Physiology and psychology of substance habituation and dependence, including the relative addictive strength of various substances and long-term health consequences.

Nature and impact of the use and abuse of alcohol upon consumer health and toward society, as well as the effectiveness and impact of current policies and laws.

History of American Alcohol Prohibition (1920-33), including the forces which motivated and repealed it.

Innovative alternative sentencing practices being used in the criminal justice system in order to relieve strain on the system and provide for more effective and equitable sentencing outcomes.

Physical, social, and cultural development of human drug-taking behavior, including cross-cultural comparisons of drug culture and the nature of the contemporary American drug scene.

Economic behavior of drug users.

Nature and impact of the use and abuse of drugs by pre-adolescents (including parental drug use and addiction) upon child development and toward society, as well as the effectiveness and impact of current policies and laws.

Issues related to the undertreatment of patients with severe, chronic pain, including the prosecution and removal of medical license of doctors who treat chronic pain patients.

Nature and impact of the use and abuse of cocaine/crack upon consumer health and toward society, as well as the effectiveness and impact of current policies and laws.

The right of the individual to independently and autonomously, to use the full spectrum of his or her mind and to engage in multiple modes of thought.

The effects substance abuse and drug law enforcement have on different communities and populations, including the specific and disparate effects both have on the poor and communities of color.

Local efforts to address drug abuse in communities, as well as community efforts to organize for and against drug policy reform.

Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the economic, social, and political costs of drug abuse and the current drug policy of criminal prohibition.

Origins of media hype about infants irreparably damaged by their mothers' cocaine use, as well as alternative explanations for the birth of premature infants to drug-using inner-city women.

Correlational and causative relationships between drug and alcohol abuse and crime, including the issue of whether certain drugs are "criminogenic."DELINQUENCY AND DRUGS: Role of drug use and abuse in juvenile delinquency, as well as drug policies and programs designed to address juvenile drug use and abuse.

Special courts for prosecution of drug offenders, allowing judges to mandate treatment instead of prison.

Evaluation of drug education program effectiveness and impact on student attitudes towards drugs, the police, and other authorities, including the controversial Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program.

Economic structure and nature of the markets in illegal drugs, including the effects of public policy on those markets.

Process by which drug policy is formulated and implemented by government legislators and executives, as well as detailed alternative policy and legislative models.

Legal, ethical, political, and social aspects of drug-testing technology, including urinalysis, hair-testing, and emerging technologies such as roadside blood testing by police, home drug-testing kits for use by parents, and performance/ability testing.

Use and abuse of legal and illegal substances by persons with physical or psychological disabilities.

Use of psychoactive substances in religious or spiritual practices.

Nature and extent of drug use and abuse in specific populations, as well as of diseases, such as AIDS, in which drug abuse can be a contributing factor.

Drug crop eradication and substitution programs both in the United States and abroad, including evaluations of cost, effectiveness, and impact on drug markets and consumers.

Legal and political erosion of Fourth Amendment protections since the Nixon Administration, including police surveillance, undercover operations, "no-knock" warrants, and rules of evidence.

Emerging theory and practice of programs which focus on attempting to reduce the crime, violence, and disease associated with illicit drug use, including the teaching of safer drug-taking practices to users.

Economics and environmental factors of the manufacture of a wide range of industrial products from cannabis hemp, including the history and geography of past and present production.

Recent controversy surrounding the sale and use of unregulated "natural" drugs and products, including assessment of the dangers of these products.

Nature and impact of the use and abuse of heroin and other opiate drugs upon individual health and toward society, as well as the effectiveness and impact of current policies and laws.

Chronological record of drugs in the United States and other societies, including responses in drug policy and attitudes towards users.

Relationships between drug use/abuse, especially injection drug use, and the transmission of HIV/AIDS, sexually-transmitted diseases, and hepatitis.

Human and civil rights issues connected to prohibition and drug control, including the erosion of Constitutional protections during the "War on Drugs," human rights abuses by law-enforcement and military involved in drug law enforcement, and the expansion of police power.

Effects of drug law enforcement upon the criminal justice system, including official corruption, shifts in judicial power from judges to prosecutors, clogging of the court system with drug cases, and shifts in law-enforcement priorities.

Effects of drug law enforcement upon government spending in other sectors, such as education and social services.

Effects of drug law enforcement upon prison populations and the living conditions in prisons, including the spread of diseases in incarcerated populations.

Effects of the use and abuse of inhalant drugs, such as glue, solvents, and gasoline, upon the health of users and adolescent development.

Policy of attempting to intercept illegal drugs at the national borders, including the techniques, costs, and effectiveness.

Drug policy models used in other nations, including assessments of their effectiveness and relevance to American drug policy.

Nature and character of international commerce in legal and illegal psychoactive drugs, including political issues in source countries, international drug treaties and other efforts to control the trade, and the role drug trade plays in international politics.

Drug and drug policy information on the Internet and the Web, including the use of the Internet as an organizing tool for drug policy reform.

