RFK Jr. says he would consider adding safe-use sites to his radical proposal to combat the drug crisis

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is proposing a New Deal-wide agenda to combat the nation’s drug crisis that includes a heterodox mix of left- and right-wing policies, including weighing the benefits of risk reduction.

In an interview with the Sun, Mr Kennedy, who is a recovering heroin addict, said he would even be open to creating safe drug consumption sites to protect users – if the data shows they work. He says he has not yet looked into the matter.

“I would try anything that works, and I think we should do what Franklin Roosevelt said during the New Deal: Let’s try things. And if they don’t work, we’ll try something else,” Mr Kennedy told The Sun.

Mr. Kennedy’s signature drug policy proposal is to build “hundreds of healing farms” across the country, where addicts can commune with nature, work the land, learn a trade and heal physically and spiritually. Mr. Kennedy says these recovery farms will be funded by a federal tax on marijuana.

“It’s reminiscent of the Works Progress Administration of the New Deal, but oriented toward healing, toward rebuilding the community,” Mr. Kennedy told The Sun.

Unconstrained by partisan orthodoxy about how to talk about the country’s drug crisis, Mr. Kennedy is proposing bold solutions that cherry-pick policies from the left and right. He supports decriminalization of marijuana and psychedelic drugs. He acknowledges that the war on drugs has failed.

Despite backlash from the right and moderates in cities like San Francisco and Portland, which face rampant public drug use, Mr. Kennedy says he is open to these policies. He also supports using the criminal justice system to get drug addicts into treatment – ​​heresy for the progressive left.

“I saw it work,” he says, citing his own arrest that led him to recovery 40 years ago. “That’s what saved me.”

“It works in the Netherlands,” he adds, calling the Dutch model the gold standard for reducing overdose deaths and cleaning up city streets, through a combination of policing, strong social services and focus. on risk reduction and recovery. Once the heroin capital, Amsterdam now has far fewer overdose deaths per year than San Francisco or Philadelphia.

The Kennedy campaign will present a 45-minute documentary, “Recovering America,” in Albuquerque on Saturday that follows Mr. Kennedy as he searches for solutions to the nation’s drug crisis.

The film, previewed by the Sun, begins in San Francisco with the fentanyl crisis in full view, with people passed out on the sidewalk. It features a drug court in Miami, a recovery program in Utah, and a prototype “healing farm” in Texas.

“America lost approximately 3,000 people on 9/11 and in response we launched an $8 trillion war on terror. We lose 30 times that number every year to drug overdoses and we do almost nothing about it,” Kennedy says. “I’m going to change that.”

Mr. Kennedy’s proposals may be light on details, but for a crisis that now kills more than 107,000 Americans each year, he at least proposes something new. It’s also good politics.

More than 45 million Americans suffer from substance use disorder, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, and more than half of all Americans report having a family member who suffers from it.

President Trump prevailed in 2016 by winning in counties with the highest overdose death rates. President Biden received praise after the first presidential debate in 2020 by defending Hunter against Trump’s attacks.

“My son, like many people you know at home, had a drug problem,” Mr. Biden said. “He passed it. He fixed it. He worked on it. And I’m proud of him.

Mr. Kennedy speaks openly about his past struggles with drugs. He tells The Sun he attends nine 12-step meetings a week. “I don’t like going to meetings. I never do it,” he said. “I go because the rest of my life works and it keeps me at peace inside myself.”

In several key states, Mr. Kennedy’s opinion polls exceed the difference between Mr. Biden and Trump. A handful of these states, which will decide the elections, have some of the highest overdose death rates in the country. These include Arizona, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

“I appreciate a presidential candidate on the national stage talking about the drug crisis in this way,” Tom Wolf, a former homeless fentanyl addict turned recovery advocate in San Francisco, told the Sun. that the film interviews.

“We have waged a war on drugs. It didn’t work very well,” he says. “Over the last decade we have focused on harm reduction and decriminalization, and that hasn’t worked either. Look at the data. So the answer lies somewhere in between.”

Mr. Kennedy can’t say how much a federal tax on marijuana will raise or how much “healing farms” will cost. He says the federal government will purchase the land and accept offers from NGOs to run the programs.

With his libertarian distrust of government and health bureaucracies, he recognizes that a government program—a New Deal for recovery—runs the risk of becoming a mismanaged, ineffective, and corrupt program that cannot be changed. put an end to it.

“I think it’s fundamental for these programs to work that they be funded by the government but not run by the government,” Mr. Kennedy says of the “healing farms.” He says these should ideally be “public-private partnerships” subject to “very rigorous auditing”.

Mr. Kennedy could have the opportunity to talk about his drug policy proposals during a CNN debate later this month – if he qualifies and Mr. Biden and Trump are willing to face him. Those are big ifs.

Mr. Kennedy is on the ballot in eight states and has collected enough signatures in 13 others, according to his campaign. That means he could theoretically win 270 electoral votes, a CNN demand.

Mr. Kennedy filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission regarding CNN’s debate qualification criteria. He claims the FEC told a reporter that “presumptive nominee” is not a recognized criterion for circumventing ballot requirements.

“If CNN goes ahead and uses that as a yardstick now that the FEC has said so, they will be making an illegal campaign contribution,” Mr. Kennedy said. “They will be guilty of the same crime that landed Michael Cohen in prison. I don’t think they will.