There have been promising developments in recent years in the fight to reduce overdose deaths. But barriers to drug checking and other overdose prevention tools remain throughout the country, writes fellow Katharine Neill Harris.

To access the full working paper, download the PDF on the left-hand sidebar. 

I. Overview

H.R. 5376, previously known…

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s investment policies, which aim to return Mexico to the protectionist, state-led policies of the 1960s and 1970s, seem almost certain to stagnate the country’s economy.

This October the U.S. and Mexico agreed on a new bilateral security program, but "unless the United States and Mexico pursue domestic structural reforms ... both nations risk backsliding to the failures of the drug wars," writes MGA student and Drug Policy guest contributor Sidney Phillips.

The recent shift toward legalization has not been enough to undo the racism endemic to U.S. cannabis policy. The authors lay out policies to improve equity and erase the racist legacy of prohibition.

Although Texans broadly support relaxing cannabis laws and other criminal justice reforms, state leaders continue the war on drugs and other policies that propagate systemic racism, writes fellow Katharine Neill Harris.

The current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border is neither a unique crisis nor the result (yet) of President Biden’s policy changes.

Fellow Katharine Neill Harris testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on the failed war on drugs and solutions based on racial justice and harm reduction.

Effective drug policy requires acceptance that, for better or worse, licit and illicit drug use is part of our world. The authors recommend several steps the federal government can take to facilitate more pragmatic and effective drug policy at all levels of government.

In testimony before the Texas House of Representatives Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, Neill Harris expressed support for limiting arrests for fine-only offenses and expanding cite-and-release eligibility to include nonviolent misdemeanors and low-level drug possession. These changes will save taxpayers money and reduce the racially disparate burdens of incarceration without compromising public safety, she said.