The organizations represented as members of the Coalition at the national level consist of the National Bar Association, the National Medical Association, the Black Psychiatrists of America, Inc., the National Dental Association, the National Black Nurses Association, Inc., the National Black Prosecutors Association, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the National Black Police Association, the National Black Alcoholism & Addictions Council, Inc. the National Association of Black Social Workers, Inc., the National Organization of African Americans in Housing, the National Alliance of Black School Educators, Black Administrators in Child Welfare, Inc., Association of Black Psychologists, Association of Black Sociologists, National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, National Association of Health Services Executives, the Association of Black Health System Pharmacists, National Conference of Black Political Scientists, the National Historical Black Colleges and Universities Substance Abuse Consortium, and others.   These member organizations have come together to combine their efforts, to draw upon the talents and abilities of their respective members, and to speak with a unified voice to promote treating drug addiction and dependency in the United States as a disease to be treated medically and with a public health approach as an alternative to criminal prosecution and incarceration as a criminal justice matter with respect to possession of small quantities of illegal drugs or selling small quantities merely to get one’s own supply because of the craving or compulsion to use drugs or the excessive use of alcohol.   In addition, these groups have decided to combine their efforts to design and develop a drug education and prevention program directed to African American youth which in a realistic manner describes the medical and biological consequences of the use of illegal drugs and excessive use of alcoholic beverages, and which also encourages our youth from elementary school all the way through high school to excel in their academic studies.   These efforts  include endeavoring to influence them not to be truant or to drop out of school by providing counselor-mentors starting in the eighth grade to students who wish to go to college or to enter the technology field in the particular profession the student may wish to pursue or career field the student wishes to enter.  This program will also include arranging meaningful internships for them in their chosen areas when they get to be juniors and seniors in high school as an incentive to stay in school and thus not to drop out.   

These member organizations have also decided to unify their efforts to give past offenders released from jails and prisons a real opportunity to rejoin society and be productive citizens, by uniting them with churches and counselor-mentors to help them find affordable housing upon release, to get into a job training program or educational program which will prepare them for a meaningful employment area in which they can advance and maintain a reasonable and lawful lifestyle, and thus be influenced not to return to a life of crime.  

            The local Chapter will embrace and endeavor to carry out programs to achieve these objectives in the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.   Among the founding members of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter are many outstanding citizens. Leading the Chapter will be Co-Chair Michael Guynn MA, who has served as a Past President of the Association of Black Social Worker’s of Greater Los Angeles and Co-Chair Dr. Ronald Beavers, a psychologist and CEO of Positive-Imagery Foundation.

            Senior Judge Arthur L. Burnett, Sr., the National Executive Director, observed in issuing this new Chapter its Charter, that with these members as the leaders of the NAADPC – Greater Los Angeles Chapter, the National organization is proud to recognize the establishment of this Chapter and fully expects it to be a model and leader for the Nation in the example it will set in addressing the problems of substance abuse, related mental illness, juvenile delinquency and criminal justice, and in improving the quality of healthcare, reducing juvenile delinquency and crime in Los Angeles, California and improving public safety and the quality of life for all the citizens of the Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan area.  

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