Asian American Drug War Healing Circle

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Mission

The Asian American Drug War Healing Circle is an intergenerational space for people of the Asian diaspora who have been impacted by the War on Drugs, drug use, and drug-war related trauma to:

  • Unpack relationships to drug use & heal our identities as drug users

  • Discuss perceptions of drug use in our Asian American communities openly & honestly

  • Build analysis of the impact of the War on Drugs in our communities

  • Be in intergenerational community of Asian American drug users

Method

Political Drug Education: An education model that acknowledges that drug use and drug education is inherently political, and not separate from the psychological, biological, and social risks of drug use.

Our theory of change is that when working with communities where the stigma and silence of even talking about drugs is too great, connecting the personal to the political creates space to heal and generates openings for further participation in the broader movement to end the War on Drugs.

Impact

From 2018-2021, we have conducted healing circles for nearly 50 participants between the ages of 14-70.

  • Chinese (19)

  • Korean (1)

  • South Asian (2)

  • Filipinx (2)

  • Southeast Asian (7)

  • Middle Eastern (3)

  • Mixed (2)

Learnings
Below are reflections from the participants of our 2020 circle, where we conducted qualitative and quantitative interviews about our impact.

“The moralistic imprinting from the Drug War in my family shaped my personal identity and took reconciling.” -2020 Circle Participant

“I always asked myself 'How addicted am I?'. But I realized it was much more productive to ask how healthy or unhealthy is my relationship with drugs.” -2020 Circle Participant

“I was able to inquire more honestly because no one is listening with the expectation of changing and looking for what is wrong with me.” -2020 Circle Participant

Our Vision

  • Create ongoing spaces to host regular Drug War Healing Circles for the Asian American community

  • Scale up programming for other communities impacted by War on Drugs who want to learn to lead this in their own communities