The U.S. government’s current strategy of trying to restrict the supply of opioids for nonmedical uses is not working. While government efforts to reduce the supply has reduced both the amount of legally manufactured prescription opioids and the number of opioid prescriptions, deaths from opioid-related overdoses are nevertheless accelerating. Research shows that the increase is due, in large part, to substitution of illegal heroin and fentanyl for the now harder-to-get prescription opioids. Attempting to reduce overdose deaths by doubling down on this approach will not produce better results. Policymakers can reduce overdose deaths and other harms stemming from nonmedical use of opioids and other dangerous drugs by switching to a policy of harm-reduction. Harm reduction has a success record that prohibition cannot match and involves a range of public health options.
Unlike prohibition, harm-reduction strategies begin with the realistic and nonjudgmental premise that there has never been, and will never be, a drug-free society. Akin to the credo of the medical profession — “First, do no harm” — harm reduction seeks to avoid measures that exacerbate the harm that prohibition already inflicts on nonmedical users and seeks to focus on the goal of reducing deaths and the spread of disease from drug use.
This conference, featuring clinical and research experts in epidemiology, public health, addiction treatment, and harm reduction, will examine the record of various harm-reduction modalities in the developed world and will consider their potential for ameliorating the problems caused by drug prohibition.
Schedule
| 7:45 - 8:15AM |
REGISTRATION |
| 8:15 - 8:25AM |
WELCOMING REMARKS Jeffrey A. Singer, MD, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute |
| 8:25 - 9:30AM |
PANEL I: SAFE SYRINGE PROGRAMS/SAFE CONSUMPTION FACILITIES Darwin Fisher, Program Manager/Clinic Coordinator, Insite, supervised injection facility, Vancouver, British Columbia Clark Neily, Vice President for Criminal Justice, Cato Institute Edward G. Rendell, Former Governor of Pennsylvania |
| 9:30 - 10:30AM |
PANEL II: DEATH, DISEASE, AND PROHIBITION Jeffrey Miron, Director of Undergraduate Economic Education, Harvard University; Director of Economic Studies, Cato Institute Maia Szalavitz, Award-winning author, neuroscience journalist; Soros Justice Fellow; Author of Unbroken Brain |
| 10:30 - 10:45AM |
BREAK |
| 10:45 - 11:45AM |
PANEL III: EXPANDED ROLES FOR NALOXONE AND CANNABIS? Trevor Burrus, Research Fellow, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute Corey S. Davis, Deputy Director, Staff Attorney, Network for Public Health Law Adrianne Wilson-Poe, Moron-Concepcion Laboratory, Washington University School of Medicine |
| 11:45AM - 12:30PM |
LUNCHEON |
| 12:30 - 1:30PM |
KEYNOTE ADDRESS: CHANGING DYNAMICS OF THE DRUG OVERDOSE EPIDEMIC IN THE UNITED STATES FROM 1979 THROUGH 2016 Donald S. Burke, Dean, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health Moderated by Michael F. Cannon, Director, Health Policy Studies, Cato institute |
| 1:30 - 1:45PM |
BREAK |
| 1:45 - 3:10PM |
PANEL IV: MEDICATION ASSISTED TREATMENT, INCLUDING HEROIN ASSISTED TREATMENT Daniel Ciccarone, Professor of Family and Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco Medical Center; Principal Investigator of “Heroin in Transition Study” (NIH/NIDA) Beau Kilmer, Senior Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation; Codirector, RAND Drug Policy Research Center D. Scott MacDonald, Physician Lead, Providence Crosstown Clinic, Vancouver, British Columbia, Heroin Assisted Treatment Program |
| 3:10 - 3:15PM |
CLOSING REMARKS Jeffrey A. Singer, MD, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute |
Panelist are subject to change.
If you can’t make it to the event, you can watch it live online at www.cato.org/live and join the conversation on Twitter using #CatoDrugWar. Follow @CatoEvents on Twitter to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute.