Every week we hear another story about how the heroin epidemic is ravaging communities across America. It is clear that drugs remain a complex problem, despite the investment of billions of dollars and many years into potential solutions. This class critically analyzes the varying approaches (e.g., scientific, public policy, law enforcement, and more) that have been applied to the drug problem.

For example, after more than 50 years of scientific research, we have extensive knowledge of how drugs work on the brain, but little progress has been made in reducing rates of drug addiction. Why?

Are the right scientific questions being asked? Or is the problem one of translation from the laboratory to the real world?

Similarly, law enforcement efforts have increased dramatically since the passage of the Controlled Substance Act in 1970. Yet illegal drugs are as abundant as ever, based on historical rates of use. Further, some drug policies have resulted in bigger problems for society, such as the vast racial disparities in incarceration for drugs offenses.

In this class, students engage with these questions and think not only about the problem but also about the possible solutions. Students design a plan to deal with one or multiple facets of the drug problem and develop a proposal on how to implement their plan. The goal of this course is for the students to think of an effective approach to the problem of mind-altering drugs and to think of creative solution/strategies with their advantages and limitations.