Representative Leslie Herod knows what it's like to have a family member struggle with addiction and incarceration. But she also knows that this is more a failure of a greater system than a failure of a sibling, and that’s informed the policy and programs she’s spearheaded around mental health, substance misuse, and the criminal justice system. Nzinga and Representative Herod talk about how current systems of policing and treating substance misuse not only bypass treating mental health, but often make it worse. Luckily, Representative Herod has a program in Denver, Colorado that has actually worked.

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