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I.INTRODUCTION
The United States has a drug problem-a drug problem that is characterized by high rates of opiate overdose deaths1 and a drug problem to which people commonly refer as the "Opioid Epidemic." The Opioid Epidemic has resulted in an increase in popular, political, and scholarly focus on the ineffectiveness of the United States' criminal justice, or punitive policy, approach2 to problem drug use.3 The Opioid Epidemic has also led to an increased focus on the need for U.S. policymakers to embrace a health approach4 in addressing problem drug use,5 an approach that emphasizes the prevention and treatment of addiction. U.S. policymakers have responded by distancing themselves from blatant punitive policies of the past and adopting health-oriented definitions of problem drug use that support health-oriented policy proposals.6
For example, under the Obama Administration, the Office of National Drug Control Policy ("ONDCP")7 advocated for a healthoriented definition of problem drug use, explicitly acknowledging addiction as a chronic disease of the brain, advocating for reduced sentences for persons convicted of possession of illicit substances for personal use, and calling for a renewed focus on prevention and treatment of addiction.8 Congress has also demonstrated a willingness to use the health approach to address the current Opioid Epidemic by passing the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 ("CARA"), health-oriented legislation9 that Congress drafted and enacted with nearly unanimous bipartisan support10 and later funded with equal legislative enthusiasm.11 In doing so, some members of Congress explicitly supported the definition of "addiction" as a brain disease, as opposed to a moral failing.12 And defining addiction as a disease, instead of a moral failing, demands a health solution,13 not a criminal justice solution.
The increased public and political attention on the issue of drug use and the supportive political climate for a health approach to the Opioid Epidemic have created a window of opportunity14 for legal scholars, professionals, researchers, and other concerned citizens to pressure legislatures and administrative agencies to shift their focus from criminal justice strategies to public health strategies. Such strategies emphasize harm reduction,15 access to quality treatment, and the amelioration of the socio-economic risk factors that increase the likelihood of problem drug use.16
To effect such a policy change, however, scholars must understand the problem-definition process and the...