title: Recurring Epidemics of Pharmaceutical Drug Abuse in America: Time for an All-Drug Strategy.
abstract: Observers describe today's "epidemic" of pharmaceutical drug abuse as a recent phenomenon, but we argue that it is only the most recent of three waves stretching back more than a century. During each wave, policies have followed a similar pattern: voluntary educational campaigns, followed by supply-side policing and--sometimes--public health responses that would today be understood as "harm reduction." These experiences suggest that only broad-based application of all three approaches to users of all drugs (not just pharmaceutical drugs) can produce a reduction in drug-related harm rather than merely shifting it from one type of drug to another. This has rarely happened because policy has been shaped by the racially charged division of drug users into deserving and morally salvageable victims, or fearsome and morally repugnant criminals.
authors.affiliation: David Herzberg is with the History Department, State University of New York at Buffalo. Honoria Guarino, Pedro Mateu-Gelabert, and Alex S. Bennett are with the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc, New York, NY.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Herzberg
authors.affiliation: David Herzberg is with the History Department, State University of New York at Buffalo. Honoria Guarino, Pedro Mateu-Gelabert, and Alex S. Bennett are with the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Honoria
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guarino
authors.affiliation: David Herzberg is with the History Department, State University of New York at Buffalo. Honoria Guarino, Pedro Mateu-Gelabert, and Alex S. Bennett are with the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mateu-Gelabert
authors.affiliation: David Herzberg is with the History Department, State University of New York at Buffalo. Honoria Guarino, Pedro Mateu-Gelabert, and Alex S. Bennett are with the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Alex S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Bennett
mesh_terms: D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000517:prevention & control; D058872:Epidemics; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006801:Humans; D009270:Naloxone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D055553:Prescription Drugs; D015980:Public Health Practice
chemical_list: D055553:Prescription Drugs; D009270:Naloxone