Drug fact sheets produced by the Drug Policy Alliance about the science, use, and effects of ten different classes of drugs.
Cannabis/marijuana
Seminar: Drug Law Enforcement and the Bill of Rights
Abbreviated syllabus and reading list for Drug Law Enforcement and the Bill of Rights Seminar taught by Dr. Sarah Brady Siff at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. The seminar offers a constitutional legal history of drug control in the United States.
Link: https://u.osu.edu/teachingdrugs/files/2021/02/DrugLawEnforcementandtheBillofRights.pdf
Toward Healthy Drug Policy in the United States – The Case of Safehouse
This work focuses on critiquing the past views on drug policy and calls on the Controlled Substance Act’s failure to control the supply of drugs and thereby reduce drug-related harms.
Sourced from the New England Journal of Medicine.
Points Blog Teaching Points
Points is a Joint Blog of the Alcohol & Drugs History Society and the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy. Explore the history-focused blog’s posts related to teaching and education. Posts include webinars, syllabi, and other resources for those teaching the history of drugs and alcohol in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Link: https://pointshistory.com/category/features/teaching-points/
A Pitiful Sanctuary
“As they enter, the bathroom door clicks decisively behind them. Escaping from the bustling clinic lobby, they are alone, finally hidden to do what their mind and body are demanding: dissolve the pain and stem the symptoms of withdrawal.”
– Sourced from bio in link
Link: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2736567
Assessing the effects of medical marijuana laws on marijuana use: the devil is in the details
“This paper sheds light on previous inconsistencies identified in the literature regarding the relationship between medical marijuana laws (MMLs) and recreational marijuana use by closely examining the importance of policy dimensions (registration requirements, home cultivation, dispensaries) and the timing of when particular policy dimensions are enacted.”
– Sourced from bio in link
The Catch-22 of Drug Courts
This episode details and unpacks several issues with drug courts and how they oftentimes are masked as being compassionate, when in reality their practices often fall short of justice.
Link: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-breach/episode/the-catch-22-of-drug-courts-58340045
COVID-19 – Enacting a ‘new normal’ for people who use drugs
“This commentary presents a set of recommendations to UN agencies, governments, donor agencies, academics, researchers and civil society, challenging these actors to work alongside people who use drugs to enact a new reality based on solidarity and cooperation, protection of health, restoration of rights and dignity and most importantly to mobilize to win the peace.”
– Sourced from bio in link
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395920301730
Flashback to the Federal Analog Act of 1986: Mixing Rules and Standards in the Cauldron
This resource details the differences in standards for illicit drugs and synthetic versions of those drugs dating back to the enactment of the Federal Analog Act of 1986. This act stated that if a synthetic drug has chemical structures close enough to the drug it means to imitate that it will also be outlawed. This law has been far-reaching in what and who it impacts, making it an Act worth revisiting more than 20 years later.
Drug Use Series
Sourced from the Executive Summary in the link below:
“The drug use landscape is dynamic and changing. Changes in public attitudes and laws towards drug use have occurred in an increasing number of countries. Global drug production and consumption are increasing as are the risks and harms to health, while new substances continue to emerge. This Series focuses on opioids, cannabinoids, stimulants, and new psychoactive substances. The Series authors review the evidence on the epidemiology of drug use and related harms and interventions (treatment and policies) to address them. They highlight issues that are likely to become increasingly important in the next decade.”