Lawmakers and other addiction stakeholders have warmly greeted the new Blueprint for the States report prepared by a Join Together policy panel, which contains a broad set of recommendations for optimizing state governments to effectively address alcohol and other drug problems in communities.

Since releasing the Blueprint in June, members of the authoring policy panel have been distributing copies of the report to key policymakers and presenting at major state and addiction-field conclaves, including meetings of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP), the State Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS), and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

"People have been very interested" in the report, said former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, who chaired the policy panel and was in Boston this week to present the Blueprint to a meeting of the New England Association of Drug Court Professionals. "They like the fact that we're taking this on the road."

Barbara Cimaglio, a panel member and deputy commissioner for alcohol and drug abuse programs in the Vermont Department of Health, unveiled the report for her fellow state agency directors at the NASADAD meeting in June, and also presented the recommendations at the annual Cape Cod Symposium on Addictive Disorders. "Uniformly, people said it's about time we had something like this," said Cimaglio. "People at the highest levels don't really get into the nuts and bolts, so I think this is exactly the right tool for them."

Perhaps the overriding recommendation coming out of the Blueprint is the need for executive leadership; Dukakis and others are reaching out to state leaders through the NCSL and the National Governor's Association, as well as urging chief judges, treatment providers, consumers, and other stakeholders to call for governors and state legislators to address the issues highlighted in the report.

Michael Botticelli, assistant commissioner for substance abuse services in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, said the Blueprint recommendations reflect many of the reforms now underway in his state, including the establishment of a Governor's Interagency Council on Substance Abuse and a reallocation of resources -- previously focused mainly on treatment -- to a broad range of services, including prevention, early intervention, aftercare, and recovery support.

"The linchpin was executive leadership," he said, noting that the state's lieutenant governor chairs the Council. "Without that, nothing would have happened."

"The blueprint kind of validates what we've done here in Massachusetts," added Botticelli, who also has used the document to spotlight areas of improvement not included in the state's current agenda, such as revising the authorizing language for the substance-abuse services agency. "It helps underline our strategic direction and make some modifications along the way."

National and Grassroots Dissemination Strategy

In addition to conference presentations and promotion via the Join Together website and e-mail newsletters, the dissemination plan for the Blueprint includes working with partner organizations like Faces and Voices of Recovery, which has agreed to publicize the report through its publications.

Dukakis plans to author an action alert to state legislators and governors about the report, along with an electronic copy of the Blueprint document. Join Together also has launched a campaign to raise enough money to mail hard copies of the report to legislators and governors in all 50 states; the mailing will include a call for state lawmakers to hold hearings on the panel recommendations.

Meanwhile, Blueprint panel member Pat George, a Kansas state lawmaker, has been promoting the report to his colleagues both locally and nationally. "My colleagues in Kansas think it's great," he said. "They see it as a condensed vision of how to do legislation on substance abuse."

George, whose plans include meeting with his governor, judges, and other Kansas lawmakers to discuss the report, also presented the Blueprint at the annual meeting of the NCSL, which drew 7,500 legislators from all 50 states to Nashville in August. At the meeting, a lawmaker from Hawaii suggested that George recruit individual members of each state legislature to distribute copies of the report to their colleagues.

"Most legislators are inundated with materials, but I pay more attention if a colleague hands something to me," said George. "The plan is to get the report out in January, when the majority of state lawmakers go back to work."

Cimaglio said she is optimistic that the Blueprint will live up to its name as dissemination of the policy panel report is followed by education, the development of model legislation, and the involvement of multiple levels of state leadership. "We need to bring stakeholders together to show them how to make this a real working tool," she said.