Leo Beletsky
Professor of Law and Health Sciences and Faculty Director, The Action Lab at the Center for Health Policy and Law
Education
Brown University, MPH 2004
Temple University, JD 2008
Bio
Professor Beletsky holds an interdisciplinary appointment with the School of Law and Bouvé College of Health Sciences. His expertise is on the public health impact of laws and their enforcement, with special focus on substance use and addiction, infectious disease, occupational safety of first responders, and policing as a structural determinant of health. Professor Beletsky is a frequent media commentator on harm reduction approaches to address North America’s overdose crisis, as well as other issues at the intersection of public health and public safety. Those intersections also define the project portfolio of The Action Lab at the Center for Health Policy and Law, which he founded and directs at the School of Law.
As one of a small group of legal academics consistently funded by the National Institutes of Health, Professor Beletsky has conducted numerous empirical studies in domestic and international settings to examine the role of policing and legal factors in shaping health outcomes. He served as the principal investigator (MPI, with Steffanie Strathdee) of the first-ever research project funded by NIH/NIDA to evaluate how a law enforcement training can improve public health. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, Professor Beletsky’s current work continues to explore drug policies’ health effects and pathways by which racial disparities in the criminal legal system result in health disparities.
In line with Northeastern’s social impact ethos, Professor Beletsky actively works to translate research to policy, legal and the broader public audiences. He applies his skills and expertise in service to governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations. Most recently, this has included The Global Fund, The Pew Charitable Trusts and two Massachusetts state commissions. His research and service have received broad recognition at international, national and local levels, including recent awards from the International AIDS Society, the Association of American Law Schools and the First Church of Cambridge.
Prior to joining the Northeastern community, Professor Beletsky was a member of the faculty of the Division of Infectious Disease and Global Public Health at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, where he retains an adjunct appointment. He received his undergraduate training in geography from Vassar College and Oxford University, a master’s in public health from Brown University, his law degree from Temple University School of Law and his post-doctoral training at the Yale University Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS. He is a member of the New York State Bar and a dad to two bandits.
Fields of Expertise
- Comparative Law
- Criminal Justice Policy and Practice
- Drug Law and Policy
- Empirical Methods
- Global Health
- Health Disparities
- Human Rights
- Infectious Disease Prevention and Response
- Occupational Safety and Health
- Public Health Law and Policy
Selected Works
-
- “Missed Opportunities: Substance Use Hotline Operator Uncertainty of State Buprenorphine Prescribing via Telemedicine,” 18 Journal of Addiction Medicine 78 (2024) (co-author).
- “Cost-effectiveness of a Police Education Program on HIV and Overdose Among People Who Inject Drugs in Tijuana, Mexico,” 30 The Lancet Regional Health–Americas (2024) (co-author).
- “An Evaluation of First Responders’ Intention to Refer to Post-Overdose Services Following SHIELD Training,” 21 Harm Reduction Journal 39 (2024) (co-author).
- “Popular Media Misinformation on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, 2015–2021,” 125 International Journal of Drug Policy 104341 (2024) (co-author).
- “Association of Medicaid Expansion with Health Insurance, Unmet Need for Medical Care and Substance Use Disorder Treatment Among People Who Inject Drugs in 13 US states,” 119 Addiction 582 (2024) (co-author).
- “A Comparison of Non-Fatal Opioid Overdose, Acute Methamphetamine Toxicity, and Mixed Stimulant/Opioid Overdose Presentations,” 260 Drug and Alcohol Dependence 110274 (2024) (co-author).
- “Costs and Essential Drug Access—The Case of Naloxone,” 332 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) 109 (2024) (co-author).
- “Missed Opportunities: Substance Use Hotline Operator Uncertainty of State Buprenorphine Prescribing via Telemedicine,” 18 (1) Journal of Addiction Medicine 78 (2024).
