Opioid Crisis

Another Mechanism Used to Perpetuate American Racism

Hart, Carl L.
Hart, Malakai Z.

Department of Psychology, Columbia University, and Division on Substance Abuse, New York State Psychiatric Institute
Department of Psychology, Columbia University

Carl L. Hart, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 120, New York, NY 10032 [email protected]

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 25(1):p 6-11, January 2019. | DOI: 10.1037/cdp0000260

Objectives: Recently, driven largely by opioid-related deaths, President Donald Trump proclaimed that the opioid problem was now a national emergency. What looks like a radical shift to a more compassionate drug policy—one that favors treatment over incarceration—has encouraged many to hope that there will be far fewer drug-related arrests and deaths than there were in previous decades. Methods and Results: We present evidence showing that large numbers of drug-related arrests persist and that racial discrimination is evident in opioid-related arrests. In addition, conventional strategies implemented to address opioid-related deaths have proven inadequate. Conclusions: We propose solutions grounded in reason and evidence rather than moralism.