ASAM sent a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture and the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, supporting the inclusion of the Re-Entry Support Through Opportunities for Resources and Essentials (RESTORE) Act of 2023 (H.R. 3479/S.1753) in the 2023 Farm Bill. The RESTORE Act would repeal the lifetime ban on individuals with drug-related felony convictions from receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. In addition, it would allow individuals who are incarcerated to apply for SNAP benefits up to 30 days prior to release. The RESTORE Act would help mitigate the disproportionate impact that drug-related felony offenses have had on minoritized individuals, with lifetime ramifications to receiving public assistance benefits. In addition, a stable source of food is particularly important to the remission and recovery of individuals with substance use disorder, who are included among individuals with drug-related felony convictions, as it helps mitigate stress reactivity, which is part of the cycle of compulsive substance use despite adverse consequences.

Read the letter here.