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Author:   Richard J. Baum (Georgetown University)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Rowman & Littlefield
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9781538186404

ISBN 10:   1538186403
Pages:   408
Publication Date:   16 April 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Longest War: America Launches Drug Fight with Supply Control, Propaganda and Prejudice Chapter Introduction: What can Iron Man teach us about the early war on drugs? Hard Lesson: We must confront the two original sins of the drug war – racism and the stigmatization of addiction – to effectively combat today’s crisis The Ancient Power of Opioids to Heal and to Harm The Unregulated American Drug Market Results in Misuse, Addiction America Helps Launch the Global War on Drugs Cracking Down on Doctors, Dealers, and Consumers The Trouble with Drug Treatment – There Isn’t Any The First Federal Drug Agency Focuses on Supply Control and Propaganda The Ugly Racism of Harry Anslinger Growing Drug Use in the 1960s Raises Anxiety in a Troubled Time Richard Nixon and his Psychiatrists Launch the White House Drug Czar’s Office Nixon Era Drug Enforcement Assessing the Racism in the Early Drug War The Harsh Legacy of the Stigmatization of Addiction Recommendations 2. Coked Up: Building Washington’s Drug War Infrastructure in the Crack Cocaine Era Chapter Introduction: This Scourge Will Not End Hard Lesson: Drug policies and programs, built for the crack cocaine epidemic, must be overhauled for the opioid crisis American’s Taste for Cocaine Fuels Powerful Colombian Cartels Powder Cocaine Becomes the Elite’s Drug of Choice Crack Cocaine and Its Consequences Violent Open Air Crack Markets Drugs, AIDS, and the Reagans The Cocaine Overdose of Basketball Star Len Bias Sparks Political Earthquake The 100-1 Crack Cocaine Sentencing Disparity Fiasco Cocaine Myths and Legends The Crack Era Ends, But the Policy Infrastructure Built for it Remains Recommendations 3. Prescription for Disaster: Purdue Pharma’s Crime of the Century Chapter Introduction: Greed is Not Good Hard Lesson: Big Pharma’s reckless marketing of opioids has severely and permanently worsened America’s drug problem The Spark: Release of OxyContin in 1996 The Spread: Purdue’s Pharmaceutical Marketing Tornado The Accelerant: Industry Funded Patient Advocacy Groups Transform Medical System The Jump: The Transition to Black Market Heroin Recommendations 4. Fatal Errors: The Consequences of Pushing Prescription Drug Consumers into the Illicit Drug Market Chapter Introduction: Too Close to Home Hard Lesson: Restrictions on opioid painkillers were recklessly applied and led to many unnecessary drug overdose deaths Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs Abuse Resistant Drug Formulations of Opioid Medications Strict Limits on Opioid Prescribing Shutting Down Pill Mills Actions Have Consequences – Accelerating the Transition to Black-Market Drugs Recommendations 5. The Real Treatment Gap: Why Most People Who Need Treatment Do Not Seek it and What to Do About it Chapter Introduction: Ground Truth Hard Lesson: Most chronic drug consumers will only enter treatment via a ‘harm reduction-informed’ approach America’s Two Drug Treatment Gaps Treatment Progress and Challenges The Costs of Stigma Meeting People Where They Are, But Not Leaving Them There Reconciling Traditional Treatment and Harm Reduction Putting Lived Experience to Work The Best of Both Worlds – A Treatment System That Works for All Overdose Prevention Centers Psychedelics – Minimizing Risks and Maximizing Benefits The Road Ahead – Wrap Around Treatment and the Promise of Artificial Intelligence Recommendations 6. Deep Recovery: Creating a Recovery Friendly America Chapter Introduction: Why Are Former Inmates Trying to Get Back to Their Jail? Hard Lesson: Treatment and justice system initiatives are not sufficient to solve crisis, we must also create a nationwide recovery support system Social Determinants of Health and Recovery Capital A New Home, A New Life Getting Back to Work Building Recovery Friendly Workplaces Taking on Substance Use on College Campuses Rebuilding Lives After Treatment – The Vital Role of Recovery Community Organizations Recommendations 7. Precision Impact: Controlling Retail Drug Markets without Mass Incarceration or Racial Bias Chapter Introduction: When Reality Hits You in the Face Hard Lesson: Mass incarceration damages communities—to combat drugs police must rebuild frayed relationships and adopt a much more targeted approach Grappling with Harsh Racial Realities in the War on Drugs Rethinking Drug Sentencing The Tragedy of Re-Entry from Prison During the Opioid Epidemic Addressing the Collateral Consequences Imposed on those with a Substance Use Disorder Thinking Through How to Deal with Marijuana in Today’s America A Hard Look at Retail Drug Markets Dismantling Drug Markets without Mass Incarceration Assessing Results and Prospects for Expansion of Drug Market Interventions Covert Drug Markets Deep Partnerships Between Community Groups and Police Oregon Decriminalization: The Good, Bad, and Ugly Recommendations 8. True Justice: Reducing Addiction Requires Close Collaboration Between Justice and Health Systems Chapter Introduction: Catching Fire Hard Lessons: Police, courts and jails will only reduce overdoses and chronic drug use through coordinated initiatives with health agencies How to ‘Deflect’ More People Away from Arrest and Into Treatment Front Loading Life-Saving Treatment at Drug Treatment Courts How Drug Enforcement Operations Can Help, Not Harm People Who Use Drugs Concentrated Leadership and Coordination in the Hardest Hit Regions of the Country Recommendations 9. Defense in Depth: Smart Border and Supply Control for Today’s Synthetic Drug Era Chapter Introduction: In Deep Hard Lesson: Supply control is wickedly difficult—a disciplined focus is needed on the most dangerous trafficking organizations The Border Battle - It’s One Thing After Another Going to the Source – International Supply Reduction and Colombia Breaking Bad – Taking on the Methamphetamine Supply Chain The Fentanyl Fight Hard Lessons from the Supply Side A Reality-Based Way Forward on the Supply Side Recommendations 10. Costs & Consequences: Scaling Government’s Response to Today’s Vast Drug Epidemic Chapter Introduction: Deserve to Win Hard Lesson: We have vastly underfunded the drug crisis response and must invest now, or will pay even more later Bolstering Management and Measurement of Drug Policies Costly Delays in Utilizing Evidence-Based Policies Show Me the Money Overcoming the Curse of Knowledge Implementation Science and the Real Policy Cycle Closing the Drug Policy Gaps Establishment of Return-on-Investment Teams at the Federal and State Level Drug Policy Centers of Excellence Building Drug Policy Coalitions and Avoiding Fragmentation Reinforcing Federal and State Leadership of Anti-Drug Agencies Recommendations 11. The Fentanyl Generation: Protecting Youth from Today’s Dangerous Drug Threats Chapter Introduction: Straight Talk for Dangerous Times Hard Lesson: Youth face a terrifying risk of overdose—new prevention and early intervention programs are needed to protect them Protecting Today’s Adolescents from the Brutal Drug Supply Advances in Prevention Science The Failure to Reach Most Kids with Effective Drug Prevention Programs Going Upstream to Help Kids Earlier Kids Just Wanna Have Fun – Adapting Iceland’s Drug Prevention Model for the USA Iceland’s Miracle Unleash America’s Creative Talent for Next Generation Media Campaigns Recommendations 12. Conclusion Hard Lesson: There is no easy button – the opioid crisis can only be solved by bringing innovative health and justice interventions to the millions of Americans who need them Appendix: List of Recommendations and Budget About the Author Bibliography Index

