---

The Asbury Park-based Help Not Handcuffs nonprofit has received a $25,000 grant to help grow and develop the organization’s efforts. Help Not Handcuffs works to help reform drug policy from a recovery and human rights perspective.

“Currently the addiction/recovery narrative is largely exploited to support prohibition policies by celebrating abstinence and recovery while punishing continual drug use,” CEO and Founder Randy Thompson said. “People are not recognizing the harms that our prohibition laws and our recovery culture are causing, because the voices of people with these experiences have been largely absent from public policy discourse.”

The Open Society Foundation is a global grant providing network founded in 1993 by investor and business magnate George Soros. With branches in 37 countries, the network has reportedly provided over $11 billion to support civil groups with a goal of advancing justice, education, public health and independent media.

Thompson said Help Not Handcuffs’ mandate is to fill the noticeable deficit in public policy discourse by empowering recovering persons and their supporters to advocate against prohibition policies, which violate human rights and are ineffective.

This year the NGO was granted Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

—————————————————————————————–

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

---