in evidence-based addiction treatment
- Better coordinated response to the overdose crisis by all levels of government
- Implementation of drug policy reform including the decriminalization of drugs for personal use
- Education around a compassionate, public health, family centered approach to substance use, rather than a criminal justice approach
- Increased support for ‘mothers across borders’ who continue to be affected by the war on drugs, particularly moms of the “disappeared” in Mexico and Indigenous women in Canada
- Promote maternal values. Reject tough love and the drug war, which is a war on our loved ones
- Grief and trauma support for those left behind
The #momsunited campaign includes memes of the 8 proposals to be released on social media in May 2024. A video of mother’s faces will be shared with the proposals, which is translated into Spanish: Lo que las madres queremos para el día de las madres: https://youtu.be/cFL05sr3wNo
Calls to action: They are gathering more signatures to their Moms United to End the War on Drugs Bill of Rights, "reclaiming our basic mother’s right to nurture and protect our children."
They believe it is essential to provide services to our most vulnerable populations, particularly those who are drug dependent and the unsheltered. Medication assisted treatment such as methadone and buprenorphine should be prescribed with month-long takeout and delivery, as well as widespread Naloxone distribution (a safe drug that can reverse an opioid overdose).
According to organizers:
"There has been increased concern about fentanyl use and the problem of fentanyl being laced in other drugs. Hysteria around these issues has unfortunately enabled a return to failed drug war tactics, including increased sentencing enhancements and drug induced homicide laws. Mothers are steadfast in opposing punitive prohibitionist approaches, and in calling for a compassionate, reasoned and tolerant response.""When we look at history, this celebration is also one of maternal strength and action. Mother’s Day was started in North America as a response to the carnage and deaths from the Civil War. Mothers came together to protest the futility of their Sons killing the Sons of other Mothers. Today mothers are again protesting the destruction of the global war on drugs."
“Mothers’ inherent and intrinsic right to nurture and protect their offspring has been compromised by criminal justice policies of ignorance and punitive aggression. I invite other mothers to speak out for the sake of their children on this special occasion that marks the tears, joys, triumphs and sorrows of motherhood.”
- Gretchen Burns Bergman, Moms United to End the War on Drugs, U.S.
“Because drug use is criminalized, our loved ones, shamed and judged, use alone and risk dying alone. The general public and government can help keep our loved ones safe and alive by promoting the #momsunited proposals and taking action to ‘Support Don’t Punish.’ Moms Stop The Harm.”
- Lorna Thomas, Sheila Jennings. Canada
"Hay muchas madres que no podemos celebrar el día de las madres, sino que para nosotras es una día lleno de dolor y tristeza porque no tenemos a nuestros hijos. Es un día de lucha, en el que a la par del dolor, sentimos toda la solidaridad y el respaldo que nos brindan madres de otras partes del mundo y queremos responderles que seguiremos unidas para que esto no siga pasando." - María Herrera Magdaleno, madre de 4 jóvenes desaparecidos en México.
"Many of us mothers cannot celebrate Mother’s Day. For us it is a day filled with pain and sorrow because we do not have our children. It is a day in which we continue our struggle, in which besides the pain, we also feel the solidarity and support that mothers from other parts of the world share with us and we want them to know we will stay united in order to stop what is happening."
- María Herrera Magdaleno, mother of 4 young men disappeared in Mexico.
“Women who have problematic relationships with substances are often the most marginalized and silenced in an already heavily stigmatized group. Women won’t seek support or medical help for fear of stigma and negative intervention from either the criminal justice system or social services. The voices of these women; daughters and mothers need to be heard and evidence based solutions grounded in health and human rights sought. The war on drugs has criminalized women, denied their rights as mothers and condemned generations to fear and silence.” - Fiona Gilbertson, Recovering Justice, U.K
Moms United to End the War on Drugs is an global collaborative campaign that works to end the violence, mass incarceration and overdose deaths that are a result of current punitive and discriminatory drug policies. Moms United is a project of A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing), a 25 year old nonprofit organization that works to reduce the stigma associated with addictive illness through education and compassionate support, and to advocate for therapeutic rather than punitive drug policies: www.momsunited.net
For info: Moms Stop the Harm (Canada): www.momsstoptheharm.com
For info: Red de Enlaces Nacionales (Mexico): https://reverdeser.wordpress.com/tag/red-de-enlaces-nacionales/
For info: Recovery Justice (UK): https://www.recoveringjustice.org.uk/
Follow us: Facebook – Moms United to End the War on Drugs - Twitter @gretchenmomsu -
Instagram: @anewpath99.
Comments
Losing your child to drugs #momsunited
I'm sorry you lost your kids to drugs. No parent should have to lose their child; it is not your fault and you should receive help do deal with your unfair grief. This should serve as a stark warning to others to not do drugs, and for those who do, to seek help.
Narcotics Anonymous, blue book, pages 19-20:
"Step 1: We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.
It doesn't matter what or how much we used. In Narcotics Anonymous, staying clean has to come first. We realize that we cannot use drugs and live. When we admit our powerlessness and our inability to manage our own lives, we open the door to recovery. No one could convince us that we were addicts. It is an admission that we have to make for ourselves."