Dr. Andy McGuire Gubernatorial Campaign was endorsed by Iowa Patients for Medical Marijuana this evening via their Facebook:
After careful vetting of the Democratic primary field Iowa Patients for Medical Marijuana would like to encourage voters to participate in the June 5th primary by casting their vote for Dr. Andy McGuire and turning their focus to defeating Steve King’s Kin Reynolds campaign in the fall of 2018.
“Cathy Glasson and Dr. McGuire are leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the Democratic field when it comes to drug policy,” said Jason Karimi, Executive Director for Iowa Patients for Medical Marijuana. “We are optimistic that after three years of anti-science drug policy lead by Kim Reynolds and the GOP that McGuire has established herself as a leader on the national level concerning cutting edge drug policy reforms intended to lower substance abuse and youth access to dangerous narcotics.”
Says the The Des Moines Register of Dr. McGuire,
“If we could, we’d pick Dr. Andy McGuire for Governor of Health Care. McGuire, a physician who works in health care management, understands better than any other candidate how to ensure access to health care for all Iowans while being responsible to taxpayers.”
As of Thursday last week we determined to endorse Dr. Andy McGuire, a first for our organization. We are now going forward with that endorsement. Dr. McGuire has brought important new contributions to the table to be discussed at length regarding drug policy reform. The issue of medical marijuana is over and settled by science. It will take education and due diligence to find nationwide best practices, and Dr. McGuire has stepped forward to lead that discussion by pointing to experiments in Seattle and other areas where decriminalization following Portugal’s successful drug policy model has found roots.
Due to her vast scope of researched knowledge on drug policy and well delivered ability to offer well received solutions to the opiate crisis and other current issues finally making the news after being whitewashed for decades, we as advocates for drug addicts commonly dehumanized and shunned hope Dr. McGuire’s call to help the helpless and take care of the needy reverses the revolting and demoralizing discourse surrounding what drug addiction really is, and what being a human entails.
Doctors and patients should be able to decide under their own free will which kind of medication will benefit them at the lowest cost for their specific and highly unique situation. Drug addiction, a bona fide disease started by doctors over-prescribing corporate profits to patients without need until they were hooked, has been sneered at and ridiculed by supposed leaders in iowa who would rather pass judgment than come off their ivory towers and preach from boots on the ground perspectives. Dr. Andy McGuire’s leadership on this issue is above and beyond the rest of the Democratic field, and it is with our best wishes that we congratulate Dr. McGuire on running a successful and well fought campaign, and wish her the best come June 5th and beyond to the Governor’s chair in November.
— Iowa Patients for Medical Marijuana
May 26th, 2018
http://www.kcci.com/…/commitment-2018-dr-andy-mcgu…/20878015
Dear Iowans,
Our state is hurting. Tens of thousands of us are suffering from the ravages of mental illness or substance abuse and addiction – diseases that are tearing families apart and taking a devastating toll on our cities, towns, and communities.
The scope of these epidemics is widespread, and cares little for the background, income level, education, or race of its victims. More than 120,000 Iowans suffer from serious mental health issues, while studies show that one in six of us experienced significant childhood trauma.
This makes those individuals six times more likely to be diagnosed with depression, 2.5 times more likely to be chronically absent at work, and 2.3 times more likely to have serious financial problems.
Meanwhile, state treatment admissions for opioid abuse nearly quadrupled from 2005 to 2016, while the number of opioid-related deaths has risen by almost 250 percent. Deaths related to heroin jumped by nine times over a 15-year period.
These crises are striking our spouses, children, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. And too few of them are getting the help they need. We must take urgent action to increase treatment capacity and resources to ensure all Iowans who need professional medical assistance can get it. We need to boost the number of mental health and substance abuse professionals that can best treat these diseases and care for patients. It is critical that we expand efforts to identify and treat children and teenagers suffering from mental illness or substance abuse so they have the chance to recover at an early age and avoid falling behind. And above all else, we must remove the stigma associated with these diseases so every suffering Iowan seeks out the treatment they need and is firmly supported by their friends, families, and communities, instead of being unacceptably viewed with shame and disappointment as too many are today. To accomplish all this, we’re going to create a new statewide Office of Mental Health and Addiction Policy to spearhead and focus our efforts, while going after the prescription drugmakers who created the opioid epidemic through their greed to ensure they help clean up the mess they created.