- “When Crises Collide: Mapping the Intersections of Climate, Pollution, Crime, and Punishment,” Northeastern University Law Review (2023).
- “Emerging Disparities in the Placement of Law Enforcement-Based Treatment Referral and Recovery Programs,” 48 Criminal Justice Review 359 (2023).
- “Advancing Harm Reduction Services in the United States: The Untapped Role of the Americans with Disabilities Act,” 21 Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics 61 (2022) (co-author).
- “Evaluation of an Experimental Web-based Educational Module on Opioid-related Occupational Safety Among Police Officers: Protocol for a Randomized Pragmatic Trial to Minimize Barriers to Overdose Response,” 11 JMIR Res Protoc 33451 (2022) (co-author).
- “Involuntary Commitment as a “Carceral-Health Service”: From Healthcare-to-Prison Pipeline to a Public Health Abolition Praxis,” 50 Journal of Law, Medicine, & Ethics 22 (2022) (co-author).
- “Impact of SHIELD Police Training on Knowledge of Syringe Possession Laws and Related Arrests in Tijuana, Mexico,” 112 American Journal of Public Health 860 (2022) (co-author).
- “Build It Better for Public Health: Improved Data Infrastructure Is Vital to Bending the Curve of the Overdose Crisis,” 112 American Journal of Public Health 39 (2022) (co-author).
- “Warrant Checking Practices by Post-Overdose Outreach Programs in Massachusetts: A Mixed-Methods Study,” 100 International Journal of Drug Policy 103483 (2022) (co-author).
- “Racial/Ethnic, Social, and Geographic Trends in Overdose-Associated Cardiac Arrests Observed by US Emergency Medical Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” 78 JAMA Psychiatry 886 (2021) (co-author).
- “Municipal Police Support for Harm Reduction Services in Officer-led Referrals of People who Inject Drugs in Tijuana, Mexico,” 18 Harm Reduction Journal 76 (2021) (co-author).
- “HIV’s Trajectory: Biomedical Triumph, Structural Failure,” 111(7) American Journal of Public Health 1258 (2021) (co-author).
- “Overdose-Related Cardiac Arrests Observed by Emergency Medical Services During the US COVID-19 Epidemic,” 78 JAMA Psychiatry 562 (2021) (co-author).
- “Reducing Police Occupational Needle Stick Injury Risk Following an Interactive Training: The SHIELD Cohort Study in Mexico,” 11 BMJ Open (2021) (co-author).
- “Beyond Decriminalization: Ending the War on Drugs Requires Recasting Police Discretion Through the Lens of a Public Health Ethic,” 21 American Journal of Bioethics 41 (2021) (co-author).
- “Harm Reduction, By Mail: The Next Step in Promoting the Health of People Who Use Drugs,” 98 Journal of Urban Health 532 (2021) (co-author).
- “Characteristics of Post-overdose Public Health-Public Safety Outreach in Massachusetts,” 219 Drug and Alcohol Dependence 108499 (2021).
- “Intersectional Structural Vulnerability to Abusive Policing Among People Who Inject Drugs: A Mixed Methods Assessment in California’s Central Valley,” 87 International Journal of Drug Policy 102981 (2021) (co-author).
- “Situating the Continuum of Overdose Risk in the Social Determinants of Health: A New Conceptual Framework,” The Milbank Quarterly (August 18, 2020) (co-author).
- “No “Back to Normal” after COVID-19 for Our Failed Drug Policies,” International Journal of Drug Policy (August 11, 2020) (co-author).
- ““Pick up Anything That Moves”: A Qualitative Analysis of a Police Crackdown Against People Who Use Drugs in Tijuana, Mexico,” Health & Justice 8 (9) (May 22, 2020) (co-author).
- “Fighting the Coronavirus and Protecting the Unhoused: Policies and Polling,” Northeastern University School of Law Research Paper No. 376-2020 (March 18, 2020) (co-author).
