Layal Bou Harfouch
Drug Policy Analyst, Reason Foundation
Layal Bou Harfouch is a drug policy analyst at Reason Foundation.
Her work for Reason focuses on harm reduction. Bou Harfouch’s experience spans multiple facets of addiction treatment and drug policy, informed by her extensive background in translational health research and clinical coordination.
Bou Harfouch previously coordinated multisite clinical trials in addiction at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Addiction Medicine, where she served as a senior clinical research coordinator testing a monthly injectable formulation of buprenorphine. She most recently held a position as a research coordinator at the Adolescent Addiction Recovery Center at Detroit Medical Center, where she analyzed clinic outcomes and success rates.
Bou Harfouch is currently a doctoral student at the University of Oxford, pursuing a DPhil in Evidence-Based Health Care. She also holds an M.S. in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in Kinesiology with a minor in Substance Use Disorder Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment from Central Michigan University.
Outside of her professional life, Bou Harfouch is dedicated to self-care and wellness practices, including yoga, and she cherishes spending quality time with her family. These pursuits provide her with balance and fulfillment, supporting her in both her personal and professional endeavors.
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Housing instability is driving child welfare involvement
To improve child safety outcomes, eviction and homelessness should not be treated as proxies for parental failure.
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The real cost of rationing menstrual products in jails and prisons
When the state takes control of people, it has an obligation to ensure that it is preventing serious health issues and other avoidable harms.
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Interdisciplinary harm reduction: A practical guide
The goal is to identify where policies may be incongruent, such as through gaps in care, conflicting mandates, or fragmented accountability, and to design coordinated responses that reduce those harms without creating new ones.
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Tracking pregnancy behind bars: Why Ohio’s House Bill 542 could save lives
A ten-year review of jail births found that, among the women who gave birth inside cells, one in four infants was stillborn or died within two weeks.
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Modernizing addiction regulations: How licensing, telehealth, and delivery reform can expand access to care
By embracing practical, evidence-based reforms, we can strengthen the national response to the opioid epidemic.
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Best practices to prevent misuse of opioid settlement funds
States should adopt clear guidelines to ensure settlement funds support evidence-based treatment and recovery.
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Restricting mobile health vans in Philadelphia will lead to more overdose deaths
Philadelphia's city government can address legitimate quality-of-life concerns in Kensington without constraining lifesaving services.
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Harm reduction: An evidence-based approach to the drug war
Harm reduction includes proven tools like naloxone distribution, syringe service programs, fentanyl test strip access, and supervised consumption sites.
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Why New Mexico’s newborn state custody directive is a harmful misstep
Separating families based on flawed toxicology screening undermines family-centered solutions.
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Evidence, not fear, should guide the FDA’s vaping policies
To reduce the spread of illicit products and improve public health outcomes, the FDA should authorize a broader range of regulated, appealing alternatives.
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Healthy families start with compassionate policy: Addressing drug use during pregnancy
Reason Foundation's new model legislation gives states a clear and actionable roadmap for protecting families and improving maternal health outcomes.
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Reducing harm, saving lives: The case for supervised drug consumption sites
Supervised consumption sites offer a targeted, community-driven, and compassionate response to an urgent crisis.
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How civil forfeiture targets everyday Americans, not kingpins
Civil asset forfeiture is a legal process that allows law enforcement to permanently seize property suspected of being connected to criminal activity.
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How bad housing policy fuels homelessness, and how to fix it
Integrating harm reduction strategies with housing first models may create a sustainable path forward that is both compassionate and effective.
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Will Martin Makary’s FDA listen to the evidence on e-cigarettes?
Instead of demonizing e-cigarettes, Trump's FDA should recognize them as a resource for public health.
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Medicaid is failing people leaving prison, and we’re all paying the price
Addressing Medicaid’s shortcomings isn’t just about fiscally responsible solutions; it’s about empowering individuals to jumpstart their reentry to society.
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RFK Jr.’s opioid crisis plan
While Kennedy's opioid recovery journey may have worked for him, his proposal overlooks other evidence-based approaches.
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Nonconsensual drug testing raises serious ethical concerns
When hospitals take on roles similar to law enforcement, they betray their core mission: delivering compassionate, patient-centered care.
