Wednesday, December 18th, 2024 from 12:00-1:30pm PST

We invite you to join us for an in-depth exploration of the recent Massachusetts ballot campaign and its implications for drug policy reform. This Community Forum will dive into the recent Massachusetts ballot campaign as we unpack its outcomes and explore the future of drug policy reform. This forum will highlight key insights from post-election voter surveys, lessons learned from the campaign, and a forward-looking perspective on what’s next for Massachusetts, the nation, and other states pursuing similar initiatives. You’ll hear from our speakers, Stefanie Jones who is a seasoned drug policy reform advocate supporting progressive harm reduction, drug education, and drug policy initiatives. She recently co-founded Open Circle Alliance. Jared Moffat has been leading coalitions to reform harmful and punitive drug policies for 12 years. He has been part of 15 campaigns to pass statewide legislation and currently helps lead New Approach Advocacy Fund’s policy efforts across several states. Ismail Ali is the Director of Policy & Advocacy for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Alchemy Community Therapy Center.

Stefanie Jones is a seasoned drug policy reform advocate supporting progressive harm reduction, drug education and drug policy initiatives. She recently co-founded Open Circle Alliance, a psychedelic education and community-focused nonprofit. Previously, she served as Director of Outreach for Fireside Project, an organization that provides free emotional support via call or text to people using psychedelics or processing past use. During her 16-year career with the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), a national advocacy nonprofit working to end the drug war and promote drug policies centered in health, social and racial justice, she founded and ran the Safer Partying program as well as oversaw the creation of Safety First, the first comprehensive harm reduction-based drug education curriculum for high school students. She has given 30+ talks on harm reduction, including at SXSW and Burning Man, and been quoted in 50+ articles, including in Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue and Scientific American.

Jared Moffat has been leading coalitions to reform harmful and punitive drug policies for the past 12 years. He’s been part of 15 campaigns to pass statewide legislation and currently helps lead New Approach Advocacy Fund’s policy efforts across several states. He recently helped spearhead Massachusetts for Mental Health Options, the 2024 ballot campaign to create access to natural psychedelic medicines. Prior to working for New Approach, Jared was part of several ballot campaigns to legalize and regulate cannabis as the State Campaigns Manager for the Marijuana Policy Project. He’s passionate about ending the war on drugs and enabling legal access to psychedelics for healing.

Ismail Lourido Ali is Director of Policy & Advocacy for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), presently sits on the Board of Directors for Alchemy Community Therapy Center, and is a co-founder of the Psychedelic Bar Association. Previously Ismail has served as Chair of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) Board of Directors, and has worked for the ACLU of Northern California’s Criminal Justice & Drug Policy Project. Ismail is a member of Chacruna’s Council for the Protection of Sacred Plants.

This talk will be recorded and immediately available for rewatch for all attendees.

Lessons from the Massachusetts Ballot Campaign: What Happened and What’s Next?