- “Tackling the Overdose Crisis: The Role of Safe Supply,” International Journal of Drug Policy (forthcoming 2020) (co-author).
- “United Stated vs. Safehouse: The Implications of the Philidelphia Supervised Consumption Facility Ruling for Law and Social Stigma,” 135 Journal of Preventative Medicine (2020) (co-author).
- “Policing Practices and HIV Risk Among People Who Inject Drugs – a Systematic Literature Review,” American Journal of Epidemiology (forthcoming 2020).
- “Drugs, Discipline and Death: Causes and Predictors of Mortality Among People Who Inject Drugs in Tijuana, 2011 – 2018,” International Journal of Drug Policy (forthcoming 2020) (co-author).
- “Stigma as a Fundamental Hindrance to the U.S. Opioid Overdose Crisis Response,” PLoS Medicine (forthcoming 2020) (co-author).
- “Addressing Police Beletsky, L. 3 Occupational Safety During the Opioid Crisis: The Syringe Threat and Injury Correlates (STIC) Score,” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (forthcoming 2020 ) (co-author).
- “Conflicting Laws and Priorities as Drug Policy Implementation Barriers: a Quantitative Analysis of Police Perspectives in Tijuana, Mexico,” Journal of Drug Policy Analysis (forthcoming 2020) (co-author).
- “Assessing Factors Associated With Discharge From Opioid Agonist Therapy Due to Incarceration in the United States,” 38 Journal of Addictive Diseases 1 (2020) (co-author).
- “Toward Healthy Drug Policy in the United States — The Case of Safehouse,” 382 New England Journal of Medicine 4 (December 4, 2019) (co-author).
- “America’s Favorite Antidote: Drug-induced Homicide In The Age Of The Overdose Crisis,” 2019 Utah Law Review 833 (2019).
- “Prevalence and Correlates of Injecting with Visitors from the United Stated Among People Who Inject Drugs in Tijuana, Mexico,” The New England Journal of Medicine (2019) (co-author).
- “The Opioid Crisis: A Failure Of Regulatory Design And Action,” 34 Criminal Justice 35 (Summer 2019) (co-author).
- “Practicing What We Preach — Ending Physician Health Program Bans on Opioid-Agonist Therapy,” 379 The New England Journal of Medicine 796 (2019) (co-author).
- “Interactive Versus Video-Based Training of Police to Communicate Syringe Legality to People Who Inject Drugs: The SHIELD Study, Mexico, 2015–2016,” 190 American Journal of Public Health 921 (2019) (co-author).
- “Treating Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders in Correctional Settings,” Northeastern University School of Law Research Paper No. 361-2019 (December, 2019)
- “Drug-induced Homicide: Challenges And Strategies In Criminal Defense,” 70 South Carolina Law Review 707 (co-author).
- “Buprenorphine Deregulation and Mainstreaming Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: X the X Waiver,” 76 JAMA Psychiatry 229 (2018).
- “The Global Health and Equity Imperative for Safe Consumption Facilities,” 392 The Lancet 553 (2018).
- “21st Century Cures for the Overdose Crisis,” 44 American Journal of Law & Medicine 359 (2018).
- “Deploying Prescription Drug Monitoring to Address the Overdose Crisis: Ideology Meets Reality,” 15 Indiana Health Law Review 139 (2018).
- “Opioid Crisis: No Easy Fix to Its Social and Economic Determinants,” American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) (Published online ahead of print December 21, 2017) (co-author).
- “Today’s Fentanyl Crisis: Prohibition’s Iron Law, Revisited,” 46 International Journal of Drug Policy 156 (2017) (co-author).
- “Health-damaging Policing Practices among Persons who Inject Drugs in Mexico: Are Deported Migrants at Greater Risk?,” 46 International Journal of Drug Policy 41 (in press) (co-author).
- “Action, Not Rhetoric, Needed to Reverse the Opioid Overdose Epidemic,” 45 Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 20 (2017) (co-author).
