John Duncan

Dr. John Duncan is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary and Cultural Studies in the College of Liberal Studies at the University of Oklahoma.  He has worked with CLS as a professor since 1997 and is the recipient of their 2003 “Kenneth E. Crook Distinguished Faculty Award,” for Excellence in Teaching and Meritorious Service to the University and the 2004 “Superior Teaching Award.” 

John is also appointed as a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, OU Health Sciences Center, College of Medicine, where he teaches courses on the neurobiology of addiction, psychopharmacology of non-therapeutic drug use, and medical ethics. He has also been recognized in 2005-2006 by the O.U. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for excellence in classroom teaching in the Medical Student Education Program.

Graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a Ph.D. in philosophy, his main philosophical interests are in phenomenology (the study of the structures of human experience), applied ethics, and media psychology and its influences on belief.  John is currently working on a book on the relationship between self-identity, belief, and autonomy. Additionally, John completed several years of post-doctoral research in biological psychology at the OU College of Medicine, where his major emphasis was on the neurobiology of addiction and the effects of non-therapeutic drug use.

In August of 2007, John retired after 27 years in law enforcement as Chief Agent of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control.  Although he worked as an undercover agent for years, the past 13 years were as an agency administrator, where he was responsible for agency direction and vision and programmatic development.  During his career at OBN, John wrote considerable legislation –especially the original Precursor Control Act of 1989, and assisted others in creating the Oklahoma Trafficking Statutes and with HB 2176, which controlled pseudoephedrine and became a National model.  As a result of the 1989 Precursor Act, he was invited to participate with the National Prosecutor’s Research Association to draft Model Drug Laws for White House under the Presidency of Bill Clinton.  Further, John redesigned the OBN Performance Based Budget in 2004, analyzing every component of the agency and creating a measurement program that has been praised by the Oklahoma Legislative House staff.  John wrote a significant portion of Oklahoma Statutes, Title 63, including the “Precursor Control Act” of 1989, the “Drug Trafficking Act” of 1990, numerous small modifications of law, and the “Nicky Green Act,” of 2004, which controlled Pseudoephedrine, caused a 90% decrease in meth labs in Oklahoma and became the model for 37 other states and also was used in part of the Patriot Act signed by President George W. Bush in 2006.

John routinely represented OBN publicly, in local, state, national, and international settings.  For example, he was asked to represent the agency for the American Bar Association’s “Central and Eastern European Law Initiative (CEELI), assisting former Soviet countries in developing anti-corruption initiatives. John has regularly attended National meetings on behalf of OBN.  On a daily basis, he represented OBN in the media and appeared on talk shows, such as OETA’s “Oklahoma Forum,” and the PBS National Program “The Power of Ideas.”  Furthermore, John published regularly about drug abuse in both academic and law enforcement journals.

John was one of the fifteen founding members of the Association of Oklahoma Narcotic Enforcers (A-ONE) and served as President of that organization from 1994-1995.  He started out as a Regional President in A-ONE and became the first Editor in Chief of the A-ONE Journal, a publication designed to enhance communication among narcotics enforcers in Oklahoma. John is still recognized as an active participant in the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Community. He has been a CLEET Certified Instructor for over 23 years and has completed a total of 2072 hours of CLEET Certified law enforcement training. For over 15 years, John was the OBN Chief Firearms Instructor and Range Master. John has worked as a law enforcement trainer nationally since 1987, teaching courses in topics such as Narcotics Unit Supervision and Management, Tactical Raid Planning, High-Risk Warrant Operations, Clandestine Laboratory Safety Certification, Meth Psychosis, and Science-Based Drug Education.

From 1994 to 2000, John was a member of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (DMHSAS) Advisory Council, was the Vice-Chairman of the Oklahoma Drug and Alcohol Policy Board, and was a member of the Governor’s Committee on Substance Abuse. John was one of the initiators of the Oklahoma HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area), personally researching and writing the first Oklahoma Drug Threat Assessment and starting the Oklahoma HIDTA Intelligence Center.

Although John’s basic duties as Chief were agency administration, his law enforcement career includes 5 years as a Norman Police Officer (where in 1981 he received the “Outstanding Academic Achievement” award in the 20^th Training Academy) and he worked in every division in all capacities at OBN.  John is also a CLEET certified law enforcement instructor and has taught over 2000 hours of continuing education for police officers.  Recently, John designed and secured a $412,000 grant to implement an online narcotics law enforcement education program.  The hardware and software are in place and content is in the process of development on this innovative system. Additionally, John wrote grants for OBN since 1987, creating model programs and raising over 6.5 million dollars in grant support for innovative programs in Oklahoma.

Further, John is widely considered to be one of top authorities in the world on methamphetamine manufacture and abuse and has been invited to present on this topic throughout the United States, Canada, Lithuania, and Slovakia. In 1996, the American Bar Association named John their Chief Consultant for methamphetamine for the Eastern-Block, former Soviet Countries as a part of their Central and Eastern European Initiative (CEELI). John taught over 100 methamphetamine courses throughout the United States for the Bureau of Justice Assistance and, over the past ten years, focused mostly upon the ways that chronic methamphetamine use damages the brain.

Additionally, John is a consultant for the U.S. Department of State and has traveled throughout the former Soviet Eastern-Block countries helping develop approaches to address issues of ethics and governmental corruption.  He has served on a White House Commission that developed model legislation, is currently a member of the Advisory Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, has served as a member of the Governor’s Committee on Substance Abuse, was the Vice-Chairman of the Oklahoma Drug and Alcohol Policy Board, and is a member of the Oklahoma Epidemiological Workgroup.