Make Sure Your State Leaders and Candidates Read the Blueprint that will Save Lives!

The Blueprint for the States report outlines six key policy recommendations that state leaders need to follow to develop effective alcohol and drug policies that will save lives, restore families and reduce crime.

If states continue their current approaches, they will never reduce the consequences of alcohol and drug problems that soak up more than 13% of their total annual spending.

The panel's key recommendation calls for making governors, state legislative leaders and chief judges personally accountable for developing and implementing a state strategy requiring all public agencies affected by alcohol and drug problems to work together in a unified strategy that promotes treatment and prevention.

Take Action

Here are some things you can do to help us spread the word and make a difference in your state:

1. Send the Report to Candidates
Find the candidates running for office in your state and email them a copy of the Blueprint for the States report. Urge them to read it and take action by holding hearings on its recommendations early next year.

2. Attend a Candidate Forum
Bring a copy of the report to a candidate forum and ask a question to start a discussion on how drug and alcohol problems affect your state. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Do you know that only 10% of people who need drug and alcohol treatment have access to it? What do you propose to do about it?
   
   
2. Do you know how much of our state's budget goes to pay for the consequences of drug and alcohol problems? Substance use disorders are responsible for about 13% of all state expenditures because the costs are spread throughout state government affecting child welfare, criminal and juvenile justice, and mental health agencies.
   
   
3. Ask your candidate if he or she knows when the last time the beer tax was raised in your state. Visit our Key Issue page on Alcohol Taxes and go to your state's page to learn the facts.

3. Support the Campaign
Make a tax-deductible donation to support our effort to educate state leaders.