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. 2020 Sep:83:102901.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102901. Epub 2020 Aug 11.

No "back to normal" after COVID-19 for our failed drug policies

Brandon Del Pozo  1 , Leo Beletsky  2
Affiliations

No "back to normal" after COVID-19 for our failed drug policies

Brandon Del Pozo et al. Int J Drug Policy. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Before COVID-19 pandemic, advocates had long urged drug policy reforms based on health, security, civil rights, racial justice, fiscal stewardship, and other considerations. In the United States, such calls went largely unanswered. In response to COVID-19, public health and occupational safety concerns have rapidly transformed some drug policies, along with their enforcement. Almost contemporaneously, nationwide protests against violence and racism by militarized police have highlighted the enduring legacy of the Drug War in fueling carceral systems. Disruption from these historical events provides a once-in-a-century opportunity to reconsider the legal architecture of drug policy and policing-both in the U.S. and elsewhere. Rather than returning to a fundamentally broken and inequitable status quo, we urge envisioning a new drug policy in service to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Keywords: COVID-19; Controlled Substances Act; Opioid use disorder; War on drugs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interests Dr. del Pozo's work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (grant T32DA013911), and the National Institute of General Medical Science (grant P20GM125507). The institutes had no role in the preparation of this article, and the opinions expressed are the authors’ alone. Authors have no conflicts to disclose. No human subjects were involved, and no ethics approvals were required.

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