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Podcast: Cato Event Podcast
Episode: Harm Reduction: Shifting from a War on Drugs to a War on Drug-Related Deaths - Keynote Address: Changing Dynamics of the Drug Overdose Epidemic in the United States from 1979 through 2016
Description: 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 no...