The Roosevelt Institution
The Challenge: devise policies that would protect families, preserve communities, and rebuild lives hurt by drugs.
Important
Progressive: accomplishing this challenge will contribute directly and specifically to the progressive values embodied by Roosevelt's Statement of PrinciplesMeaningful: our contribution to this challenge will produce a real change in the lives of our fellow human beings. One can imagine a world in which the challenge is solved, and such a world is better than the one we live in today.
Relevant: the challenge is relevant to the social contract project that Roosevelt has embarked upon
The effects of addictive drugs have devastated American cities and are spreading to the farm towns that have been economically devastated by industrial farming and globalization. Our country, meanwhile, is fighting a drug war that is ineffective at reducing the use of these drugs and reducing the harm they cause families and communities. In many cases, the drug war adds to the harm by putting breadwinners behind bars, breaking up families, reducing legitimate employment opportunities, and leaving behind single moms and kids on the streets fending for themselves. Reinventing the war on drugs so that it would help families and communities rather than adding to the harm caused by drugs would substantially improve the lot of working families in America.
Innovative
We're looking for policy challenges where innovation is needed: where there isn't already a clear solution or best practices, but solutions can be developed creatively. Our goal is to develop options, not to lobby or advocate for a solution that is already known or to debate among several yes or no outcomes or pre-defined policy choices. Other organizations do the important work of debating and lobbying, that's just not our place in the process.Typically if you're looking at a standard policy debate you can apply what's known as the "Roosevelt Reframe" to develop new strategies to advance shared values. So rather than "should we engage in race-based affirmative action in college admissions" to which the potential answers are "yes" and "no", you can ask "how do we make our colleges more diverse", a goal we hope is shared by those on both sides of that debate.
The issue of drugs has been politically radioactive. No politician wants to be on the side of the drug users instead of the side of the cops. Unfortunately, this has created policies that have lead to millions of lives being ruined by drugs. By refocusing on the communities and families affected by drugs, we can reverse the political equation and supply a much-needed dose of political courage.
Feasible
Approachable: given the level of research and discourse already available and given who else is working on the issue, college students with a range of experience levels and with varied types of expertise can contribute meaningfully to the debate and are likely to think of good ideas. We don't want something so technical only engineering majors can contribute to it, or something that is already dominated by another think tank or advocacy organization.Practical: the challenge is stated as a specific, measurable, and achievable goal, incremental progress toward which could be made by chipping away at the problem at various levels of government. The statement is not too broad or too narrow. One good way to make sure something is a good policy challenge rather than a debate or advocacy problem is to think of what sorts of innovative ideas might be produced for the 25 ideas publication series on that topic.
Potential ideas would include:
Smarter drug policies
- mandatory treatment
- evidence-based sentencing policies
- evidence-based anti-gang policies
- depriving gangs of economic livelihoods
Economic reengagement
- prison-to-work programs
- social work in schools
- interventions for children of incarcerated parents
Drug treatment and mitigation
- needle exchanges
- drug treatment
- health insurance mandates for psychological health issues
- community policing
- better enforcement of gun laws
Drug use prevention
- involving youth in drug treatment programs
- after school and summer programs
- efforts to stop folks from joining gangs in prison
Another note -- as far as coalition building, this might help us partner with some slightly less elite organizations (youth, urban, race justice, etc.) and those are good partnerships for us to have...
This is not a topic for a bunch of college kids.I hope to God that this "think tank" doesn't believe it might be able to do something about the drug problem here in the U.S. All these programs have been tried. The best thing we can do is make sure that rehabs have the funding they need along with supplying some kind of introduction into a 12 step program of NA or AA. These two groups are the only thing I personally have ever seen hold a lasting effect in a drug addict or alcoholics' life.
It looks like you just said "there is no hope for students making a useful contribution to a solution" and then (as a student?) you made a contribution: fund rehab programs and partner with twelve step programs. If we do pick this one, you should write those two up as policy briefs!