Drug Policies: Prevention, Treatment, Law and Social Policy

SW643, Section 001

This course will analyze U.S. policies and programs concerning alcohol and other drugs. Changing definitions of use, misuse, and dependency, and the socio-legal history of use patterns will be studied. Attention will be given to issues arising at different stages in the life cycle. The politics and economics of drug and alcohol industries, control legislation, and funding of services will be considered. Various models of prevention and treatment programs will be analyzed for different subgroups of the population (e.g., ability, age, class, color, culture, ethnicity, family structure, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, national origin, race, religion or spirituality, sex, and sexual orientation).