David Cohen studies psychoactive drugs across shifting boundaries of medical, recreational, and illicit uses, showing how socio-cultural factors, not just drug properties, shape legal status and therapeutic promises. He also evaluates claims about biological determinist views and biological treatments of distress and misbehavior. He explores how schools of thought in mental health impact notions of ethical care, informed consent, and harm reduction. His research on public data about involuntary psychiatric detentions reveals governments’ weak accountability for coercive care. Cohen has authored or co-authored over 120 articles and chapters. His last co-authored book was Mad Science: Psychiatric Coercion, Diagnosis, and Drugs (2015). He has received awards for writing, research, teaching, mentoring, and advocacy.
As a mental health practitioner, Cohen focused on helping people withdraw from psychiatric drugs and advocated for person-centered, individualized reduction. He developed guidelines for therapists and people navigating these substances’ shift from medical tools to cultural/consumer products. He also created CriticalThinkRx, a curriculum shown to reduce psychotropic prescriptions for foster children. Cohen has advised governments, research agencies, courts, media, and community groups on reducing harms of psychotropic drug use.
Cohen taught at University of Montreal (1988-2000) where he directed the Health and Prevention Research Group (1993-1994) focused on the nascent social determinants of health paradigm, and at Florida International University (2000-20013) where he directed the PhD program and served as Interim Director of the School of Social Work. In 2012, he held the Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair at University of Poitiers, France. At UCLA Luskin, Cohen held the Marjorie Crump Chair in Social Welfare (2013-2018), served as Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Development (2018-2023) and is currently Associate Dean.
Selected recent publications
Incidences of Involuntary Psychiatric Detentions in 25 U.S. States (2020)
