Broken No More’s Pre-Mother’s Day Press Conference

On the eve of Mother’s Day, moms who have been affected by the drug war and who have lost loved ones to overdose hosted a press conference calling on lawmakers to prioritize health-based solutions that prevent overdoses. They spoke out against harsh drug laws that aim to increase punishment and incarceration, leading to family separation and blocking access to lifesaving care and treatment.

During the powerful event, speakers shared how their families have been devastated by the multi-pronged harms of punitive drug policies. They shared their stories of losing children to fatal overdose, seeing children incarcerated instead of helped, and struggling to get access to treatment for their child.

“The tragedies that mothers endure due to the war on drugs are numerous,” said Tamara Olt, M.D., Executive Director of Broken No More. Tamara lost her 16-year-old son Josh. “People with problematic use should be treated with compassion and support, and not put in cages. …We’re fighting actively against criminalization and incarceration for drug offenses.”

In 2024, nearly 80,000 lives were lost to the overdose crisis in the United States, and the country continues to lead the world in incarcerating people for drug-related offenses. While overdose rates have decreased across all demographics, Black and Indigenous communities are still disproportionately affected by the overdose crisis.

“The war on drugs is not saving our children, it’s costing us our children. In Black communities, we’ve seen decades of over-policing and under-resourcing. Less access to treatment, less access to harm reduction, and more punishment instead of care. That’s why this is not just a public health issue, it’s a racial justice issue as well,” said Kimberly Douglas, who lost her 17-year-old son Bryce. She is the Founder of Bryce’s Treehouse, a national effort supporting nonprofits advancing mental health and drug policy reform in communities of color. She is also the founder of Black Moms Against Overdose, a support group for mothers who have lost children to overdose.

An estimated one in five people in prison and jails are incarcerated due to a drug-related offense.  In the two weeks following release from prison, people are 27 times more likely to experience a fatal opioid overdose.

“My older son got a felony charge for possession of marijuana when he was 20 years old; he spent 11 years cycling in and out of prison. Labeling him a criminal at such a young age created lifelong roadblocks, and it was a traumatic experience for our family. The drug war is a war waged against families,” said Gretchen Bergman, Co-Founder and Executive Director of A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing) and Lead Organizer of the international Moms United to End the War on Drugs campaign. She is the mother of 2 sons who are in long-term recovery from heroin addiction.

“Jail did not save my son, and policies that make people afraid to call for help during an overdose will not save someone else’s child,” said Joelle Fairchild, a harm reduction advocate and board member of the Harm Reduction Action Center in Denver. After losing her son, Tony, to a heroin overdose at age 27 in 2014, she has worked to advance compassionate, health-based solutions to the overdose crisis. “These deaths are preventable. We need compassion, we need evidence-based solutions. We need to stop treating this crisis as a crime, and start treating it as a matter of life and death.”

Speakers at the press conference also called on lawmakers to expand access to medications for opioid use disorders, including buprenorphine and methadone, which are proven to save lives.

“I was so scared of being in prison. Having access to medicine in there and knowing I had a doctor who cared so much got me through. The medicine just helped me so much mentally,”  said Tami Decker, an advocate who spoke about how substance use and her time incarcerated affected her and her family’s life. “My youngest twin is going to be married in November, and I’m going to get to see this. I’m gonna be sober to see this.”

“Addiction is a treatable health condition. What works is voluntary, low-barrier care, treatment that’s rooted in science, delivered with compassion, and centered on the person,” said Pattie Vargas, a Compassionate Bereavement Care™ Provider and Kessler Certified Grief Educator who facilitates support groups and one-on-one coaching through The Partnership to End Addiction and The Happier Life Project. She is also the author of Secrets, Scars and Heart Shaped Jars. “If we want to truly address substance use in this country, we have to change the narrative. This is not a moral failure. It’s a community health issue, and it requires a compassionate community response. We cannot arrest our way out of this.”

This event is organized by Broken No More, a group that, with support from sister organization Grief Recovery After Substance Passing (GRASP), helps thousands of mothers through the grief of overdose loss.