ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 sets the stage for the book. It discusses the policy process and the various phases or stages in that process. Particular attention is paid to the problem identification stage and various definitions/perceptions of problems that face us. The chapter discusses statistics indicators of the opioid epidemics. The section on policy formulation focuses on various generic policy alternatives. The budgeting section considers the relationship between policy emphasis and budget funding. The section concludes that the budgeting favors supply over treatment policies. Emphasis is also put on the later stages of the process, which include implementation, evaluation, and policy succession. The chapter spends time examining policy termination, including why such a process is so difficult, and policy cycles. Policy cycles are the result of policy changes and the process begins again. A theme of the chapter and the book as a whole is policy failure, that the war on drugs has failed to meet its goals. The chapter also includes a discussion of the features of the American political system that affect policymaking.
