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Carrots, Sticks And Problem Drug Use: The Law Enforcement Lobby's Contribution To The Policy Discourse On Drug Use & The Opioid Crisis, Taleed El-Sabawi
Carrots, Sticks And Problem Drug Use: The Law Enforcement Lobby's Contribution To The Policy Discourse On Drug Use & The Opioid Crisis, Taleed El-Sabawi
Faculty Publications
Despite the growing support for the idea that problem drug use should be treated like a chronic medical disease, some law enforcement interest groups, including trial court judges associations, prosecuting attorneys associations, and police associations (“law enforcement groups” or “criminal justice actors”), continue to argue for the use of the criminal justice system to address the nation’s drug crises. The justification for the use of the criminal justice system to oversee the psychological and medical treatment of persons with substance use disorders (SUDs) is based on the belief that persons with SUDs are deviants, who cannot refrain from engaging in …
The Role Of Pressure Groups And Problem Definition In Crafting Legislative Solutions To The Opioid Crisis, Taleed El-Sabawi
The Role Of Pressure Groups And Problem Definition In Crafting Legislative Solutions To The Opioid Crisis, Taleed El-Sabawi
Faculty Publications
Organized interest groups and federal administrative agencies have historically been influential in defining problem drug use during nationwide crisis. As such, the manner in which these pressure groups defined the problem may have influenced or, at least, provided support for legislators’ decisions to shy away from a criminal justice approach and towards acceptance of a more “health-oriented” — one that did not comprehensively address demand factors or demonstrate a commitment to reforming U.S. drug policy to meet international standards of best practice. In an effort to provide a snapshot of what such involvement may look like, this article explores the …
What Motivates Legislators To Act: Problem Definition & The Opioid Epidemic, A Case Study, Taleed El-Sabawi
What Motivates Legislators To Act: Problem Definition & The Opioid Epidemic, A Case Study, Taleed El-Sabawi
Faculty Publications
This article explores why federal legislators may have been motivated to treat the current opioid crisis as a health issue, when past drug problems have been treated as a criminal justice issue. Using theories from political science, policy studies and sociology, this article summarizes leading theories of legislative behavior and applies them to the current opioid crisis, in an effort to better understand what motivates legislators to enact legislation to solve pressing social problems in a way that reframes the problem. Part II of this article provides an overview of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, its significance, and how …
Defining The Opioid Epidemic: Congress, Pressure Groups, And Problem Definition, Taleed El-Sabawi
Defining The Opioid Epidemic: Congress, Pressure Groups, And Problem Definition, Taleed El-Sabawi
Faculty Publications
The passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 evidences a shift in federal legislative support from criminal justice oriented legislative alternatives to more health oriented legislative alternatives to addressing the ongoing Opioid Epidemic. Such a shift was preceded by a redefinition of problem drug use in the policy discourse from an issue of deviancy to a health issue. However, the redefinition of problem drug use as a health issue, has been dominated by policy narratives and causal stories that do not define problem drug use in a manner that aligns with a multi-modal public health oriented legislative …
Editor's Observations: The Geology Of Drug Policy In 2002, Frank O. Bowman Iii
Editor's Observations: The Geology Of Drug Policy In 2002, Frank O. Bowman Iii
Faculty Publications
Public concern about drug abuse as a major issue in American life may be ebbing. The notion that "the drug war is a failure" has become the common wisdom in academic and journalistic circles. Support for routine and lengthy imprisonment of non-violent drug offenders may be eroding, even among the prosecutors, police, and judges whose job it is to enforce the law. Anger among African American, Latino, and other minority communities at the perceived discriminatory enforcement of drug laws is simmering and may begin to boil over in ways that effect the political terrain. And after the events of September …
Playing "21" With Narcotics Enforcement: A Response To Professor Carrington (Symposium, Regulatory Future Of Contingent Employment), Frank O. Bowman Iii
Playing "21" With Narcotics Enforcement: A Response To Professor Carrington (Symposium, Regulatory Future Of Contingent Employment), Frank O. Bowman Iii
Faculty Publications
Although I have fundamental disagreements with Professor Carrington even when his argument is reduced to its core, my purpose here is neither to defend every jot and tittle of national drug policy, nor to propose any sweeping personal vision of the place of recreational drugs in America. My ambitions are more modest. I suggest three premises: (1) Intelligent discussion of drug policy requires that we shed the image of law enforcement as warfare. (2) Instead, criminal narcotics prohibitions, penalties, and enforcement methods should be analyzed by the same standards which *939 govern any other type of crime. (3) If antinarcotics …