The Circle of Hope Coalition Society, which hosted the meeting, was founded three years ago to counter some of the hatred focused on addicts in the eastside. It has championed treatment as an alternative to incarceration, and dialogue as an alternative to confrontation. It advocates a harm reduction model for dealing with addiction, arguing that criminalizing addiction with an American-style "war on drugs" is futile. Instead, addiction needs to be seen as a medical problem that can only be overcome with compassionate solutions.