Student presentation reviewing regulatory approaches to wide array of sybstances

The third of a set of student presentations taking place in my Marijuana Law, Policy and Reform class this week will be a wide array of regulatory structures for a wide array of drugs. Here is how my student has described his topic along with background readings he has provided for classmates (and the rest of us):

This project critically examines the historical and contemporary regulatory approaches adopted by the U.S. government towards the control and management of various drugs and substances, including alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, opioids, crack/cocaine, methamphetamine, synthetic drugs, and psilocybin. Through a comprehensive review of legislative actions, enforcement strategies, and public health outcomes, we identify core errors and missteps in drug regulation, categorizing them into themes such as the influence of political and industry agendas, racial biases and social inequalities, disregard for scientific evidence, reactive regulatory measures, overreliance on prohibition and criminalization, underestimation of cultural and social factors, and the lack of early intervention and harm reduction strategies.

By dissecting these errors, the paper illuminates the multifaceted consequences of these regulatory approaches, including the perpetuation of social injustices, the exacerbation of public health crises, and the inefficacy of prohibitionist policies. The analysis is underpinned by an interdisciplinary framework that integrates insights from public health, social sciences, policy analysis, and law, offering a holistic understanding of the complexities inherent in drug regulation.

Drawing on the lessons learned from these regulatory missteps, evidence suggests a forward-looking perspective on drug policy that emphasizes the importance of science-based approaches, equity, harm reduction, and adaptability to changing societal attitudes and technical understandings. We argue for a paradigm shift towards policies that prioritize public health and social welfare, grounded in a nuanced understanding of the socio-economic and cultural dimensions of drug use. The paper concludes with actionable recommendations for policymakers, suggesting a roadmap for reforming drug regulation in a manner that addresses past errors while meeting the challenges of the future.

Background Materials on Specific Drugs:

Tobacco: Cummings KM, Ballin S, Sweanor D. The past is not the future in tobacco control. Prev Med. (Nov 2020) 

Alcohol: Mark Thornton, Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure, Cato Inst., (July 17, 1991) 

Marijuana:  Wikipedia entry on legal history of cannabis 

Opioids: Jones MR, Viswanath O, Peck J, Kaye AD, Gill JS, Simopoulos TT. A Brief History of the Opioid Epidemic and Strategies for Pain Medicine. Pain Ther. (June 2018) ;  How FDA Failures Contributed to the Opioid Crisis, Andrew Kolodny, MD – AMA J Ethics. (August 2020) 

Crack/cocaine: Racial Double Standard in Drug Laws Persists Today, Equal Justice Initiative (12/9/2019);  Twenty Years of the Unjust Federal Crack Cocaine Law, ACLU, (Oct. 2006)

Methamphetamine: PBS Frontline, Timeline on “history and spread of meth”

Psilocybin: van Elk M, Fried EI. History repeating: guidelines to address common problems in psychedelic science. Ther Adv Psychopharmacol. (Sept 2023)

Synthetic Drugs (Fentanyl, Bath Salts, Spice (K2), etc.): Vera Institue, In the Fentanyl Crisis, Lawmakers Are Making the Same Mistakes (Aug 2023)