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Abstract: 

DuAne L. Young thoughtfully reviews the effects of a failed war on drugs begun in the Nixon Administration, which has resulted in a high rate of incarceration among minority populations such as blacks and Hispanics, and a devastation of the self-worth of many urban black males. This article shows why the Obama Administration has begun a shift toward the behavioral health model of treatment rather than lengthy incarceration. At the same time, the addiction field has undergone upgrades in both the diagnosis and treatment of alcohol and substance abusers, which include the impaired driver. Young explains the latest criteria detailed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), released in May 2013, and recent inclusions in The American Society of Addiction Medicine’s new edition of The ASAM Criteria.

Keywords: sentencing ratios; behavioral health care; severity scale; mandated referral; deconstruction of the drug war; assessment-driven referral systems; Holistic Assessment

Affiliations:  1: The Change Companies.