Debate over the power of juries to judge not only the evidence of crime but also whether the law itself is valid, including the application of jury nullification to drug cases.

Laws concerning police procedures and powers, as well as drug law enforcement.

Laws regarding limits on prison populations and prison conditions, as well as the relationship between drug law enforcement and court-ordered reductions in prison populations.

Arguments for and against reform of the nation's drug policy and the repeal of drug prohibition, including specific proposals for alternative policies.

Historical and current applications of mandatory minimum sentencing schemes, including the impact of mandatory sentencing on prison populations and the shift of sentencing power from judges to prosecutors.

Methods for the manufacture of illicit drugs.

Nature and impact of marijuana use on individual health and toward society, including the effectiveness and impact of current policies and laws, as well as the culture and history of marijuana use in the United States and abroad.

Nature and impact of MDMA (Ecstasy) on individual health and toward society, including the effectiveness and impact of current policies and laws, as well as the use of this drug in psychiatry and addiction treatment.

Role of the media in shaping public perceptions of drugs and drug users, as well as the media's influence on the formulation of drug policy.

Medical uses of marijuana, legal issues surrounding medical use, and the current policy debate over allowing its prescription by physicians, as well as various medical marijuana policies adopted by state governments over the last twenty years.

Methadone as a treatment for opiate addiction, including its impact on users, historical and political aspects, and current applications.

Nature and impact of methamphetamine use upon individual health and toward society, including the effectiveness and impact of current policies and laws, as well as the reasons for the recent upsurge in government attention to the substance.

Financial and political aspects of the laundering of profits from the illegal drug trade, including the impact of laundering on the economies of the third world, the involvement of international banking interests, and current control efforts by law enforcement.

Practice of exchanging clean syringes for used ones, as well as the impact on the transmission of infectious diseases and on the prevalence of drug use, political opposition to implementing such programs, and the scientific evidence supporting needle exchanges as a public health measure.

Science of drugs, including their composition, uses, and effects.

Ethical compromise and law-breaking related to drugs and drug prohibition by police and government officials, including the CIA complicity in the cocaine and heroin trade and the police shake-downs of drug dealers.

Political complexities and controversies which surround drugs and drug policy formulation.

Effects of maternal use and abuse of legal and illegal drugs during pregnancy and just after birth, such as birth defects and health risks. Also includes legal and policy responses such as prosecution of drug-using pregnant women.

Issues related to the use and abuse of legally prescribed drugs, including sedatives, stimulants, and anti-depressants, as well as their production and regulation.

Theoretical, practical, and programmatic approaches designed solely to reduce the use and abuse of legal and illegal drugs by specific populations.

Make-up of prison populations by race, class, gender, and type of crime, as well as current living conditions and health care in state and federal prisons.

Prevalence and character of drug use and abuse by incarcerated populations.

Civil and criminal property forfeiture, including abuse of forfeiture power by police agencies and Constitutional concerns.

Drug use in the sex trade, and prostitution's relationship to addiction.

Nature and impact of LSD and other psychedelic drugs upon individual health and toward society, including the effectiveness and impact of current policies and laws, as well as the use of psychedelics in psychiatry and addiction treatment.

Emotional and behavioral characteristics of drug users, as well as mental and emotional aspects of drug use and abuse.

Pharmacology of psycho-active substances.

Role of race in the formulation of drug policy and prohibition, the disproportionate impact of drug law enforcement on minority groups, and the impact of race on public perceptions of the "drug problem."RESEARCH: Involvement in primary research on drugs, drug policy, and their effects on individuals and society.

Political and legal issues related to the sentencing of drug law offenders, including sentencing disparities, "sentencing cliffs," and efforts to reform and standardize sentencing of defendants.

Origins and nature of drug-taking behavior as part of larger social and cultural institutions, including cultural preferences for certain psychoactive substances over others, the nature of deviance in society, and the symbolic roles that drugs, drug users, and drug prohibition.

Legal and illegal drug use by adolescents, including the effects of drugs on development, teen-specific prevention programs, and policies on teenage drug use and abuse.

Nature and impact of the use and abuse of tobacco upon individual health and toward society, including the effectiveness and impact of current policies and laws, as well as the relationship between tobacco's changing status in society and drug prohibition.

Nature, effects, and detection of poisonous substances and the treatment for toxic effects, as well as the degree of dangerousness of drugs and the means by which they can directly cause death or injury.

Wide range of techniques used to overcome substance addiction, including the political, ethical, academic, and financial aspects of drug treatment programs and their relative effectiveness.

Drug policy, drug treatment, and harm reduction organizations that are primarily organized by active drug users and addicts, including European addicts' unions and peer-driven outreach programs for street addicts.

Economic and social forces which drive the violence in the black market for drugs, including the impact of drug law enforcement on rates, types, and locations of violent crimes.

Drug issues particular to female populations, including gender bias in treatment, motivations for women's participation in the black market for drugs, and women's experiences as drug users and addicts.

Issues related to the growing population of incarcerated women, including living conditions, effects of their incarceration on their families, and health care, as well as the demographic characteristics of this population.