Anti-Discriminatory Treatment Requires Decriminalization of Drugs and Harm Reduction

Pricing and Registration Info Click Here 

Date:  November 14, 2024; 12 PM - 1 PM EST

Location: Virtual via Zoom

Join us for a session of our new "Lunch and Learn" series! This engaging virtual event offers a unique opportunity to expand your knowledge during a convenient 1 to 1.5-hour continuing education course. Our upcoming presentation will delve into anti-discriminatory treatment. Don't miss this chance to gain valuable insights, enhance your understanding, and connect with like-minded professionals.

Register now to secure your spot and invest in your professional growth!

Course Descriptions and Learning Objectives 

This presentation will explore the critical intersections between anti-discriminatory, decriminalization, and harm reduction in the context of addiction treatment. It will demonstrate how current punitive approaches to drug use disproportionately affect marginalized communities and perpetuate systemic racism. By advocating for decriminalization and implementing harm reduction strategies, we can move towards more equitable and effective treatment paradigms. The session will include an overview of evidence-based harm reduction practices, case studies, highlighting successful decriminalization efforts, and actionable steps for integrating antiracist principles into addiction treatment programs. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the necessity of these reforms and practical tools to advocate for and implement these changes withing their own communities and organizations.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the Impact of Systemic Racism:
Identify how systemic racism influences drug policy, enforcement, and treatment practices, and recognize its disproportionate impact on marginalized communities.

2. Evaluate the Effectiveness of Punitive Approaches:
Assess the shortcomings of punitive approaches to drug use and their ineffectiveness in addressing addiction, particularly among marginalized populations.

3. Implement Harm Reduction Strategies:
Apply practical knowledge and skills to integrate harm reduction strategies into addiction treatment settings, including safe injection sites, needle exchange programs, and overdose prevention education.

4. Incorporate Antiracist Principles into Treatment:
Develop and implement addiction treatment programs that incorporate antiracist principles, ensuring that treatment is equitable, culturally responsive, and just.

5.Advocate for Policy Change:
Formulate and execute strategies to advocate for policy reforms that support decriminalization and harm reductions, promoting a shift from criminal justice to a public health-based approach to drug use.

6.Address Stigma and Bias in Treatment
Recognize and mitigate stigmatizing attitudes and implicit biases within themselves and their practice, fostering a more inclusive and compassionate approach to treating individuals with addiction.

Speaker Bio - Sandy Gibson, PhD, LCSW, LCADC

Sandy Gibson, PhD, LCSW, LCADC is a Professor at The College of New Jersey. She earned her master's and PhD in social work from the University of Maryland, specializing in addictions. Dr. Gibson worked as an addiction counselor and later as a Study Director at Temple University, where she developed and evaluated addiction programs.

In 2010, Dr. Gibson joined TCNJ, where she now chairs the new Department of Online Counselor Education and serves as the IRB chair. She teaches courses in addiction counseling, and practicum/internship. Dr. Gibson developed a statewide psychoeducation program for adolescents with cannabis charges, harm reduction curricula for peer recovery specialists, and studied Narcan's impact on drug use behavior change. Most recently she authored a multidisciplinary publication on the decriminalization of drugs, and continues to practice as a clinician specializing in harm reduction. Dr. Gibson advocates for harm reduction and the decriminalization of drugs in New Jersey.

Agenda

Registration Rates:

Cancelations and Refund Policy

Cancelations for Anti-Discriminatory Treatment Requires Decriminalization of Drugs and Harm Reduction must be made no later than one week prior to the program date, and refunds are subject to a 10% processing fee. No refund option will be available for cancelations made less than one week prior to that program date. No-shore registrants will forfeit any payment made for the program. CHEP does not offer vouchers for cancelations for these conferences.

https://www.chepinc.org/education-credits/virtual-in-person-programs/

CHEP’s Grievance Procedure:  https://www.chepinc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Grievance-Procedure-revised-7-27-2018.pdf

Virtual Learning Policy and Procedure:  https://www.chepinc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CHEP-Virtual-Learning-Policy-and-Precedure.v421.pdf

Presented by:  Chesapeake Health Education Program (CHEP)

Address:  PO Box 229, Perryville, MD  21903

Questions:

Please contact CHEP at 667-454-0339 or email us at programs@chepinc.org