Reviews

""Few experts see the opioid crisis as clearly as Richard, who brings decades of experience inside the halls of power and in the communities where the crisis is lived daily. Inside America's Opioid Crisis: 12 Hard Lessons for Today's Drug War distills those insights into a practical roadmap for prevention, treatment, recovery, enforcement, and local response. I urge every policymaker, practitioner, and community leader to read it, and act on it."" --Patrick J. Kennedy, former U.S. Representative, author of Profiles in Mental Health Courage and A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction ""A crisp, strategic, and uncompromising account, Inside America's Opioid Crisis offers practical lessons, clear guidance and actionable information for leaders in government, law enforcement, public health, and community organizations charged with building safer and healthier communities through evidence-based initiatives."" --General (Ret.) Barry McCaffrey, former Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Clinton, 1996-2001 ""Richard Baum brings a passion for leadership on drug policy with his long, bipartisan experience in the White House drug office to create a powerful, and comprehensive new approach to this unique new epidemic. His book will delight. It informs both the novice and the experienced reader. Rooted in his remarkable and long federal service he provides a blueprint for tomorrow's better national drug policy."" --Dr. Robert Dupont, first Director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the second White House Drug Czar from 1973-1977 and author of Chemical Slavery: Understanding Addiction and Stopping the Drug Epidemic, and The Selfish Brain: Learning from Addiction

Author Information

Richard J. Baum is Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University. He served as Acting Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and Executive Director of the President’s Opioid Commission (2017-2018) during his 28 years working at the agency. Baum is also a former Congressional staffer, NGO executive, and journalist. He has earned degrees in Government, National Security, and Public Administration. Raised in New York City, Baum has two adult children and resides with his wife Linda in Falls Church, Virginia.

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