Description/Abstract
Over 100,000 Americans are now dying from drug overdoses annually, signifying that the goal of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act (ADAA) to end illicit drug use has not been achieved. What’s more, numerous statutes within the ADAA have created or worsened housing instability among people who use drugs and their families. This is because the ADAA allows public housing officials to use their own discretion when determining evictions and lease refusals and has disproportionately harmed individuals in public housing who did not participate in the drug-related activities that led to their eviction. This brief describes how the ADAA negatively affects housing outcomes among people who use drugs and their families and advocates for an approach that prioritizes long-term health and wellbeing among public housing tenants.
Document Type
Issue Brief
Keywords
Public Housing, Evictions, Substance Use
Disciplines
Health Policy | Social Justice | Social Policy | Substance Abuse and Addiction
Date
12-19-2023
Language
English
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Alexandra Punch, Shannon Monnat, Alyssa Kirk, and Natalli Amato for previous edits to this brief.
Recommended Citation
Grabowski, Caroline, "The Federal Government Must Revise Public Housing Policies to Protect Vulnerable Populations from Evictions" (2023). Population Health Research Brief Series. 236.
https://surface.syr.edu/lerner/236
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Included in
Health Policy Commons, Social Justice Commons, Social Policy Commons, Substance Abuse and Addiction Commons
