University of Alabama study may be key to winning war on drugs

While the decriminalization effort Measure 110 failed to fully meet the mark, the Health Justice Recovery Alliance joined forces with local law enforcement to create a pilot program that helped locals struggling with addiction. Through the program, police can contact an outreach worker who will come to the scene and connect the person struggling with addiction to support services such as detox care and housing, helping lead them toward long-term recovery. So far, the pilot program has helped over 200 people.

After the Oregon Legislature voted to reverse a law decriminalizing drug possession for personal use in response to a spike in overdoses, advocates attributed the legislation’s failure to poor implementation, complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and inadequate time to produce results.

In less than three and a half years, Safeworks, the only supervised drug-use site in Calgary, saved thousands of people from opioid-overdose deaths and helped users for whom abstinence-based treatment didn't work. The government of Alberta deemed the site a scene of "chaos" and ordered it closed once two new sites open. Safeworks supporters oppose the disruption in harm-reduction work that move would bring, considering how critical personal relationships built on trust are to this kind of service.

Fifty years on, America's war on drugs has failed at its principal goals: to eradicate illicit drug use and sales, to repair communities damaged by the drug trade, and to prevent drug-related deaths. Despite massive amounts spent on law enforcement, which has created great social harms and fueled incarceration, drug use has rebounded to 40-year highs, drug overdose deaths are peaking, and supply of illegal drugs is abundant. Policy advocates say a combination of legalization and public-health approaches to the problems would accomplish more than the wasteful, ineffective "war" mentality used to date.

Drug courts can help some people with serious drug problems who face serious criminal charges, if such court programs are run carefully, based on evidence-based approaches. But, too often, such courts – which push criminal defendants into treatment as an alternative to incarceration – can do more harm than good. The proof of drug courts' effectiveness is mixed, and fairly thin. Thousands of such courts exist, based on widespread political support for an approach seen as less punitive. But many critics say the courts' track record overall is weak and their approach can be just another form of punishment.

Supervised injection sites in Canada have prevented hundreds of heroin overdose deaths. Now, New York City is looking to follow Canada's lead with a city-wide initiative to establish safe injection sites. While the Trump Administration is not in support of such sites, experts believe that it is unlikely that the federal government would interfere with a site if a city is in support of it.

The Cleveland VA developed a program to curb the number of opioid prescriptions given by their doctors by using evidence-based, best practice pain management. Physicians are connected with a training program about effective pain management, and connected with pain-management specialist teams so that they can consult on specific cases. This program has been effective in reducing the number of opioid prescriptions, and in relieving pain for patients in a sustainable way.

Drug-assisted recovery has proved to be very effective for people seeking sobriety from opiate addiction. Drugs such as Suboxone, Methadone, and Vivitrol help addicts by eliminating the ability to get high on opiates and curbing their craving. These drugs combined with psycho and behavioral therapy can help people achieve long-term recovery.

Drug court programs serve as an alternative to incarceration for people dealing with substance abuse. The treatment-based approach provides medical treatment, counseling, education assistance, and employment assistance.

Since 2018, Judge Jason Lidyard of Rio Arriba County, N.M., has forged a new model for a drug court. Instead of demanding abstinence from drugs as the price to stay out of jail, Lidyard uses respect and personal relationships to seek a redefinition of success: making substance abuse less deadly and less socially crippling. Violating the court's requirements to get treatment results in more help, not jail. The less punitive approach seemed to reduce overdoses until a new fentanyl surge complicated the picture. Almost all of the people who've gone through the court have avoided new felony arrests.