These initiatives won’t come cheaply, but we can’t afford not to pursue them. Even beyond the urgent need to save lives and help affected Iowans recover, allowing these epidemics to continue to explode will make the cost to our public health and public safety infrastructure astronomically more expensive in the future. And the truth is, many of these priorities will save us further money in the long term by reducing the burdens that individuals suffering from mental illness or substance abuse place on our resources. Too many victims of these epidemics are locked up because we have nowhere else for them to go and our criminal justice system is ill-equipped to handle them properly. Yet this comes at an immense cost to taxpayers. By shifting our focus to treating the root causes of these problems instead of acting punitively, we’ll save money. It costs five times as much to incarcerate an individual than to give them the treatment they need to get back on their feet, while studies have shown that for every dollar we invest in treatment, we can save up to $12 in criminal justice and healthcare costs to society.
FIXING IOWA TOGETHER
It’s time for a new approach and a new dedication to solving our mental illness, substance abuse, and addiction epidemics.
It won’t be easy, and our state has been set back by the disastrous decisions of a Branstad-Reynolds administration that has had little interest in effective solutions. We rank last in the nation for state mental health beds and 47th for overall beds, yet this administration short-sightedly closed half the state facilities designated for mental health treatment with no plan in place to make up the lost capacity. We have underfunded mental health treatment at both the state and local levels, and it’s taking a heartbreaking toll everywhere from the lives of those who are at risk to our criminal justice system which is being overburdened by individuals who should be in treatment instead of jail. Due in part to this broken system, 433 Iowans are projected to lose their lives to suicide this year – six times the number of homicides – and it is the second leading cause of death for those aged 15-34.
We cannot wait any longer to get back on track in working to end these epidemics that are destroying our families and communities. This plan will be a starting point in that journey, and I hope you’ll
join me in working together to save lives.
Sincerely,
Dr. Andy McGuire
Sound Minds, Healthy Bodies: A plan to Combat Iowa’s Mental Health, Substance
Abuse, and Addiction Epidemics
1.
Increase treatment capacity and ensure Iowans have sufficient treatment options ………………..
4A. Boost the number of beds available for mental health treatment ………………………………………………..
4B.
Lift the dollar cap on the mental health property tax levy so jurisdictions can increase resources if they choose ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
5
C. Create regional Restoration Centers at which individuals struggling with mental health or substance abuse can receive treatment on demand
…………………………………………………………………………
6D. Prioritize the expansion of capacity for medium-length treatment facilities ………………………………..
7E. Ensure effective treatment is available in jails and correctional facilities …………………………………….
7
2.
Attract and retain more mental health providers ……………………………………………………………………
8A. Short Term: Make greater use of general practitioners, mid-level mental health professionals,
and telemedicine to expand availability of mental health resources to more communities …………..
8
B. Long Term: Incentivize mental health professionals to come to or remain in Iowa through tuition
incentives or loan forgiveness …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
9
3.
Expand and emphasize support for children and teenagers
…………………………………………………..
9
A. Fund Mental Health and Substance Abuse coordinators at the school district level ………………..
10
B. Better train educators and teachers to recognize and respond to the signs of mental health or
substance abuse issues ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
10
4.
Remove the stigma from mental illness and substance abuse and addiction
………………………..
11A. Expand alternatives to incarceration and get more people into treatment instead of jail ………….
11B. Better train law enforcement to handle individuals suffering from mental health issues …………
12
5.
Create a new statewide Office of Mental Health and Addiction Policy
…………………………………
12
A. Conduct a comprehensive survey of our state’s mental health and substance abuse resources
and recovery efforts …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
13
B. Foster better communication and synergy between all elements of our response …………………..
14
6. Go after the drugmakers who created the opioid epidemic and hold them accountable ………
14
7. Secure and protect key funding sources to combat the mental health, substance abuse, and addiction crises ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
FIXING IOWA TOGETHER
3
Mission: Save lives and strengthen families by rebuilding Iowa’s broken mental
health, substance abuse, and addiction treatment systems
1. Increase treatment capacity and ensure Iowans have sufficient treatment options
Any plan to put Iowa on the path toward ending our mental health, substance abuse, and addiction crises must start with ensuring we have the capacity and resources required to get every Iowan in need of help the treatment they need. We are up against dangerous and relentless diseases that require dedicated and focused care from professionals. Yet we are failing miserably at providing access to such care to Iowans throughout our state. We must take immediate measures to increase resources and treatment capacity so we can work to get…
Read full E-book on Dr. McGuire’s approach to addiction and mental health crises here
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