- “Polio in Syria: Problem still not solved,” 64 Avicenna Journal of Medicine 7(2) (2017) (co-author).
- “Prison Health in the Age of the Opioid Crisis: It’s Time to Repeal the Inmate Exception,” 384 American Journal of Public Health 107(3) (2017) (co-author).
- “Occupational Safety in the Age of the Opioid Crisis: Needle Stick Injury among Baltimore Police,” 100 Journal of Urban Health 94 (February 2017) (co-author).
- “Differential Experiences of Mexican Policing by People Who Inject Drugs Residing in Tijuana and San Diego,”The International Journal of Drug Policy (January 16, 2017) (co-author).
- “Law Enforcement, Drugs and the ‘Public Health’ Approach,”The Crime Report (April 19, 2016).
- “Prevalence and Correlates of Needle-Stick Injuries Among Active Duty Police Officers in Tijuana, Mexico,” 19 Journal of the International AIDS Society (2016).
- “Utilization of Google Enterprise Tools to Georeference Survey Data among Hard-To-Reach Groups: Strategic Application in International Settings,”International Journal of Health Geographics (July 28, 2016) (co-author).
- “Police Encounters Among Needle Exchange Clients in Baltimore: Drug Law Enforcement as a Structural Determinant of Health,” 15 American Journal of Public Health No. 9 (2015) (co-author).
- “Fatal Re-Entry: Legal and Programmatic Opportunities to Curb Opioid Overdose among Individuals Newly Released from Incarceration,” 7 Northeastern University Law Journal 155 (2015) (co-author).
- “Implementing Mexico’s “Narcomenudeo” Drug Law Reform: A Mixed-Methods Assessment of Early Experiences among People Who Inject Drugs,” 10(4) Journal of Mixed Methods Research 384 (2015) (co-author).
- “Engaging Law Enforcement in Overdose Reversal Initiatives: Authorization and Liability for Naloxone Administration,” American Journal of Public Health (2015) (co-author).
- “As Heroin Deaths Skyrocket, Prescription Monitoring Programs May Do More Harm,”The Huffington Post (March 18, 2015).
- “Expanding Coercive Treatment Is The Wrong Solution For The Opioid Crisis,”HealthAffairsBlog (February 11, 2016).
- “The Benefits and Potential Drawbacks in the Approval of EVZIO for Lay Reversal of Opioid Overdose,” 48 American Journal of Preventative Medicine 357 (2014).
- “Syringe Access, Syringe Sharing, and Police Encounters Among People Who Inject Drugs in New York City: A Community-Level Perspective,” 25(1) International Journal of Drug Policy 105 (2014) (co-author).
- “A Drug That Should Be Easier to Get,”The New York Times (March 17, 2014).
- “To Honor Hoffman, Focus on Prevention, not the Drug War,”The Huffington Post (February 3, 2014).
- “Advancing Human Rights in Patient Care: The Law in Seven Transitional Countries,”Open Society Foundation (Open Society Foundation, 2013) (co-author).
- “Access to Syringes for HIV Prevention for Injection Drug Users in St. Petersburg, Russia: Syringe Purchase Test Study,” 13 BMC Public Health 183 (2013) (co-author).
- “Police Officers’ and Paramedics’ Experiences with Overdose and their Knowledge and Opinions of Washington State’s Drug Overdose-Naloxone-Good Samaritan law,” 90(6) Journal of Urban Health 1102 (2013) (co-author).
- “Police Education as a Component of a National HIV Response: Lessons from Kyrgyzstan,” 132 Drug Alcohol Depend 48 (2013) (co-author).
- “Beyond the Anti-Prostitution Pledge: The Public Health Buck Does Not Stop Here,”The Huffington Post (June 21, 2013).
- “We Can Fight This Feeling: The Loss of Cory Monteith and How We Can Prevent Future Overdose Fatalities,” The Huffington Post (July 25, 2013).
