Drug and Alcohol Policy dates to Talmudic times. Ancient Rabbis established rules, or policy for their village. They told their people to avoid crossing to the neighboring village on the Sabbath because those neighbors had a reputation for excessing drinking.

Today drug policy can be extremely liberal - allowing free drug trade with no consequences, or very harsh - the death penalty for drug dealing. Smart drug policy strikes the right balance.

Paul J. Larkin is the John, Barbara, and Victoria Rumpel Senior Legal Research Fellow in the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Larkin works on criminal justice policy, drug policy, and regulatory policy. Before joining Heritage in September 2011, Larkin held various positions with the federal government in Washington, D.C. At the U.S. Department of Justice from 1984 to 1993, Paul served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General and argued 27 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He also was an attorney in the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. In 1996-1997, Larkin served as Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and head of the Crime Unit for Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), then the panel’s chairman. He worked in the Environmental Protection Agency from 1998 to 2004 as a special agent for criminal enforcement, eventually becoming Special Agent-in-Charge and serving as Acting Director of the EPA Criminal Investigation Division in 2004. His honors include the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, which he received in 1994 for representing the military before the Supreme Court. In the private sector, he worked at two top law firms in Washington, D.C., and as Assistant General Counsel for Verizon Communications from 2004 to 2009. Larkin received his law degree in 1980 from Stanford Law School, where he was a published member of the Stanford Law Review. He clerked for Judge Robert H. Bork of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In 2010, he received a master’s degree in Public Policy from George Washington University. He also holds a bachelor of arts degree in Philosophy from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where he graduated summa cum laude with honors in Philosophy. Born and raised in New York, New York, Larkin is a life-long New York Yankees and New York Giants fan.