The addiction field can and should speak with a single voice on issues of mutual concern, such as the need for prevention and treatment services and the fight against stigma, leaders of 15 major field organizations agreed at a Jan. 13 meeting in Washington, D.C.

The meeting was called to discuss both message development and collaboration on a broader public-policy agenda, and was convened as the result of informal talks among the leaders of groups like the Legal Action Center (LAC), the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), the Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC), and Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA).

"We began to see that there was a need for dialogue about who we are, where we are going, and if there are messages and actions we can take jointly," recalled NAADAC Executive Director Pat Ford-Roegner.

The groundwork paid off quickly during the January meeting, said LAC Director Paul Samuels. "We had agreement within the first five minutes," he said.

The consensus statement adopted by the group was straightforward and designed to be noncontroversial, at least within the field: "Alcohol and drug addiction is a disease that can be prevented and treated. People in recovery from this disease can and do lead productive lives, and should not be discriminated against," the group stated.

But the conversation strayed further, ranging from budget issues to concerns about the impact that President Bush's faith-based initiative would have on addiction training and certification standards. "Participants hope the consensus statement will enable groups across the entire ideological spectrum to work together, even if they continue to disagree on other points," said Samuels.

Two working groups emerged from the meeting: One, led by Samuels, will develop a public-policy agenda; the other, led by by Ford-Roegner and lobbyist Carol McDaid of Capitol Decisions, Inc., will craft messages to support the consensus agenda.

The group plans to hold future meetings and aims to bring in other participants, both from within and outside the addiction field. "My sense is that we need to reach out very broadly from the beginning," said Samuels. "I think it would be very useful to get law enforcement, the faith community, labor, and the world at large involved." The research community, which has been very successful in changing public attitudes about the disease of addiction, also needs to be engaged, Samuels added.

A Mixed History of Collaboration
The Jan. 13 meeting was hardly the first time the addiction field has tried to collaborate on policy issues. Various ad-hoc coalitions have been formed in the past around specific issues, and representatives from a number of Washington, D.C. based groups have worked together on appropriations issues for the past few years.

However, over time the field has gained an unwanted reputation on Capitol Hill for a lack of cohesiveness and weak grassroots advocacy. "Some new people have come into the field and said, 'Why is this not happening?'" said Samuels.

New ASAM Executive Vice President Eileen McGrath and NAADAC's Ford-Roegner were among those who brought an outsider's perspective to the policy discussions. "Eileen, myself, and others have a real can-do attitude, but we know [addiction] is a much tougher issue," said Ford-Roegner, who previously worked on issues such as AIDS and breast-cancer awareness.

The enthusiasm of new leaders like McGrath and Ford-Roegner, combined with the knowledge and experience of field veterans, is one reason why Samuels believes the time is right for addiction-field groups to overcome their differences and work for the common good. "The notion of working together has been picking up steam," he said. "It's a combination of the maturation of the field and the growing organization of the recovery community. It's not rocket science, but it could be a pretty important step forward for the field."

"This needs to lead to a groundswell of people at the state and national level who want to see changes," added Ford-Roegner. "I think community-based advocacy is growing -- through the Join Together Demand Treatment! grantees, the CADCA grantees, Faces and Voices of Recovery -- and a lot of action in the AIDS community and breast-cancer issues came out of that."

Ron Hunsicker, president of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, is hopeful that the field can present a united front on critical issues, but cautioned against overreaching.

"It seems to me that it has to start being narrowly focused," said Hunsicker, who didn't attend the January meeting but forwarded comments to the group on behalf of NAATP. "We have to decide on one or two things we're all interested in and stay focused on that."

"One of the reasons these efforts have lost momentum in the past is that some of us represent treatment-delivery systems, and others represent advocacy groups, and we need to understand that and talk about it, or it won't work," he added. "I see no reason why we all couldn't agree on calling for a Presidential Commission on Addiction, for example, but if we get into spending issues then we'll spend all of our time talking about our differences."

The meeting was attended by leaders of the American Association for Treatment of Opioid Dependence, ASAM, Brown University/Physicians Leadership on National Drug Policy, CADCA, the Employee Assistance Professionals Association, Faces and Voices of Recovery (formerly the Alliance Project), the Johnson Institute Foundation, Join Together, the Legal Action Center, NAADAC, the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, the National Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention, the Partnership for Recovery, the State Associations of Addiction Services, and Therapeutic Communities of America.

In addition, NAATP, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, and the National Children of Alcoholics Foundation expressed their support and forwarded suggestions for the group to consider.

For more information, contact Paul Samuels at the Legal Action Center: (212) 243-1313 or e-mail: PSAMUELS@lac.org.