“Nobody tells the history of marijuana and its prohibition like Russ Belville does. He has a special talent for presenting scholarship in a remarkably engaging way. That’s why I turned to Russ when I needed someone to present on the subject to the annual staff retreat of the Drug Policy Alliance. And it’s why I repeatedly recommend him for speaking and media opportunities. He’s good!” WayDoeOpportunitySpecialSubjectsTalentMediaPolicyNeededDrugMarijuanaStaffRetreatEngagingAlliancesScholarshipProhibitionPresentingAnnualsSpecial TalentsNeeded SomeoneDrug Policy Author:Ethan Nadelmann
“Drugs have destroyed many lives, but wrongheaded governmental policies have destroyed many more. I think it's obvious that after 40 years of war on drugs, it has not worked. There should be decriminalization of drugs.” ThinkingShouldYearsWarPolicyDrugObviousDestroyedWar On Drugs Author:Kofi Annan
“Far from a simple attempt to rid the nation of crime and drugs, our policy against narcotics -- like any public policy -- comes with strings attached. And increasingly these strings are constricting around the necks of Americans' lives and liberties.” NationsSimpleLibertyCrimePolicyDrugNecksStringsPublic PolicyNarcoticsStrings Attached Author:Joel Miller
“The drug war has nothing to do with making communities livable or creating a decent future for black kids. On the contrary, prohibition is directly responsible for the power of crack dealers to terrorize whole neighborhoods. And every cent spent on the cops, investigators, bureaucrats, courts, jails, weapons, and tests required to feed the drug-war machine is a cent not spent on reversing the social policies that have destroyed the cities, nourished racism, and laid the groundwork for crack culture.” WarWholeKidsCultureSocialBlackCommunityJusticeCitiesPolicyDrugCreatingWeaponsRacismTestsMachinesResponsibleCourtContraryDestroyedDecentNeighborhoodCracksJailCentsCopProhibitionDealerBureaucratsWar On DrugsInvestigatorsGroundworkSocial Policy Book:No More Nice Girls: Countercultural Essays Source: No More Nice Girls: Countercultural Essays
“Married women vote Republican; single women vote Democratic. That's why liberals promote policies to break up families. Every social malady is a victory for the left. A couple gets divorced and liberals say, "Yay! Another Democratic voter!" A child is born out of wedlock and liberals say, "Yay! Another Democratic voter!" A person gets addicted to drugs and liberals say, "Yay! Another Democratic voter!"” ChildrenPersonsLeftSocialBornBreakPolicyCoupleVictoryRepublicanDrugMarriedVoteDemocraticVotersDivorcedMaladySingle WomenMarried WomenWedlockYay Author:Ann Coulter
“Republicans: the party that brought us 'Just Say No.' First as a drug policy, then as their entire platform.” FirstsPartyPolicyRepublicanDrugPlatformsJust Say NoDrug Policy Author:Stephen Colbert
“U.S. domestic drug policy does not carry out its stated goals, and policymakers are well aware of that. If it isn't about reducing substance abuse, what is it about? It is reasonably clear, both from current actions and the historical record, that substances tend to be criminalized when they are associated with the so-called dangerous classes, that the criminalization of certain substances is a technique of social control.” IfsWellsDoeActionCertainSocialGoalClassClearRecordsDangerousPolicyDrugAbuseHistoricalCurrentsTechniqueSubstanceReducingSubstance AbuseSocial ControlDrug Policy Author:Noam Chomsky
“I can officially state that my government and myself believe that all over Europe we need to open a debate on the 'drug question' in order to create more coherent and human policies with better perspectives. . . . The policy of criminalizing consumers has failed, creating many problems to our society.” NeedsBelieveHumansI CanStatesProblemGovernmentOrderPolicyPerspectiveDrugCreatingEuropeDebateConsumersOur Society Author:George Papandreou
“I never thought I'd miss Nancy Reagan. There can't be a rating [on the Clinton drug policy] when there hasn't been a performance.” MissingPolicyDrugPerformancesClintonRatingNancyDrug Policy Author:Charles Rangel
“When leaders carry out policies for decades that have no consequences for the stated goal and are very costly, you have to ask whether they are telling you the truth or whether the policies are for a different goal, because they are not reducing drug use.” DifferentUseAsksGoalLeaderPolicyDrugConsequenceDecadesReducingDrug Use Author:Noam Chomsky
“If we want to think about racism and how it might play out in drug policy, we have to think about the trial of George Zimmerman. We think about the prosecution, when they said "race is not a factor." It's so dishonest.” IfsThinkingWantSaidPlayMightRacePolicyDrugRacismTrialsFactorsThey SaidProsecutionDrug PolicyZimmerman Author:Carl Hart
“Take crack cocaine. Particularly in the early days of the policy, ninety percent of the people being arrested were black, even though they didn't use the drug at higher rates and even though their numbers in the general population are so low. How could that be? The thing is, you place all your resources in communities of color. And if you do that, you're going to arrest black people.” PeopleIfsUseBlackCommunityNumbersPolicyColorHigherDrugLowsPercentResourcesRatePopulationCracksBlack PeopleNinetyArrestedCocaine Author:Carl Hart