- “Policy Reform to Shift the Health and Human Rights Environment for Vulnerable Groups: The Case of Kyrgyzstan’s Instruction 417,” 14(2) Health and Human Rights 1 (2012) (co-author).
- “Prevention of Fatal Opioid Overdose,” 308(18) Journal of the American Medical Association 1863 (2012) (co-author).
- “Harmonizing Disease Prevention and Police Practice in the Implementation of HIV Prevention Programs: Up-Stream Strategies from Wilmington, Delaware,” 9(17) Harm Reduction Journal (2012) (co-author).
- “Syringe Confiscation as an HIV Risk Factor: the Public Health Implications of Arbitrary Policing in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico,” 90(2) Journal of Urban Health 1099 (co-author).
- “Mexico’s Northern Border Conflict: Collateral Damage to Health and Human Rights of Vulnerable Groups,” 31(5) Pan American Journal of Public Health 304 (2012) (co-author).
- “Police Training to Align Law Enforcement and HIV Prevention: Preliminary Evidence from the Field,” 101(11) American Journal of Public Health 2012 (2011) (co-author).
- “The Roles of Law, Client Race, and Program Visibility in Shaping Police Interference with the Operation of Syringe Exchange Programs,” 106(2) Addiction 257 (2011) (co-author).
- “Stopping an Invisible Epidemic: Legal Issues in the Provision of Naloxone to Prevent Opioid Overdose,” 1 Drexel Law Review 273 (2009) (co-author).
- “Policy Innovation in the Time of New Federalism: Legal Framework for Safe Injection Facilities in the United States,” 53 St. Louis University Law Journal 1089 (2009) (co-author).
- “Do Criminal Laws Influence HIV Risk Behavior? An Empirical Trial,” 39 Arizona State Law Journal 467 (2007) (co-author).
- “Physicians’ Attitude Towards and Willingness to Prescribe Naloxone to Treat Accidental Opiate Overdose: Challenges and Opportunities,” 84(1) Journal of Urban Health 126 (2006) (co-author).
-
- “Mass. Sees Largest Decline in Opioid-Related Deaths in More Than a Decade,” The Boston Globe (June 12, 2024).
- “Overdose or Poisoning? A New Debate Over What to Call a Drug Death,” The New York Times (March 11, 2024).
- “Narcan Saves Lives — But Finding It Can Be Onerous in Massachusetts,” The Boston Globe (January 18, 2024).
- “Will ‘Texas Tough’ Work in Fighting Fentanyl Fatalities?,” Black News (January 10, 2024).
- “When Drug Busts Lead to More Overdoses We’re on the Wrong Path,” CommonWealth Magazine (July 11, 2023).
- “‘The Drug Bust Paradox’: Study Shows Opioid Deaths Double After Police Action,” STAT (June 13, 2023).
- “A Teen Girl Is Facing Murder Charges After Two Of Her Classmates Died of Overdoses,”VICE (May 24, 2023).
- “25 American Cities Where Police Are Funded Better Than Health and Social Services,” 24/7 Wall Street (May 21, 2023).
- “Expert Calls for Reforms to Address the Overdose Crisis,” Newswise (May 1, 2023).
- “Billerica Officer Hospitalized After Fentanyl Exposure – But Experts Say It Probably Wasn’t an Overdose,” NBC Boston (April 21).
- “Experts Weigh in on Alberta Considering Involuntary Treatment,” The Globe and Mail (April 20).
- “Don’t Curb Opioid Prescriptions Through Telemedicine. They’re Saving Lives,” Los Angeles Times (April 15)
- “Chicago Is Seeing an Increase in Fatal Meth Overdoses. Here’s Why,” Chicago Sun Times (February 24, 2023).
- “One Year Inside a Radical New Approach to America’s Overdose Crisis,” The New York Times (February 22, 2023).
