The second paper included in this edition is titled, State Drug Policy Offices: Unique, Effective Policy Brokers, by Bruce Grant, PhD, makes the case for states engaging a drug policy officer to effectively develop, coordinate, and implement drug policy. He says, “State drug policy offices have certainly proven their worth. Governors and legislatures who are serious about addressing substance abuse should seriously consider adopting this model.”
And finally, in our Commentary, For a Healthy Brain Teens Make “One Choice,” Dr. Robert DuPont shares information on a new social messaging campaign designed to encourage adolescents to make “one choice” to not use any substances. Following his above-referenced paper, A New Narrative to Understand the Opioid Epidemic, Dr. DuPont has developed this new campaign to prevent young people from becoming vulnerable to future opioid addiction by avoiding all substance use. This concept is unified in its approach to address all types of substance use rather than just focusing on one drug at a time. Dr. DuPont provides statistics that show the numbers of teens who avoid all substances and the rationale for this critical substance abuse prevention movement.
