Drug Policy Resources

Extensive research supports reforming our approach to drugs. Scroll down to browse our library of reports, academic studies, and other resources examining the harms of criminalization, harm-reduction strategies, and other related issues.

Harms of Criminalization

Overdose Prevention and Harm Reduction

Vermont Reports and Resources

Decriminalization

  • In this cohort study of fatal overdose and fentanyl spread through Oregon’s unregulated drug market, decriminalization of drug possession was not associated with an increase in fatal drug overdose rates in Oregon in the 2 years after its enactment. (JAMA Network Open, 2024)

  • Paper analyzing the provisions of Measure 110, its early impacts, successes, and challenges, and outlining lessons that jurisdictions contemplating decriminalizing drug possession in the U.S. and globally should consider. Russoniello K, Vakharia SP, Netherland J, et al. Decriminalization of drug possession in Oregon: Analysis and early lessons. Drug Science, Policy and Law. 2023

  • Briefing updating 2016 report on Portugal's reforms, and marking the 20th anniversary of their introduction in Portugal. (Transform Drug Policy Foundation, May 2021)

  • Initial research investigating impacts of Oregon’s measure 110 examining publicly available calls for service data after Ballot Measure 110’s implementation. (Preliminary analysis, August 2022)

  • Review of the literature on depenalization, diversion, and decriminalization, which found evidence that these alternative policies do not increase the scale of violence of organized crime and that some alternatives in some contexts can reduce health and crime harms. Stevens, A., Hughes, C. E., Hulme, S., & Cassidy, R., European Journal of Criminology, 19(1), 29–54 (2022)

  • A resource for people from all sectors who wish to understand the key objectives, principles and concepts relating to decriminalisation of drug use and how to advocate for it. (IDPC, February 2022)

  • Paper providing a practical framework that can be used to deliberate on potential reform decisions. Greer A, Bonn M, Shane C, Stevens A, Tousenard N, Ritter A. (Int J Drug Policy. 2022)

  • Vancouver’s proposal to Federal government for emergency exemption under 56(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) that would decriminalize personal possession of illicit substances within the City’s boundaries. (May 28, 2021)

  • Report from the Health Canada Expert Task Force on Substance Use on alternatives to criminal penalties for simple possession of controlled substances concluding “that criminalization of simple possession causes harms to Canadians and needs to end.” (Health Canada, May 6, 2021)

  • Report presenting findings from an evaluation of criminal legal policy reforms impacting vulnerable populations in Baltimore City, conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. (Susan G. Sherman, PhD, MPH, Saba Rouhani, PhD, MSc Catherine Tomko, PhD, MHS, Noelle P. Weicker, MHS, October 2021)

  • Study from California after the passing of Prop 47 on the impact of the defelonization of personal use drug possession on recidivism rates. (2020)

  • Report published by the Narkotika Politiskt Center attempting to “give the best possible picture of the huge efforts undertaken in Portugal at the beginning of the 21st century and the way in which the situation has developed since.” Also contains a brief overview of another ten countries in Europe which have decriminalised drugs.

  • “In June of 2018… the chief of police of Burlington, Vermont, and the state’s attorney who prosecutes Burlington’s criminal cases, announced that (they) would not arrest or prosecute people for misdemeanor possession of unprescribed buprenorphine, the partial agonist medication shown to be highly effective at treating opioid use disorder (OUD). (They) were the first public officials in the United States to de facto decriminalize the possession of a controlled substance in response to the nation’s opioid crisis. This article explains the rationale for the policies.

    Pozo BD, Krasner LS, George SF. Decriminalization of Diverted Buprenorphine in Burlington, Vermont and Philadelphia: An Intervention to Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths. J Law Med Ethics. 2020 Jun;48(2):373-375.

  • Drug Policy Alliance Report on Decriminalization in Portugal describing reduction in overdose deaths, HIV infections and incarceration following enactment of drug decriminalization in 2001

  • “A growing body of evidence suggests that decriminalization is an effective way to mitigate the harms of substance use and the policies and practices used to deal with it. This policy brief reviews the various ways in which decriminalization of controlled substances is being interpreted and implemented internationally and in Canada. (Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, June 2018)

  • A review of the public health and criminology literature and analysis of drug policies in the U.S. and abroad, providing evidence-based options for a new approach. (Click Here for Report)

  • Second edition of ‘A Quiet Revolution: Drug Decriminalisation Across the Globe’, building on initial report published in 2012 and providing updates on the jurisdictions originally covered and highlighting new countries that have adopted a non-criminal justice response to the possession of drugs for personal use. (Release, 2016)

  • Report reviewing the evidence in 21 countries that have adopted some form of decriminalization and has found that the model of enforcement adopted has little impact on the rates of drug use in a country. (Release, 2012)