Drug policy, politics, and the law.

摘要

For the past 8 years, much health and science policy in the United States has been informed more by ideology than by science. The Executive branch of our Federal government has generated executive orders, promulgated legislation, vetoed other legislation, and directed policy reflecting a highly conservative-some would say overly narrow-philosophy and perspective. As this issue of the Journal appears in the first quarter of a new Federal administration, we are witnessing a shift toward science-informed policy. Change in a bureaucracy as huge as our Federal government takes time. Let us hope that this change will occur soon. There is value in carefully reviewing the national experience of the last 8 years with a hope that we can learn form it.