“We should decriminalize all drugs. The assumptions on which our drug policies are based are flawed.” ShouldPolicyDrugAssumptionFlawedDrug Policy Author:Carl Hart
“After the revolution of 1979, Iran embarked on a policy of sectarianism. Iran began a policy of expanding its revolution, of interfering with the affairs of its neighbors, a policy of assassinating diplomats and of attacking embassies. Iran is responsible for a number of terrorist attacks in the Kingdom, it is responsible for smuggling explosives and drugs into Saudi Arabia. And Iran is responsible for setting up sectarian militias in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen, whose objective is to destabilize those countries.” CountryNumbersPolicyRevolutionDrugResponsibleAffairIraqNeighborTerroristSettingKingdomsObjectivesSettingsIranAfghanistanInterferePakistanExpandingAttackingArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudisExplosivesDiplomatsMilitiaTerrorist AttacksSectarianismEmbassyYemenSmuggling Author:Adel al-Jubeir
“My measure of success is to walk into a restaurant and hear a table debating drug policy. Once the public start the conversation, the politicians will join - that is when we can create real change.” RealWalksPolicyPoliticianDrugConversationTablesRestaurantsMeasure Of SuccessReal ChangeDrug Policy Author:Sam Branson
“I think the cloud of suspicion has been hanging over baseball for a while. I think there has been some positive things that have come out of that. There has been a drug test policy that was been implemented that got the blessings of both the Players Association and MLB. They are trying to maintain the integrity of this sport and trying to get it back, but that cloud I think will hang over a little longer.” ThinkingTryingLittlesHas BeensSportsPlayerPolicyIntegrityBlessingDrugTestsBaseballCloudsAssociationSuspicionPositive ThingsMlbHang Over Author:Cal Ripken, Jr.
“My idea of what was going on in politics was driven by activism. I came out when I was 17, and right away I started working in the AIDS activist movement. For me, politics was about getting drugs approved and getting prisoners access to the same kind of drugs that you could get on the outside. It was about getting needle exchanges approved. That was politics. These were policy problems that were killing people, and we were trying to get them changed.” PeopleTryingKindIdeasProblemPolicyMovementChangedDrugKillingDrivenActivismAidsAccessActivistPrisonerNeedlesApproved Author:Rachel Maddow
“If you can get conservatives to sit down for 20 minutes and listen to you on drug policy reform you might have a good chance to - if not convert them - at least respect your opinion.” IfsMightChanceOpinionMinutesPolicyDrugReformGood ChanceDrug Policy Author:Rick Steves
“I'm not in journalism for the money. I'm in it to tell great stories, to talk about moments of history that are forgotten, and also to get into the nitty gritty of drug policy that you don't really see written about anywhere else.” MomentsPolicyDrugForgottenJournalism Author:Ethan Brown
“Honesty remains the best policy. If parents use alcohol in moderation in front of young children, that provides the right model. Drug use is more complex because even moderate use can have unforeseen consequences.” ChildrenParentHonestyPolicyDrugConsequenceAlcoholModeration Author:David Elkind
“Three strikes' laws make no sense as policy. They are more about the politicians responding to the people's desire to see their fury at social dysfunction reflected in the law. Our sentences are way too long. We need to look at the war on drugs, which is to say we need to look and this is easier said than done. Once again, politically, not an easy lift at all. Nevertheless, our policy is self-defeating. We're not keeping people from using the substances. We're creating a huge black market, just like we did under prohibition, which attracts all kinds of criminal enterprise.” PeopleKindLongWarDoneDesireEasyBlackPolicyPoliticianDrugAll KindsEnterpriseFuryProhibitionWar On Drugs Author:Glenn Loury
“My mouth is no prayer book, but my view is, I'd view addiction to these substances as a medical problem and I would treat it accordingly. What little I know about the history of drug control policy in the United States leaves me thinking that a hugely important moment came when the lawyers win out over the doctors on this matter.” ThinkingImportantBookMomentsProblemWinningPrayerPolicyDrugAddictionLawyerMedicalLeaving Me Author:Glenn Loury
“None of us are rational economic men as we're supposed to be portrayed in economic theory where mixes of passions, of desires, of moral principles, of self-deception, of altruism, of concern of others, of concerns for ourselves and an interest in our bank accounts. And social policies have to be responsive to the complexity of who we are as people or else, like the war on drugs, they're simply going to fail.” PeopleMenWarDesirePassionInterestMoralFailingEconomicPolicyDrugConcernRationalComplexityAltruismWar On Drugs Author:Dale Jamieson