Andrew Yang
Andrew Yang makes a number of bold and progressive proposals to address the overdose crisis that are rooted in harm reduction philosophy, including decriminalizing opioid use and possession for personal use, significantly increasing funding for substance use treatment programs, and legalizing overdose prevention sites. Unfortunately though, Yang has also proposed a number of policies which could further the harms for people who use drugs, and which are not supported by the most current peer-reviewed research – policies like mandatory treatment participation for individuals who have overdosed and allowing only specially trained physicians within hospitals to prescribe opioids. While some of the language Yang has used to discuss addiction and drug use seems to severely prioritize abstinence-only efforts, an anti-harm reduction approach, his language also demonstrates a willingness to continue learning about drug-related issues and take on new perspectives.
Andrew Yang On Criminal Justice Reform
Yang would work to end the use of private prison facilities for federal inmates.
Yang promises to shift drug policy away from punishment and towards treatment.
Yang would push to reconsider harsh felony laws that prevent those who have served their prison term from reintegrating into society.
Yang would implement Universal Basic Income which will dramatically decrease incentives for criminality and improve the functioning of individuals and communities
Yang would work to implement a federal program of pre-trial services that would be made available to states, such as a text message system to remind individuals of their upcoming court dates.
Yang would invest money to fund innovative prison programs that decrease recidivism and increase reintegration.
Yang would invest money to support businesses that hire felons who have served their prison term.
Yang would identify non-violent drug offenders for probation and potential early release.
Yang would work with states to decrease their reliance on cash bail, providing assistance and grants for various programs to increase trial attendance without the need to incarcerate people ahead of conviction.
“People should not be going to jail because they cannot afford to make bail. That’s not the sort of country we are. It should not be criminal to be poor in this country. We can do better by improving the process leading up to a trial date—we should reduce our reliance on bail, and focus on clearer communication and services pre-trial.”
“Our rates of incarceration are 4 times higher than most other industrialized countries, and it’s a national disgrace. People on both sides of the aisle now recognize that our system is badly in need of reform. Our criminal justice system is particularly punitive toward blacks and other minorities. As President I will overhaul the treatment of drug offenses and reduce our rates of incarceration over time.”
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Decrease Pre-Trial Cash Bail
Andrew Yang campaign website, 2019
Andrew Yang On Overdose Prevention Sites
Yang supports overdose prevention sites.
On August 7, 2019 Yang tweeted his support for safe consumption sites in the US. Yang’s tweet read “We need more evolved approaches to opiate addiction. Overdose prevention sites would save lives – they are already helping people struggling with substance abuse in other countries. ‘You can’t recover if you’re dead.”
2020 Candidate Andrew Yang Tweets Support for Safe Consumption Spaces
Filter, August 8, 2019 | Alexander Lekhtman
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2020 Candidate Andrew Yang Tweets Support for Safe Consumption Spaces
Filter, August 8, 2019
Alexander Lekhtman
Opioid Crisis
Andrew Yang campaign website, 2019
Andrew Yang On HIV Getting to Zero
Yang has not issued specific statements to this issue.
Yang did not provide a response to the 2019 AIDS United HIV Policy Survey.
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2020 Presidential Candidate HIV Questionnaire
AIDS United, 2019
BREAKING: 2020 Presidential Candidates Tell Us Their Plans to End HIV
HIV+Magazine, September 9, 2019 | Jacob Anderson-Minshall
Andrew Yang On Hepatitis C Treatment Access
Yang has not issued specific statements to this issue
Andrew Yang On Voting Rights Restoration
Yang would support individual state efforts to pass legislation restoring voting rights to individuals convicted of felonies who are currently denied their right to vote.
Yang would encourage states to minimize the list of felonies that result in automatic loss of voting rights.
Yang would prioritize all initiatives to expand and restore voting rights in the US to the previously incarcerated.
“If you’ve paid your debt to society, you ought to be able to vote. This is particularly true given the hodgepodge of different treatment in different states. Voters are less likely to reoffend, which is only one reason we should be pushing for it.”
Restoration of Voting Rights
Andrew Yang campaign website, 2019
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Restoration of Voting Rights
Andrew Yang campaign website, 2019
Andrew Yang On Drug Decriminalization
Yang would decriminalize, at the federal level, small quantities of opioid use and possession (anything under 5-10 days of personal use).
Yang would direct the FDA to regulate pharmaceutical company marketing tactics as much as they regulate the release of new drugs.
Yang would make it much harder to prescribe opioids, mandating that the FDA require doctors to complete special training before being allowed to prescribe opioids, and only hospitals would be allowed to prescribe them, not doctors' offices and practices.
Yang would work with the DEA to enforce a much stricter limit on the number of opioid-based medications that can be produced in any given year and instruct manufacturers to report drugs prescribed in each community so as to monitor excess supply and probable abuse.
“I didn’t always believe that decriminalizing opioids was a good way to tackle the opioid crisis in our country. Then I dug into the data, and realized it is the single best way to facilitate recovery by prescribing treatment, not jail to struggling users.”
Andrew Yang | Twitter, July 19, 2019
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Decriminalize Opioids
Andrew Yang campaign website, 2019
2020 Candidate Andrew Yang Tweets Support for Safe Consumption Spaces
Filter, August 8, 2019 | Alexander Lekhtman
Andrew Yang On Substance Use Treatment Access
Yang would declare a state of emergency and seek to bring down both the overdose number and addiction levels by 20% within four years.
Yang promises to make treatment programs much more available and affordable to anyone found with small quantities of these drugs.
Yang would require patients who have overdosed to be sent to "mandatory treatment centers" for three days to convince them to seek long-term treatment.
Yang would increase FDA regulation of opioids.
Yang would provide grants for their own treatment programs to states that decriminalize small quantities of opioid use/possession.
Yang would quintuple federal funding, from 4.5 billion to 20 billion per year to address opioid addiction through treatment and rehabilitation programs.
Yang would impose a new tax on opiate manufacturers to fund treatment and rehabilitation, retroactive to 2005.
“Let’s be honest – the opiate addiction crisis exists in large part because our government thought it was okay for companies to make a lot of money prescribing addictive opiates to millions of people. This was a failure of government. And now the Federal Government must do all it can to address this crisis, including funding treatment for millions of Americans. There is a modern-day plague in America and we cannot rest until it is controlled and defeated. Americans are dying every day—7 every hour—destroying families and communities everywhere. I will declare a state of emergency and commit billions of dollars to the fight, much of it from the drug companies who generated and have profited from this plague. If you or someone in your family has an opiate problem, we will provide you the resources you need to help you recover. We owe you that.”
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Decriminalize Opioids
Andrew Yang campaign website, 2019
Andrew Yang On Syringe Access
Yang has not issued specific statements to this issue
Andrew Yang on Naloxone Access
Yang has not issued specific statements to this issue.
