Drugs and Rehab: Selected Resources

If you’re interested in learning more about drug addiction and the rehabilitation programs that try to fight it, it’s easy to become  overwhelmed by the myriad articles, books, and other resources on the topic. To simplify matters, here are five good places to start.

• This briefing paper from the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance looked at the impact of Portuguese policy decriminalizing drugs and was based on a 2018 visit to Portugal by 70 U.S. advocates.
• This 2009 report from the libertarian Cato Institute by journalist and lawyer Glenn Greenwald examined the legal scope of Portugal’s decriminalization of drugs and its “resounding success.”
• This report from the Sentencing Project examines the sources of the opioid crisis in the U.S., surveys federal and state policy responses, and uses lessons from past drug crises to provide policy recommendations.
• This step-by-step guide for people grappling with drug addictions, and their loved ones, offers advice from the Center on Addiction on how to navigate the complex world of drug treatment.
• Drug overdose trends —from the National Institutes of Health.