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Article
Institutional Collective Action on Drugs: Functional and Vertical Dilemmas of Unused Pharmaceuticals
Review of Policy Research
  • Monica Hubbard, Boise State University
  • Luke Fowler, Boise State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2021
Abstract

The authors use the Institutional Collective Action Framework to analyze the barriers, opposition, and opportunities for residential pharmaceutical disposal programs in the United States via a case study on a series of take-back programs pioneered in the state of Washington by local and state governments, as well as the corresponding backlash from federal agencies. While successful in some ways, these innovative solutions directly challenged the competing federal policy regimes controlled by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and, to a lesser extent, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Findings from case studies suggest that functional dilemmas created by existing institutions with entrenched regulatory regimes are a key challenge to finding efficient solutions to vertical ICA dilemmas. Conclusions, then, connect to the broader ICA research agenda, and implications for multi-level governance issues.

Citation Information
Monica Hubbard and Luke Fowler. "Institutional Collective Action on Drugs: Functional and Vertical Dilemmas of Unused Pharmaceuticals" Review of Policy Research (2021)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/monica_hubbard/7/