This Is a Very Weird Moment in the History of Drug Laws

Drug policy feels very unsettled right now. The war on drugs was a failure. But so far, the war on the war on drugs hasn’t entirely been a success, either.
Take Oregon. In 2020, it became the first state in the nation to decriminalize hard drugs. It was a paradigm shift - treating drug-users as patients rather than criminals - and advocates hoped it would be a model for the nation. But then there was a surge in overdoses and public backlash over open-air drug use. And last month, Oregon’s governor signed a law restoring criminal penalties for drug possession, ending that short-lived experiment.
Other states and cities have also tipped toward backlash. And there are a lot of concerns about how cannabis legalization and commercialization is working out around the country. So what did the supporters of these measures fail to foresee? And where do we go from here?
Keith Humphreys is a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University who specializes in addiction and its treatment. He also served as a senior policy adviser in the Obama administration. I asked him to walk me through why Oregon’s policy didn’t work out; what policymakers sometimes misunderstand about addiction; the gap between “elite” drug cultures and how drugs are actually consumed by most people; and what better drug policies might look like.
Mentioned:
Oregon Health Authority data (app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJr...)
“Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? (Part 1) (open.spotify.com/episode/0HCN...) ” by Search Engine
“Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? (Part 2) (open.spotify.com/episode/7M4j...) ” by Search Engine
Book Recommendations:
Drugs and Drug Policy (global.oup.com/academic/produ...) by Mark A.R. Kleiman, Jonathan P. Caulkins and Angela Hawken
Dopamine Nation (www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...) by Anna Lembke
Confessions of an English Opium Eater (www.gutenberg.org/files/2040/...) by Thomas De Quincey
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [e-mail].
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-....
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Kate Sinclair and Mary Marge Locker. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota and Efim Shapiro. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Rollin Hu and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Sonia Herrero.

[@roc7880]

guys, the problem is in the front of your eyes, you cannot solve addiction with a medical system based on maximizing profits for industry and doctors who need MORE customers, not less. Portugal solved the issue because the society and goverment did not look at addiction as an externality or an individual moral flaw, it looked at it as a social and medical pathology.

[@PMickeyDee]

You cannot fix any public health crisis under the current conditions. its not working for the most affected people. I feel like screaming into the void at times with the current conditions of maximizing profits & 'line go up' mentality.

[@jmlouie]

Excellent discussion - compassion, nuance and pragmatism.

[@michaelmeenan5522]

Good topic. Former Prosecutor & Defense Attorney. When NY modified its drug laws, met a client who spent 10 years in jail for dealing 4 lbs of Marijuana that would have resulted 4 in months in jail after new laws enacted. Sitting with him, I didn't know what to say. Just sat with him until the pain of the moment came and went, then got to the task at hand. There was nothing to say, but all was understood.

[@PMickeyDee]

Can you clarify for me. Were you attempting to get this clients sentence reduced? Also were y'all successful?

[@energydriver46]

Was he black You’re a good man.

[@andrewcriscione]

All drugs were legal 120 years ago. John Stewart Mill wrote a whole chapter on why literal poison should be legal. The federal government was supposed to ensure quality of drugs, but instead it did things like poison alcohol supplies during prohibition, and force users into unsafe, black market substitutes for weed and other fairly safe drugs.

[@user-wf4el1gx3n]

Applaud you for taking on this wildly complicated subject and the guest that made some great points. I’m no Stanford professor, but I take issue with his point around the 15min mark with respect to safe supply driving wide spread addiction rates. He fails to acknowledge that a large part of the opioid addiction crisis resulted not from opioids merely being available, but from opioids literally being pushed on people from professionals in the medical field. One thing I’m convinced of is that prohibition has achieved nothing while creating disastrous externalities around the world. Some form of regulated supply, treatment, and building a culture drug responsibility is more likely to be the less bad scenario. If we could just get over ourselves

[@theBarkingshark]

People need their freedom, NOT forced treatment.

[@DerrickHF]

Good topic. Nice and reasonable guest. Some very strong points and as a resident of Washington until recently, I really appreciated what he said. I am not sure that the "drugs are good for some people and bad for others" conclusion follows from what he said, though, Ezra.

[@manuelaloaeza3949]

Regarding AA. It's free, it's always there. Sometimes it takes 3, 10, 20, 30 relapses before people can get sober, the one year mark is not really "truth telling" on how effective AA is..

[@patrickowens89]

If consent-of-the-individual is your *only* moral criterion, you’re gonna have a bad time.

[@MegaMARLEEN1]

I think that a major issue is not to only talk about drugs as a giver of pleasure and funny moments or painkiller, but also mention the dangers of using. This way the picture of what this really is all about is more balanced. Addiction, driving intoxicated and what this may cause, such as marital problems, loosing jobs or causing very bad car accidents etc... I like this podcast because many angles of the problem are being addressed. From pleasure moments to pain releasing hours , but also from addiction to irresponsible behaviors. All of this in a smooth conversation without being too military about it. I also think more studies should be carried out of what this does to people and how to convince them to use their freedom of substance use well well. I find too much of a little serious conversation has disappeared and is sadly being labeled as "boring". Well, boredom and lack of freedom will certainly be there once u can't live without "it" anymore and u need more and more of it to get the same effect. Where will the freedom fighter be gone than? All that will be left is a slave and boring fight to FREE yourself from Mr addiction, who is a horrible dictator by the way. My mini thoughts on this.

[@lucabizi1661]

everyone is right, who says we need compassion and who says we need harder policies. the issue is that who is paying for these open air drug / homeless encampments are the regular hard working citizens that are exposed to this daily. kids grow up with situations they should not be exposed to and regular citizens are tired of living with problems that should not be left on the streets. allowing drug addicts to decide freely, will hinder the freedom of others; this is plain wrong and does not bring us to a better society. This brings our cities to a dark path like we have seen in SF, Portland, Seattle and now NY. Since these policies have been implemented, the number of overdoses has doubled in certain urban areas, these policies don't work and must be changed to give back the cities to their citizens. Obviously drug users and addicts dont have to be forgotten but they can't have the priority over kids, workers and elderly citizens.

[@theBarkingshark]

The most harmful aspect of drugs is the risk of being arrested.

[@lostcat9lives322]

I would think DOA as a result of overdose trumps the usual catch-and-release.

[@MayorMcC666]

the people yern for the opium dens

[@qqi239z123]

Yet another interesting show, but the ideas yet again do not pass common sense muster. There are 4 self-evident goals of non-punishing anti-drug policies: 1. decriminalize addiction, 2. prevent the financial ruin of addicted persons, 3. reduce overdose deaths, and 4. reduce future overall drug use. The problem is that using drugs objectively feels good, so the (3) is unachievable and setting it as a goal kills other goals. We have to accept overdose deaths as an inevitable side effect of drug policy liberalization then we can achieve the rest by focusing on (2) - drugs should be provided at cost and covered by insurance.