Controlled Substance Law and Policy

Catalog description

Under the Controlled Substances Act, the federal government labels certain drugs that it determines have “abuse potential” as “controlled substances” and places those drugs into a 5 classification “schedule.” Controlled substances include both illegal drugs, such as heroin, and legal pharmaceutical drugs, such as Oxycontin. This course focuses on federal and state regulation (criminal, administrative, and civil) of these drugs, people who use drugs, and health care providers (individuals and institutions) who prescribe, dispense, and distribute controlled substances. The course will also address the ways in which drug law and policy (including the failed “war on drugs”) and drug exceptionalism in the application of health care laws induces and enables inequities and discrimination across a range of settings. The course will utilize interdisciplinary approaches to examine the expanding disconnect between existing research and the purported purposes and effects of drug laws.