Legalize Drugs
Topics: Health, Law, U.S.
Public Release Date: November 14, 2012
It was 1971 when President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs." $2.5 trillion dollars later, drug use is half of what it was 30 years ago, and thousands of offenders are successfully diverted to treatment instead of jail. And yet, 22 million Americans—9% of the population—still uses illegal drugs, and with the highest incarceration rate in the world, we continue to fill our prisons with drug offenders. Decimated families and communities are left in the wake. Is it time to legalize drugs or is this a war that we're winning?
ARGUING YES:
Paul Butler: Former Federal Prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice
Nick Gillespie: Editor-at-Large for Reason
ARGUING NO:
Asa Hutchinson: Former Administrator at the Drug Enforcement Administration
Theodore Dalrymple: Dietrich Weismann Fellow at the Manhattan Institute
MODERATOR-IN-CHIEF:
John Donvan: Emmy award-winning journalist