Stanford School of Medicine
Keith Humphreys is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford School of Medicine. From 2009-2010 he served as senior policy advisor to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He also co-chaired a recent blue ribbon commission on marijuana policy.
President Trump does a 180 on drug addiction The President's special commission on opioid abuse has recommended he declare a national emergency. Tuesday, he sent word he would not. But, the number of overdose deaths in a year exceeds troop casualties in the entire Vietnam War. Yesterday, he said "yes," after all. A national emergency could mean federal resources for treatment — including for mental illness. It's a long way from Nancy Reagan's "Just Say, No," but she was talking about crack cocaine in the inner cities, while opioids are a scourge of white Americans in Republican enclaves.
Will Big Money Create "Big Pot?" Marijuana is a one-time symbol of America's counter-culture. Still illegal under federal law, its medical use has been approved in 23 states; four states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational use. And it's already a $2.7 billion business that's attracting Wall Street and Silicon Valley investors to a legalization movement originally devoted to medical needs and social justice. Activists warning about Big Pot — a corporate behemoth like Big Alcohol or Big Tobacco — with little concern for public health or the environment. In an economy based on the profit motive, will legalization have unintended consequences?
America: The Overdose Nation Fast-paced national/international news and issues program, from KCRW.
Heroin Makes a Comeback Heroin addiction wasn't just Philip Seymour Hoffman 's problem. It isn't just Hollywood's problem. It's America's problem. It's migrated from central cities to middle class suburbs to small towns in New England, the MidWest and other places where it's rarely been seen before. Cheaper, more potent supplies find a ready market of people already addicted to prescription pain pills that are harder to get than they used to be. Drug overdoses now kill more Americans than traffic accidents, gun homicides or suicides. How long has that been true? Why did it take a celebrity death to focus public attention? What needs to be done?
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?