Why physicians? Because the proletariat still have a little bit of say on policy in this country. If you ask citizens with strong anti-drug stances why they support tough drug laws, very few (if any) will say "because I hate minorities."
So we've got to change the minds of the voting base. Physicians are highly respected in this country and to have them come out en masse and state that drug addiction is a health issue and not a criminal issue would do a lot to change the minds of voters...which could then slightly change the minds of our lawmakers.
I think that the LEAP organisation will have more clout than physicians to end the WoD, and certainly more clout with the proletariat, as you say. Ex-law enforcement officers who have been in the trenches and understand exactly the societal damage caused by the WoD would be better advocates than doctors.
And your point about "doctors come out en masse and state that drug addiction is a health issue" may be a double-edged sword for them since we all know that the opiate epidemic and subsequent heroin use increase are issues created, by a large part, by doctors.
I do think you are correct about LEAP, but I don't believe a large percentage of the police force would ever condemn anti-drug laws. Don't bite that hand that feeds and all that.
I don't think physicians are primarily responsible for our heroin epidemic, in my opinion that prize belongs to the pharmaceutical industry and our politicians...but I'm open to any evidence that proves me wrong.
the structure of health care in the united states makes it really difficult for doctors to not escalate to opiates for pain management. doctors are evaluated on patient satisfaction not on patient outcomes which incentivizes them to skip straight to opiates when faced with a patient who complains of pain and is unsatisfied with tylenol
So we've got to change the minds of the voting base. Physicians are highly respected in this country and to have them come out en masse and state that drug addiction is a health issue and not a criminal issue would do a lot to change the minds of voters...which could then slightly change the minds of our lawmakers.