This Recovery Month, as a recovery advocate and leader in my community, I pledge to #StandUp4Recovery and commit my support on matters related to combating addiction based on the following six guiding principles:

#1 Humanizing Addiction for Both the Afflicted and the Affected

People in recovery and family recovery are smart, caring, compassionate, bright, creative, everyday Nevadans. They are your neighbors. Their kids go to school with your kids. They live with a chronic disease and nurture its remission.

We will support them in being out, loud, and proud so the world sees who they are. We will sit with them and walk among them; speak with them in town halls; visit recovery night celebrations at treatment centers; and stand with them at their rallies.

#2 Suffering From Addiction is Not a Crime – Reforming Public Safety Responses

We’re going to stop locking people up without treatment, rendering them unemployable, and letting their addiction progress in jail or prison.

Criminal justice reform is an opportunity for every elected official to make a profound difference in ending the crisis by supporting measures that promote recovery, even while incarcerated.

#3 Dramatic Expansion of Prevention, Screening, Early Intervention Programs, Treatment, and Recovery Supports

So many lives could be saved and repaired if our government funded the evidence based measures in the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health – including peer recovery supports. In proportion to the actual need, more funding is needed. We may never meet the total need, but we require elected officials to allocate, earmark, designate, and pass deliberate budgetary support to combat addiction.

#4 Promoting Multiple Pathways of Recovery for Individuals and Their Families

Leaders will support the obvious clinical solutions and expand treatment. More importantly, they will support things like Medication Assisted Treatment on equal par with abstinence based programs.

Faith based groups like Catholic Charities, Jewish Family Services, and the Church of Latter Day Saints that provide addiction care to everyone should receive government grants for their work. We’re going to recognize faith as a pathway to recovery. We’re going to show that there isn’t one definition of recovery and there are no absolutes in treatment. Nobody is “less worthy” because of the way they reached remission.

#5 Mainstreaming Addiction Health Services

We will treat addiction health services just like every other medical service: with parity and accountability. This means increasing the amount of credit hours a student is required to take in medical school about addiction.

We need standardized screenings and other recovery support tactics, right in your primary care physician’s office. We should require sick leave and other employer support for a worker battling addiction.

We need to ensure that communities build and nurture adequate treatment availability relative to their population, the same way we expect hospitals to.

#6 Seek and Engage Recovery in the Solution

Recovery should be represented at the table in determining priorities, programs and oversight.  Those that have found their way to recovery know what works, can help policymakers navigate barriers, and be the best advocates for what solutions are needing to make recovery more available for more people.