Research Library

Taking a health-based approach toward curbing the rising use of synthetic cannabinoids, which has caused dangerous and sometimes fatal side effects in extreme cases, may be a more effective policy for the City of Houston, postdoctoral fellow Katharine A. Neill writes in this report.

The author analyzes the major claims and implications of the Surgeon General's report "Facing Addiction in America," and proposes additional drug policy considerations for addressing substance use disorders.

There is broad consensus in the medical and scientific community that substance abuse should be treated as a medical and public health problem, not a crime. The authors recommend a sensible pivot from failed policies of drug prohibition toward a realistic approach to drug use.

Understood in its regional context, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs appears to be a continuation rather than a departure from Southeast Asian drug policy.

Using charts, figures and graphs of this survey data originally created by former career intelligence analyst Brian C. Bennett and updated by the Drug Policy Program, this issue brief offers an overview of drug use trends in America over the last four decades. The brief is part of a larger online project chronicling the pattern of the use and abuse of individual drugs over (in most cases) more than 40 years.

This downloadable PDF is a compilation of an extensive collection of charts that present the findings of decades of massive government survey data on drug use in the United States.

Katharine Neill, the Alfred C. Glassell, III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy, explains what you should know about the Justice Department's plan to release 6,000 nonviolent drug offenders from federal prison during four days in October and November.

In this report, the authors analyze the potential benefits of expanding jail diversion programs for low-level drug offenses in Harris County.

A new White House initiative to address rising U.S. heroin use will increase funds to pinpoint the sources of heroin as well as hot spots for drug overdoses. Baker Institute Blog: http://bit.ly/1h0W7r2

William Martin, director of the Drug Policy Program, and Katharine A. Neill, Alfred C. Glassell, III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy, testify about the likelihood of marijuana being used as a gateway to harder drugs and the effects of decriminalization on teen use rates before the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.