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United States Federal Drug Policy

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Addiction Medicine

Abstract

The United States federal government plays an active role in setting and implementing drug policy. Federal agencies define the legal status of drugs and penalties for their trafficking and misuse; enforce drug-control laws; fund and conduct drug-abuse research, treatment, prevention, and public-information campaigns; and conduct drug-control operations abroad. Federal spending on drug control has increased dramatically in recent decades, with the “War on Drugs”, and is now approximately 14 billion dollars. The balance between public-health and law-enforcement approaches to combating drug abuse historically has shifted back and forth; the most recent developments suggest a turn toward public health. The policymaking process is often driven by political concerns more than evidence, and the objectives and effectiveness of federal policy are hotly disputed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Some states impose controls on the sale and use of substances not covered under the federal schedules, such as nitrous oxide and amyl nitrite [11]. Pseudoephedrine is widely used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, and medicines containing pseudoephedrine are separately regulated under an amendment to the USA Patriot Act [18].

  2. 2.

    The scheduling procedure may be bypassed when an international treaty requires controlling a drug, or “to avoid an imminent hazard to the public safety” [2].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Policy, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, USA

    Angela Hawken

  2. BOTEC Analysis Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jonathan D. Kulick

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  2. Jonathan D. Kulick
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Correspondence to Angela Hawken .

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  1. , Depts Psychiat & Neurobehav Sciences, Me, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22908, Virginia, USA

    Bankole A. Johnson

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Hawken, A., Kulick, J.D. (2010). United States Federal Drug Policy. In: Johnson, B. (eds) Addiction Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0338-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0338-9_3

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