- “Mexico, U.S. Officials Call for Action After Investigation Into Counterfeit Medicine,” Los Angeles Times (February 15, 2023).
- “Children Not Target of ‘Rainbow Fentanyl,’ Experts Say. And Adding Color May Actually Protect Drug Users,” News@Northeastern (October 14, 2022).
- “Towns Are Going After Syringe Services. The A.D.A. May Be Their Best Defense,” Harvard Public Health (September 29, 2022).
- “Drug-induced Homicide Should Not Result in Prison Time for Those Who Call For Help,” USA Today (August 2, 2022).
- “With National Data on Drug Overdoses Lacking, University of Texas Project Looks To Help Provide a Solution,” The Texas Tribune (July 5, 2022).
- “As Biden Administration Fights Opioid Overdoses, Harm Reduction Groups Face Opposition,” USA Today (June 11, 2022).
- “More Collar Counties Charge Dealers With Drug-induced Homicide for Drug Overdose Deaths,” ABC 7 Chicago (May 24, 2022).
- “‘It’s Not Working Fast Enough.’ Heartbreak, Drugs, and Crime Persist at Mass. And Cass, Leaving Neighbors Asking, ‘What’s Next?’,” The Boston Globe (May 11, 2022).
- “Drug-Induced Panic,” Inquest (April 14, 2022).
- “Black Man Sentenced to 124 Years for Selling Fentanyl That Led to Overdose,” VICE (April 5, 2022).
- “HIV Outbreak Among Drug Users Accelerates in Boston,” The Boston Globe (March 17, 2022).
- “White House Caves to Fox News Obsession Over Biden ‘Crack Pipe’ Faux-Scandal,” The Daily Beast (February 10, 2022).
- “Feds Say No Taxpayer Money for Safer Drug-smoking Pipes,” WAGM-TV(February 9, 2022).
- “No Money for Drug Pipes: Feds Douse Social Media Firestorm,” Associated Press (February 9, 2022).
- “Prosecutors Are Going After Michael K. Williams’ Alleged Dealer Using An Increasingly Common — And Controversial — Charge,” Gothamist (February 6, 2022).
- Letter to the Editor: “Surging Racial Disparities in the U.S. Overdose Crisis,” The American Journal of Psychiatry (February 2, 2022) (co-author).
- “Guest Commentary: Why It’s Time to Abandon Drug Courts,” The Davis Vanguard (March 8, 2021).
- “Forced Addiction Treatment Could be Death Sentence During COVID-19,” CommonWealth (January 20, 2021).
- “Misinformation is Fueling the Overdose Crisis,” CommonWealth (January 16, 2022).
- “San Francisco’s New Answer for Its Drug Problem: More Cops,” VICE (December 15, 2021).
- “With Overdose Deaths Surging, Advocates on the Ground Push for Over-the-Counter Naloxone,” Kaiser Health News (December 14, 2021).
- “Biden’s Big Decision on the Opioid Crisis,” Politico (December 7, 2021).
- “Time for Safehouse to Ask Forgiveness, Not Permission, on Philly Supervised Injection Site, Experts Say,” WHYY Public Media (December 2, 2021).
- “Mass. and Cass Cleanup has Mixed Success, as Special Court Faces Renewed Criticism,” The Boston Globe (November 6, 2021).
- “Boston Notifies Mass. and Cass Residents Tents Will Be Removed Monday Morning,” NBC Boston (October 29, 2021).
- “Price for Drug that Reverses Opioid Overdoses Soars Amid Record Deaths,” The Guardian (October 19, 2021).
- “Video of Officer’s Collapse After Handling Powder Draws Skepticism,” The New York Times (August 7, 2021).
- “Experts Question Video of Deputy Who Purportedly “Almost Died” From Substance Said To Be Fentanyl,” CBS News (August 10, 2021).
