Drugs and Drug Policy

Drugs and Drug Policy

Author: Mark A.R. Kleiman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011-07-13

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0199831386

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While there have always been norms and customs around the use of drugs, explicit public policies--regulations, taxes, and prohibitions--designed to control drug abuse are a more recent phenomenon. Those policies sometimes have terrible side-effects: most prominently the development of criminal enterprises dealing in forbidden (or untaxed) drugs and the use of the profits of drug-dealing to finance insurgency and terrorism. Neither a drug-free world nor a world of free drugs seems to be on offer, leaving citizens and officials to face the age-old problem: What are we going to do about drugs? In Drugs and Drug Policy, three noted authorities survey the subject with exceptional clarity, in this addition to the acclaimed series, What Everyone Needs to Know®. They begin, by defining "drugs," examining how they work in the brain, discussing the nature of addiction, and exploring the damage they do to users. The book moves on to policy, answering questions about legalization, the role of criminal prohibitions, and the relative legal tolerance for alcohol and tobacco. The authors then dissect the illicit trade, from street dealers to the flow of money to the effect of catching kingpins, and show the precise nature of the relationship between drugs and crime. They examine treatment, both its effectiveness and the role of public policy, and discuss the beneficial effects of some abusable substances. Finally they move outward to look at the role of drugs in our foreign policy, their relationship to terrorism, and the ugly politics that surround the issue. Crisp, clear, and comprehensive, this is a handy and up-to-date overview of one of the most pressing topics in today's world. What Everyone Needs to Know® is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.


Federal Narcotics Laws and the War on Drugs

Federal Narcotics Laws and the War on Drugs

Author: Thomas C Rowe

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-04-15

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13: 1135798753

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We’re losing the “war on drugs”—but the fight isn’t over yet Federal Narcotics Laws and the War on Drugs examines our current anti-drug programs and policies, explains why they have failed, and presents a plan to fix them. Author Thomas C. Rowe, who has been educating college students on recreational drug use for nearly 30 years, exposes the truth about anti-drug programs he believes were conceived in ignorance of the drugs themselves and motivated by racial/cultural bias. This powerful book advocates a shift in federal spending to move funds away from the failed elements of the “war on drugs” toward policies with a more realistic chance to succeed—the drug courts, education, and effective treatment. Common myths and misconceptions about drugs have produced anti-drug programs that don’t work, won’t work, and waste millions of dollars. Federal Narcotics Laws and the War on Drugs looks at how—and why—this has happened and what can be done to correct it. The book is divided into “How did we get into this mess?” which details the history of anti-narcotic legislation, how drug agencies evolved, and the role played by Harry Anslinger, Commissioner of the United States Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962; “What works and what doesn’t work,” which looks at the failure of interdiction efforts and the negative consequences that have resulted with a particular focus on the problems of prisons balanced against the drug court system; and a third section that serves as an overview of various recreational drugs, considers arguments for and against drug legalization, and offers suggestions for more effective methods than our current system allows. Federal Narcotics Laws and the War on Drugs also examines: the creation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics current regulations and structures current federal sentencing guidelines current state of the courts and the prison system mandatory sentencing and what judges think interdiction for heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, and marijuana early education efforts the DARE program drug use trends drug treatment models the debate over legalization Federal Narcotics Laws and the War on Drugs also includes several appendices of federal budget figures, cocaine and heroin purity and price, and federal bureau of prisons statistics. This unique book is required reading for anyone concerned about the drug problem in the United States and what is—and isn’t—being done to correct it.


The American Disease

The American Disease

Author: David F. Musto

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 0195125096

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The American Disease is a classic study of the development of drug laws in the United States. Supporting the theory that Americans' attitudes toward drugs have followed a cyclic pattern of tolerance and restraint, author David F. Musto examines the relationz between public outcry and the creation of prohibitive drug laws from the end of the Civil War up to the present. Originally published in 1973, and then in an expanded edition in 1987, this third edition contains a new chapter and preface that both address the renewed debate on policy and drug legislation from the end of the Reagan administration to the current Clinton administration. Here, Musto thoroughly investigates how our nation has dealt with such issues as the controversies over prevention programs and mandatory minimum sentencing, the catastrophe of the crack epidemic, the fear of a heroin revival, and the continued debate over the legalization of marijuana.


Treating Drug Problems:

Treating Drug Problems:

Author: Committee for the Substance Abuse Coverage Study

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1992-01-01

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9780309043960

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Treating Drug Problems, Volume 2 presents a wealth of incisive and accessible information on the issue of drug abuse and treatment in America. Several papers lay bare the relationship between drug treatment and other aspects of drug policy, including a powerful overview of twentieth century narcotics use in America and a unique account of how the federal government has built and managed the drug treatment system from the 1960s to the present. Two papers focus on the criminal justice system. The remaining papers focus on Employer policies and practices toward illegal drugs. Patterns and cycles of cocaine use in subcultures and the popular culture. Drug treatment from a marketing, supply-and-demand perspective, including an analysis of policy options. Treating Drug Problems, Volume 2 provides important information to policy makers and administrators, drug treatment specialists, and researchers.


Pain Management and the Opioid Epidemic

Pain Management and the Opioid Epidemic

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2017-09-28

Total Pages: 483

ISBN-13: 0309459575

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Drug overdose, driven largely by overdose related to the use of opioids, is now the leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States. The ongoing opioid crisis lies at the intersection of two public health challenges: reducing the burden of suffering from pain and containing the rising toll of the harms that can arise from the use of opioid medications. Chronic pain and opioid use disorder both represent complex human conditions affecting millions of Americans and causing untold disability and loss of function. In the context of the growing opioid problem, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched an Opioids Action Plan in early 2016. As part of this plan, the FDA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a committee to update the state of the science on pain research, care, and education and to identify actions the FDA and others can take to respond to the opioid epidemic, with a particular focus on informing FDA's development of a formal method for incorporating individual and societal considerations into its risk-benefit framework for opioid approval and monitoring.