Out of Control: The Flawed Regulation of Schedule II Drugs and Its Impact on Pain and Addiction

This paper explores the current state of regulation of controlled substances at the federal and state level and analyzes how such regulations impact the undertreatment of pain and prescription drug abuse. Taking a historical view of the pain treatment movement and using the recent OxyContin crisis as a case study, the future of controlled substance policy as it relates to painkillers is analyzed. It argues that any successful policy will have to do a better job of balancing law enforcement and health care goals