LES 217 Food and Drug Law and Policy

Drugs are one of the most complex and controversial societal issues. As such, students should understand the context and foundational aspects of drug law, including the entire spectrum of topics: How do governments determine which drugs should be legal and which criminal? How do tobacco, alcohol and marijuana play into the equation? As to legal drugs, what regulations and culpability should be imposed for research-and-development, patents, side effects, sales, service and advertising? Similarly, public policy surrounding food, beverages and health supplements touches more lives on a micro level than perhaps any other area of law. In their academic careers, students should grapple with a fundamental question: Who decides what we eat and drink?