- “Overdose Deaths In State Prisons Have Jumped Dramatically Since 2001,” NPR (July 15, 2021).
- “A Federal Court Rethinks the Practice of Punishing Drug Use As Murder,” AlterNet (July 7, 2021).
- “Fentanyl Seizures Rise in Houston,” Houston Chronicle (April 21, 2021).
- “Guest Commentary: Why It’s Time to Abandon Drug Courts,” The Davis Vanguard (March 8, 2021).
- “Why It’s Time to Abandon Drug Courts,” The Crime Report (March 5, 2021).
- “Forced Addiction Treatment Could be Death Sentence During COVID-19,” CommonWealth (January 20, 2021).
- “In LA, Ambulances Circle for Hours and ICUs Are Full. Is This What COVID-19 Has in Store for the Rest of the Country?,” STAT (January 15, 2021).
- “LA Was Uniquely Vulnerable To This COVID Catastrophe. Here Is What Went Wrong,” Los Angeles Times (December 28, 2020).
- “Power Up: DOJ Settled for Billions to Allay the Opioid Crisis. The Challenge Now: Getting the Money,” The Washington Post (December 18, 2020).
- “Purdue’s Demise Could Be a New Beginning for the Pharmaceutical Industry,” Health Affairs (December 18, 2020).
- “Philadelphia May Be on the Way to a Record for Fatal Drug Overdoses in 2020, another COVID-19 Consequence,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (December 6, 2020).
- “The Terrifying Triple-Digit Spike in Pandemic Overdoses,” Daily Beast (December 3, 2020).
- “With Limited Boston Homeless Shelter Beds This Winter, Could Taking Private Property Be a Solution?,” Boston.com (November 23, 2020).
- “Drug Decriminalization in Oregon Could be a Step Toward Better Public Health,” The Verge (November 20, 2020).
- “One Simple Way Biden Could Prove He Regrets His Role in the Drug War,” Slate (November 18, 2020).
- “US Saw 100,000 Drug Overdose Deaths in One Year Amid Pandemic, CDC Says,” The Guardian (November 17, 2020).
- “Joe Biden’s “Mandatory Rehab” For Drug Users Are Rebranded Jails That Don’t Work And Cause Overdoses,” Forbes (September 10, 2020).
- “Oregon Could Become the First State to Decriminalize Drugs in November,” The Appeal (September 1, 2020).
- “We Desperately Need Safe Zones For Drug Users In This Pandemic,” Forbes (July 10, 2020).
- “Memo: Fighting the Coronavirus and Protecting the Unhoused,” Data for Progress (March 31, 2020).
- “The Wrong Way to Fight the Opioid Crisis,”The New Yorker (February 3, 2020).
- “‘Treatment Facilities’ Aren’t What You Think They Are,”The New York Times (September 3, 2019).
- “Drug Overdose Deaths Are Down for the First Time in 30 Years. Is This the Turning Point of the Overdose Crisis?,”Northeastern News (July 19, 2019).
- “Has The Boston Globe’s Coverage Of DA Rollins Been Fair?,” WGBH’s Greater Boston (July 15, 2019).
- “Federal Grants Restricted To Fighting Opioids Miss The Mark, States Say,” NPR’s All Things Considered (June 14, 2019).
- “Meth Hospitalizations Soar 245% in 10 Years: Surge in Er Visits Is Flying ‘off the Radar’ – but It’s Hidden by the Opioid Epidemic,” The Daily Mail (November 28, 2018).
- “The Federal Agency That Fuels the Opioid Crisis,”The New York Times (September 17, 2018).
- “Lawsuit: Washington Jail Must Provide Addiction Treatment,” The Washington Post (June 7, 2018).
- “Surgeon General Wants Naloxone Widely on Hand. Is This feasible?,” NBC News (April 18, 2018).
- “US Attorney Investigating Mass. Prison Officials’ Treatment Of Inmates With Addictions,” WBUR News (March 29, 2018).
