Our mission
Message to the WA Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention Community
MISSION STATEMENT: The mission of the Washington Association for Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention (WASAVP) is to unite prevention advocates in Washington State in order to create environments that support safe and healthy communities through prevention of substance abuse and violence.
The WASAVP Board has been working to continue oureducation and advocacy efforts on behalf of our membership and community level substance abuse and violence prevention organizations statewide. As we prepare for the next legislative session, we are inspired by some of the successes from last session:
- Medical marijuana sales wrapped into the more tightly regulated retail marijuana market.
- No powdered alcohol to be sold in WA.
- Strengthened DUI laws.
- Better access to opioid overdose reversal drugs.
- Trial social-emotional curricula (universal prevention) to be pilot tested in schools.
- New partnerships forged to draw a line against the further expansion of alcohol availability (in movie theaters, wedding boutiques, fairs, grocery stores, and so on).
While many are still in awe of commercial marijuana's increasing influence, continued expansion of alcohol availability and the new threats posed by opiates and fentanyl, these recent victories nevertheless ARE significant. Although substance abuse prevention professionals and our allies may be small in number, our work is critically important because we often represent the ONLY voice of prevention around legislative issues. Prevention works and we must stay focused. WASAVP is gearing-up to work on key policy issues next session:
- Re-fund the Community Mobilizationj Program
- Limit the health and safety impact of commercial marijuana
- Limit the expansion of alcohol availability
- Protect the marijuana dedicated fund
We look forward to working with you during the 2019 legislative session, providing technical assistance to the prevention community, and keeping you updated with email alerts and statewide prevention calls. Please consider renewing your membership or becoming a new member today--WASAVP is a membership organization and relies on the financial support of our members. We offer many membership options for individual advocates, coalitions and community organizations. We very much appreciate your support.