Social Science and the Public Interest

Excerpt

The personal-finance website WalletHub released a report on the states with the biggest drug problems in 2018. (https://​wallethub.​com/​edu/​drug-use-by-state/​35150/​) John S. Kiernan, Senior Writer and Editor at WalletHub writes: “Drug abuse has a long and storied history in the United States, and we’ve been ‘at war’ with it since 1971 under the Nixon administration. But no matter who is in office, the federal drug budget continues to increase (http://​drugwarfacts.​org/​node/​1368#overlay=​table/​fedspending). It’s moved from $23.8 billion in 2013 to almost $27.5 billion in 2017. The current administration seems to be taking a hardline approach to drug use. President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have advocated for strict sentences for drug-related offenses, even as far as the death penalty in some cases. …