Re:Vision Drug Policy Network is a national network of young people speaking out for an effective drug policy. We started up in March 2011 and are based in Manchester. We are seeking to empower all young aged 16-25 to campaign for effective drug policies, control and regulation, and harm reduction methods. The Drug War is fought in the name of youth, so it is essential that we as young people argue for an end to punitive, harmful drug laws.

Our Mission, Aims and Objectives

Our mission is to work with young people and interested organisations to create the belief that a drug policy based on the ideas of human welfare and human rights is both possible and necessary.

Our aims are:

• To change the framework of the debate on drug policy towards control and regulation but working with policy-makers, be that politicians, the media, or public opinion.
• To raise awareness among young people about drug policy and alternatives to the war on drugs.
• To empower young people to speak out and campaign against harmful drug policies and for better systems of control and regulation.
• To support other organisations seeking alternatives to the war on drugs or providing harm reduction services to drug users or victims of the drug war.

Our objectives are:

• To establish a nationwide network of young people who are informed about and are willing to speak out against the drug war.
• To arm young people with the skills and information necessary for them to make an impact on drug policy.
• To provide opportunities for young people to use those skills and to empower them to create their own.
• To campaign, together and individually, in an effective, sustained and directed manner against punitive and harmful drug policy and for harm reduction methods and control and regulation.

Our structures and processes

For more information, please see an outline of our structure.

Who are we?

Below are some of the folks involved and their motivations.

Sarah McCulloch

Sarah did her gap year supporting disabled students at the University of Bradford, where one day someone asked her if she fancied setting up a group at Manchester about sensible drug policy. She said yes, figuring she hadn't got anything better to do, and is still campaigning away four years later, albeit with a degree in Theology. As a libertarian, Sarah primarily believes that people have an inherent right to put whatever substances they desire into their own bodies, and that it is no place of the state to criminalise non-problematic drug users and to persecute problematic drug users. Outside of drug policy, Sarah quite likes writing, local currencies, and God.

Joe Baines-Holmes

Joe is a Physics Student who has been interested in drug law reform for many years. He sees the current system as lacking in scientific basis, which is discriminatory and unfair. Young people should be free to make informed decisions, free of moralism. Joe is looking to the day his views win out.

Elizabeth Cabeza

Elizabeth is a second year student reading Theological studies in Philosophy and Ethics. She believes adults should be allowed to make their own informed decisions on what drugs they wish to use rather than having that choice dictated by the government as to her they seem less concerned with scientific evidence in their reasoning and more concerned with dumbing down and scare tactics. Furthermore she is tired of society and the media demonising drugs, blaming them for problems when the social issues which drive people to drug abuse are often the demons to be tackled. When not arguing for drug law revision she enjoys trying new experiences, thinking about the big questions and cooking weird and wonderful things in the middle of the night.

Katie Ion

Katie is a doctoral sociology researcher at the University of Edinburgh. Her long background in the social sciences informs her belief in compassionate, evidence-based, harm-reducing drug policy. She also holds an academic and personal interest in the aesthetic, intellectual, medical, and communal aspects of drug use. As a native Californian, Katie is a vocal advocate for cannabis law reform. Her activism is influenced by the human rights crisis unfolding in Central and South America as a result of the failed global war on drugs.

Eric Anglin

Eric is a third year student at the University of Hull, studying Law with Literature. They believe a more focused look at current drug policy is critical to achieving a balance between regulation and freedom of individual behaviour, and whilst respecting the choices of those who are old enough to make their own decisions, there should be increased education about drugs and their effects and more funding for harm reduction. It is their belief that the prohibition and demonising of drugs is totally ineffective and that a different approach is needed to encourage respect and a safer environment for both youth and adults. When not studying, they indulge their enthusiasm for cars, the internet and all its geeky possibilities, gaming and entrepreneurship.

The Board of Trustees are a group of drug law reform activists who have fiscal and strategic oversight over the whole organisation, and bear legal and financial responsibility for if anything goes wrong. All trustees are active members of the Core Team, and so for the most part, they simply rubber-stamp decisions made collectively by Re:Vision activists.