Podcast: Drug Legalization: The Answer to Our Opioid Crisis?

By Cameron English and ChuckDinerstein — Aug 13, 2024

America's prohibitionist assault on prescription opioids has left an untold number of chronically ill patients without access to adequate pain control, encouraging them to use illicit substances like heroin – or even take their own lives, to end their suffering. Some drug policy reformers say the solution to this tragic situation is outright legalization of all drugs. How well would that policy actually work? Let's take a look.

Image by nosheep via Pixabay

Join Cameron English and Dr. Chuck Dinerstein on Episode 85 of the Science Dispatch podcast as they discuss:

Exposing a Dangerous Myth: Pain Patients Aren’t 'Drug Users'

Chronic pain patients who take opioids under medical supervision are fundamentally different from recreational users who take drugs to get high. In their bid to destigmatize and legalize drugs, some drug policy reformers have attempted to blur this clear distinction. Here’s why they’re wrong to do so.

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Cameron English

Director of Bioscience

Cameron English is a writer, editor and co-host of the Science Facts and Fallacies Podcast. Before joining ACSH, he was managing editor at the Genetic Literacy Project.