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Policy analysis, scholarly commentary, and critical perspectives on U.S. drug policy and criminal justice.

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6 articles

Fentanyl Test Strips and Harm Reduction: What the Evidence Actually Shows

Fentanyl test strips are often presented as either a simple lifesaving technology or a dangerous invitation to drug use. The research supports a more careful conclusion: they are a feasible, behavior-shaping harm-reduction intervention whose limits matter as much as its promise.

Nov 14, 20268 min read

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Harm Reduction

Drug Policy

Do Good Samaritan Laws Save Lives? The Evidence on Overdose Calls and Legal Trust

Drug-related Good Samaritan laws are designed to make people call 911 during an overdose. Research suggests that legal immunity can help, but statutory protection alone does not reliably overcome fear, limited knowledge, or police presence.

Nov 10, 20269 min read

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Cannabis Policy

Drug Policy

Does Cannabis Legalization Reduce Drug-Related Crime? Evidence from the United States

U.S. research finds fewer cannabis-possession arrests after legalization, but mixed evidence on trafficking, violent crime, and property crime.

Nov 8, 202611 min read

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Drug Policy

Policing

Why Drug Policy Enforcement Fails: The Institutional Myths American Policing Runs On

Crank and Langworthy's (1992) foundational work on institutionalized policing raises a question that the drug policy field has not taken seriously enough: what if enforcement agencies are not built to reduce drug harm, but to look like they are?

May 10, 202616 min read

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Women in Policing

Police Leadership

Women in Police Leadership: Gender Inequality in American Law Enforcement

Female officers remain strikingly underrepresented in American police leadership. A close examination of Shjarback and Todak's (2019) national study reveals how organizational structure, institutional culture, and regional variation shape whether women advance into supervisory and management roles in law enforcement.

Apr 7, 202514 min read

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Sentencing

Race

Sentencing Disparities and the Racial Politics of Drug Enforcement

Federal drug sentencing guidelines have produced staggering racial disparities in incarceration. This essay traces the legal mechanisms, political choices, and ideological commitments that made these disparities possible — and asks what it would take to undo them.

Sep 20, 20246 min read

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