Decades of bad policy have heightened the risks of drug use and created barriers to treatment. And while some states are now trying to reduce the harms caused by the drug war, Texas is doubling down on ineffective policies.
The rapid adoption of telemedicine is one of the few positive developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, writes fellow Katharine Neill Harris. She explains why the DEA’s recent proposal to change the rules for prescribing drugs via telemedicine would harm patients and increase demand for and exposure to unregulated and more dangerous drugs.
Ten months after the pandemic began, partisan division is severely inhibiting the United States’ COVID-19 response. The health consequences of the continued political divide could not be clearer, as the pandemic has grown beyond many experts’ worst predictions.
Quianta Moore, Christopher F. KuleszaJanuary 12, 2021
The death of George Floyd has accelerated calls for police reform. Although decriminalizing drugs and the people who use them will not end police violence, it is part of the structural change needed to fix the problem, writes fellow Katharine Neill Harris.
Political partisanship is strongly influencing the United States’ response to Covid-19, potentially leading to a suboptimal balance between reopening the economy and protecting public health. Read more at the Baker Institute Blog.
Racial disparities in the U.S. have created vulnerabilities in certain populations and put their health at increased risk. Over time, this created a perfect storm for the pandemic to have unequal effects.
The collective trauma of the Covid-19 pandemic may provide a clearer understanding of why people use drugs — to help us see it not as a moral failing or a brain malfunction, but as a fundamentally human response to negative life events. Read more at the Baker Institute Blog.
Understanding how to interpret the signs of a child's distress as they adjust to a new way of life during Covid-19 — and how to respond appropriately — is important for a child's mental health and development.
Patrick S. Tennant, Marcy Melvin, Quianta MooreApril 27, 2020
Baker Institute health policy experts provide links to some of the sources they found helpful in understanding developments in the coronavirus outbreak.