Center for Substance Abuse Policy Research

The current drug policy situation, domestically and internationally, is at best confused, and at worst, dangerously incoherent. Misleading data and unsound arguments are driving global policies, while proven strategies are abandoned. We believe that the situation requires an effective non-government effort to challenge misinformation, and strengthen a commitment to policies that work.

U.S. federal policy domestically appears in disarray, beset by budget challenges and wavering vision, at a time when drug use is rising, drug consequences are mounting, and core policy principles are threatened. An effective response to the current situation must include four elements: correcting misinformation, documenting harms, presenting specific countermeasures, and targeting these efforts effectively, getting that material to those who can take needed action.

The Center for Substance Abuse Policy Research seeks to establish a reliable public awareness of the dangers of drug abuse generally, and to help guide the emergence of new strategies validated by science, medicine, and actual practice.

The Center is served by a collection of policy makers, thinkers, and scientists each of whom has direct experience in driving research, setting strategies, and managing programs at the highest levels of federal policy. Moreover, their policy experience and expertise spans the horizon of drug control challenges, ranging from demand reduction to effective supply control, and includes dimensions of prevention, treatment, challenging criminal organizations, and crafting international policies to end drug production and lawlessness.

Through an array of policy studies and commentaries, press appearances, Congressional briefings, and expert panels, the Center will not only shape the debate about substance abuse but will seek to change the policy direction of the nation’s response.

Not only will we present the most recent national and international data on drug policy, we will monitor, digest, and explain current research findings in medicine, brain science, econometrics, and the substance abuse community’s findings and responses. We believe that the actual scientific and epidemiological data concerning drug harms are robust and clear.

Importantly, the Center’s staff are able to couple their analysis and comprehension of the nature of the problem facing us with effective measures that can be acted upon by public officials, educators, and citizens.