Decriminalization as Substance Use Disorder Prevention
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DECRIMINALIZATION AS SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER
PREVENTION
Aila Hoss*
INTRODUCTION
F ROM the President pointing fingers at China for the influx of fentanyl'
to journalists encouraging celebrities to end the stigma of substance use
disorder (SUD) 2 to activists promoting harm reduction strategies,3 everyone has
something to say about the opioid use disorder and overdose crisis. Just like during
its predecessor the crack epidemic,' opioids are ever present in the media.' Given
the alarming increase of rates of opioid-related overdoses,6 much of this attention
justified. Yet, there remains a dearth of credible law and policy solutions
implemented to effectively respond let alone prevent such crises related to
* Aila Hoss is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa College of Law. She
previously served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Indiana University McKinney School of Law.
The author would like to thank the faculty, staff, and students at the University of Toledo College of
Law for graciously hosting this symposium. The author is also indebted to the student editors of the
Toledo Law Journal for their excellent editorial assistance. This research was supported by Indiana
University's Addiction Grand Challenge.
1. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), TWITTER (Aug. 23, 2019, 10:59am),
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1 164914963766546435?refsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwc
amp%5Etweetembed%/o7Ctwtermo5E1164914963766546435&ref url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cn
n.com% 2F20190%`2FO9%/`2FO3%/`2Fasia%/`2Fchina-us-fentanyl-trump-intl-hnk%/`2Findex.html.
2. Gillian Tett, Elton John, The Oscars and Why Opioid Crisis Needs a Celebrity, FINANCIAL
TIMEs (Mar. 9, 2018), https://www.ft.com/content/dc25adba-2194-1 1e8-a895-lbalf72c2cl 1.
3. See generally Harm Reduction, DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE, http://www.drugpolicy.org/
issues/harm-reduction (last visited Feb. 26, 2020).
4. [T]he media continued to disseminate claims that crack as an 'epidemic,' a 'plague,'
'instantly addictive,' and extraordinarily dangerous - claims that have now been proven false or
highly misleading. [T]he Washington Post alone ran 1,565 stories about the 'drug scourge' [in a
year]. [T]he Post's ombudsman, eventually admitted the paper had lost 'a proper sense of
perspective' due to sucha 'hyperbole epidemic.' MICHELLE ALEXANDER, THE NEW JIM CROW: MASS
INCARCERATION IN THE AGE OF COLORBLINDNESS 52-53 (The New Press 2nd ed. 2012).
5. See generally Fiona Webster, Kathleen Rice, and Abhimanyu Sud, A Critical Content
Analysis of Media Reporting on Opioids: The Social Construction of an Epidemic, 244 SOCIAL
SCIENCE AND MEDICINE (Jan. 2020).
6. Opioid Abuse in the U.S. and HHS Actions to Address Opioid-Drug Related Overdoses and
Deaths, US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HuMAN SERVICES, https://aspe.hhs.gov/opioid-abuse-us-
and-hhs-actions-address-opioid-drug-related-overdoses-and-deaths (last visited Mar. 6, 2020).
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