Drug and Alcohol Policy dates to Talmudic times. Ancient Rabbis established rules, or policy for their village. They told their people to avoid crossing to the neighboring village on the Sabbath because those neighbors had a reputation for excessing drinking.

Today drug policy can be extremely liberal - allowing free drug trade with no consequences, or very harsh - the death penalty for drug dealing. Smart drug policy strikes the right balance.

Paul J. Larkin is the John, Barbara, and Victoria Rumpel Senior Legal Research Fellow in the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Larkin works on criminal justice policy, drug policy, and regulatory policy. Before joining Heritage in September 2011, Larkin held various positions with the federal government in Washington, D.C. At the U.S. Department of Justice from 1984 to 1993, Paul served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General and argued 27 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He also was an attorney in the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. In 1996-1997, Larkin served as Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and head of the Crime Unit for Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), then the panel’s chairman. He worked in the Environmental Protection Agency from 1998 to 2004 as a special agent for criminal enforcement, eventually becoming Special Agent-in-Charge and serving as Acting Director of the EPA Criminal Investigation Division in 2004. His honors include the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, which he received in 1994 for representing the military before the Supreme Court. In the private sector, he worked at two top law firms in Washington, D.C., and as Assistant General Counsel for Verizon Communications from 2004 to 2009. Larkin received his law degree in 1980 from Stanford Law School, where he was a published member of the Stanford Law Review. He clerked for Judge Robert H. Bork of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In 2010, he received a master’s degree in Public Policy from George Washington University. He also holds a bachelor of arts degree in Philosophy from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where he graduated summa cum laude with honors in Philosophy. Born and raised in New York, New York, Larkin is a life-long New York Yankees and New York Giants fan.

Fentanyl is the public health crisis of our times with 300 deaths a day from drugs, 60% driven by fentanyl. It is a humanitarian crisis. Fentanyl is a weapon of mass destruction. Quick fentanyl detection is important, and nanotechnology is playing a big role.

Dr. Shalini Prasad’s research focuses on designing miniature cellular and molecular platforms, with the goal of creating faster and more affordable clinical diagnostics.

She is currently a Cecil H. and Ida Green Professor in Systems Biology and a professor in the Department of Bioengineering. She also holds an adjunct appointment as professor in the Department of Physics at Portland State University.

Prasad is the director of the Biomedical Microdevices and Nanotechnology Lab, which has supported 22 graduate researchers and 30 undergraduate researchers over the last eight years. Her multi-disciplinary work includes the engineering of multi-functional nanomaterials for designing portable devices and platforms for cellular and molecular diagnostics. Her research improves devices for faster, more affordable and accurate diagnosis of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and cardiovascular diseases.

Prasad earned her doctoral degree in electrical engineering in 2004 from the University of California, Riverside. Her multidisciplinary research work won her the graduate student research award in 2004. From 2005 to 2008, she worked as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Portland State University and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Oregon Health Sciences University.

From 2008 to 2010, she worked as a research assistant professor and a content expert in the area of organic/inorganic interfaces for the Arizona State University node of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network and ASU’s Center for Solid State Electronics Research. From 2010 to 2011, she was an associate professor at Wichita State University in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Bomhoff Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering.

Prasad’s research work has been supported by a number of federal and state agencies as well as corporate entities. She has more than 30 peer-reviewed journal publications and is the recipient of a number of awards in the area of nano-biotechnology.

College is a special time in a young person's life. It is a time of personal growth and learning. It is often the first time to live alone away from home. Freedom. Yet colleges pride themselves as being a top party school, like a badge of honor. Responsibility. While on spring break, 22 year old Riley Strain died because of such partying. His alcohol level was 0.228% and his THC level was over 50mg/ml, higher than the machines even test for. May his memory be a blessing for his family. May no other college students have such party experiences.

Rich Lucey has more than three decades of experience at the state and federal government levels working to prevent alcohol and drug use and misuse among youth and young adults, especially college students. He currently serves as a senior prevention program manager in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Community Outreach and Prevention Support Section. Rich plans and executes educational and public information programs, evaluates program goals and outcomes, and serves as an advisor to the Section Chief and other DEA officials on drug misuse prevention and education programs. Rich formerly served as special assistant to the director for the federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and worked as an education program specialist in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

Erin Ficker is an expert in substance misuse prevention, an accomplished training and technical assistance (T/TA) provider and a certified senior prevention specialist. She brings extensive expertise in supporting, designing, and delivering engaging professional learning, and providing comprehensive T/TA for states and community level prevention professionals. For over 18 years, she has built the capacity of clients to perform prevention work effectively using the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF). She has in-depth knowledge and training experience in the SPF process, including specific work in evaluation, sustainability, assessment, and working with diverse populations.