- “US Investigating Treatment of Addicted Prisoners in Mass.,” The Boston Globe (March 28, 2018).
- “Trumps Latest Ideas to Combat the Opioid Crisis Are Also His Dumbest,” The Huffington Post (March 20, 2018).
- “Trump Still Wants Drug Dealers Executed-But Won’t Push to Change Death Penalty Laws,” Newsweek (March 19, 2018).
- “Trump Administration to Seek Stiffer Penalties Against Drug Dealers, Reduce Opioid Prescribing,” The Washington Post (March 18, 2018).
- “Measuring the Toll of the Opioid Epidemic is Tougher Than it Seems,” Propublica (March 13, 2018).
- “Opioid Addiction and Death Mail-Ordered to Your Door,” BBC News (February 22, 2018).
- “How a Police Chief, a Governor and a Sociologist Would Spend $100 Billion to Solve the Opioid Crisis,” The New York Times (February 14, 2018).
- “Rescinding Federal Marijuana Enforcement Guidelines Could Spark ‘Chaos’,” Northeastern News (January 16, 2018).
- “To Address Opioid Crisis, Researchers Call for Focus on Root Causes of Suffering,” Northeastern News (December 22, 2017).
- “Baker Calls For Improvements To Opioid Treatment And Prescribing,” WBUR’s CommonHealth (November 15, 2017).
- “How Massachusetts Deals With Opioid Addicts: Jail Or Rehab?,” NPR’s Morning Edition (October 12, 2017).
- “Amid Opioid Crisis, Insurers Restrict Pricey, Less Addictive Painkillers,” The New York Times (September 17, 2017).
- “Is It Addiction Treatment Or Prison? A Look Inside A State Center For Involuntary Commitments,” WBUR News (September 13, 2017).
- “Can Giving Inmates Access to Addiction Medication Help Ease the Opioid Crisis?,” The Boston Globe (August 7, 2017).
- “Worse Than Jail: Addicts Civilly Committed Say DOC Abused Them and Failed to Treat Them,” The Boston Globe (July 14, 2017).
- “Officers Rue the Return of US ‘War on Drugs’,” BBC News (April 18, 2017).
- “After Pledging to Solve Opioid Crisis, Trump’s Strategy Underwhelms”Politico (March 29, 2017).
- “The $4,500 Injection to Stop Heroin Overdoses,” The Washington Post (January 27, 2017).
- “Marijuana in Massachusetts, What Happens Now That It’s Legal?,” Northeastern News (November 28, 2016).
- “On the Safe Side: Can Supervised Injection Facilities Help Reduce US HIV Rates?,” POZ Magazine (August 15, 2016).
- “DEA Is Cracking down on Physicians Who Overprescribe Pills,” Pittsburgh Post Gazette (August 12, 2016).
- “Ithaca Mayor Wants a Haven for Heroin Addicts,” USA Today (March 25, 2016).
- “Are Safe Injection Facilities for Heroin Users a Step in the Right Direction?”Northeastern News (March 2, 2016).
- “Ithaca’s Plan To Open A Safe Site For Heroin Users Faces Legal Hurdles,” NPR (February 24, 2016).
- “Legal Experts: Law Enforcement Officers Should be Authorized to Administer Overdose Antidote,”Northeastern News (June 15, 2015).
- “A New Tool in Drug Overdose Prevention,”Northeastern News (October 30, 2014).
- “Massachussets Limits Use of the Potent Painkiller Zohydro,” The Boston Globe (April 23, 2014).
- “Naloxone ‘Stigma’ a Barrier to Prescribing,” MedPageToday.com (April 9, 2014).
- “FDA OK’s Injector Device to Counter Drug Overdoses,” The Boston Globe (April 4, 2014).
Leo Beletsky
Professor of Law and Health Sciences and Faculty Director, The Action Lab at the Center for Health Policy and Law