Her current research focuses on the availability of drug treatment for at-risk populations, the opioid epidemic, vaping, and the legalization of medical and adult-use cannabis. She supports policy reforms that treat drug use as a public health issue, such as alternatives to incarceration for drug offenders, needle-exchange programs, safe-consumption sites, drug testing services, expanded access to medication-assisted treatments, and greater integration of substance use and mental health services with each other and with other areas of medical service. Neill Harris received a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice from George Mason University. She earned a master’s degree in public administration from Old Dominion University before going on to complete her Ph.D. in public administration and urban policy. She received the Old Dominion University Outstanding Ph.D. Student Award in 2014 and the Simon Scholarship for Academic Performance in 2011 and 2012.
William Martin directs two programs, Religion and Public Policy and Drug Policy. After receiving his B.A. and M.A. at Abilene Christian University, he graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1963 and received his PhD from Harvard in 1969. During his 52 years at Rice, 38 as a professor of sociology, he received numerous teaching awards, including a Lifetime Award for Excellence in Teaching. In addition to nearly 90 articles in Texas Monthly, his writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Esquire, Harper's, and in professional journals. His books include A Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story; With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America, the companion volume to a PBS mini-series of the same title; and My Prostate and Me: Dealing with Prostate Cancer.