Erin currently serves as a regional director in SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Technical Assistance Center (SPTAC) working to provide training and technical assistance to SAMHSA state and community grantees across HHS Regions 5 and 8. She also serves as a prevention manager for the Great Lakes Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC) providing services to a wide range of prevention and behavioral health specialists. Erin holds an MPA in Domestic and Social Policy from the University of Texas-Austin and a BA in Sociology from The Evergreen State College. She also holds a certification as a Senior Prevention Specialist through the Illinois Certification Board.

www.DEA.GOV/onepill

CampusDrugPrevention.gov

https://www.campusdrugprevention.gov

They devil is in the details, or lack of details when in comes to Amendment 3, Florida's ballot initiative on legalizing marijuana. When California and other states legalized weed without including regulations and consumer protections, babies were poisoned, people were exposed to pesticides and contaminants, high potency products proliferated, emergency visits for cannabis poisoning skyrocketed, and people experience second hand smoke on a regular basis. We hope Florida learns from the mistakes of California.

Dr. Jessica Spencer set the foundation for her work in the field of substance abuse prevention by earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminology from the University of Tampa and working with at risk juvenile and adult populations in the Tampa area. Spurred on by a desire to contribute more to her field, she subsequently rounded out her education with a master’s degree in substance abuse counseling and education and a doctorate of education in organizational leadership with a focus on substance abuse prevention and treatment. Her dissertation topic was examining strength-based treatment planning with adolescents.

She is a certified prevention and addictions professional with over 24 years in the prevention and treatment field. Dr. Spencer has developed the ability to quickly identify and resolve issues through conventional and unconventional means bringing meaningful growth to agencies, community groups, and coalitions. Over the years, Jessica has served on many mental health and substance abuse prevention community boards.

She served as the face of the Vote No on two campaigns to defeat the proposed constitutional amendments to legalize marijuana for medical purposes during the 2014 and 2016 campaign cycles. She signed on to the No on 3 campaign team this year as director of advocacy to help defeat the amendment because it is a bad plan for Florida.

In a study of 11,363 individuals with no psychotic disorder, cannabis use increased the risk of psychosis by 11 fold for ages 12 – 19. I spoke with master behind the research.

André McDonald, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist and postdoctoral fellow at McMaster University’s Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research and Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research. Dr. McDonald’s research focuses on the intersection between mental health and addictions among youth. Currently, his primary interest is in understanding the link between youth cannabis use and risk of mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. Dr. McDonald is supported by a Fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Dr. McDonald completed his PhD in epidemiology and MPH in social and behavioural health sciences at the University of Toronto while working at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Prior to his graduate studies, he worked in Nunavut (Canada’s northernmost territory) on mental health and addictions issues among Inuit. Overall, he has over 10 years of experience working in the field of public health in both research and policy roles.

There is a lot to learn from the history of Big Tobacco, and we can get that history from Professor Richard Daynard, the man who went after Big Tobacco.

Professor Daynard is at the forefront of an international movement to establish the legal responsibility of the tobacco industry for tobacco-induced death, disease and disability. He is president of the law school’s Public Health Advocacy Institute, chairs its Tobacco Products Liability Project and helped initiate its new Center for Public Health Litigation. Recently, he has worked with PHAI on issues involving obesity, gambling, opioids, gun control and e-cigarettes.

Professor Daynard has written or co-authored more than 90 articles. He teaches in the areas of public health law, strategic litigation and interdisciplinary studies, and has lectured about legal issues in the control of tobacco and obesity in 54 countries as well as chaired 25 national and international conferences on these subjects. Professor Daynard is frequently honored, most recently with Northeastern University’s Pioneer Award. In 2019, he received the Robert Morris, Sr. Award for Courage in Litigation from the Massachusetts chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

Professor Daynard has been the principal investigator in grants and contracts from the National Cancer Institute, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the American Legacy Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Professor Daynard’s academic interests currently center of the intersections among law, public policy and the behavioral sciences, and he teaches courses in the field both to law students and to undergraduate honors students.

What are the ethics in public health and addiction treatment? Is it for the better good of the public or the individual? Does the definition change when it comes to drugs?

Nicholas B. King is an associate professor in the Biomedical Ethics Unit and Department of Social Studies of Medicine, and associate member of Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health at McGill University. He directs the Montreal Health Equity Research Consortium (MHERC), a multi-disciplinary project investigating health and health equity research and policies. Dr. King conducts research in the following areas: (1) The role of social context, framing effects, and biases in the production and interpretation of health information; (2) Public health ethics and policy, including the ethics of biosecurity and public health preparedness; and (3) Health inequalities and the social determinants of health. He has published in the BMJ, PLOS Medicine, the American Journal of Public Health, and the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.