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Beyond Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Policies in the 21st Century
More than 10 years ago, federal officials boldly claimed that they would create a “drug-free America by 1995.” To reach that objective, Congress spent billions of dollars to disrupt the drug trade. Despite thousands of arrests and seizures, America is not drug free. Illegal drugs are as readily available today as ever before.
Drug prohibition has proven to be a costly failure. Like alcohol prohibition, drug prohibition has created more problems than it has solved. The drug war has destroyed the lives of inner-city residents, corrupted law enforcement, and distorted our foreign policy. Yet drug prohibition is still seen as a viable strategy by most police officers, prosecutors, and political leaders. Paradoxically, alternative drug policies—such as legalization—fall outside the parameters of serious debate in our nation’s capital.
To further a more mature debate about drug policy, the Cato Institute hosted Beyond Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Policies in the 21st Century. Legal scholars, former law enforcement officials, and political and social leaders gathered to discuss the harmful consequences of drug prohibition and to assess alternative policies.
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Gary
Johnson |
Daniel
Lungren |
Julie
Stewart |
Michael
Levine |
Joseph
McNamara |
Ethan
Nadelmann |
Steven
Duke |
Daniel
Polsby |
| 9:00 — 10:30 a.m. | Opening Remarks: Edward H. Crane, President, Cato Institute
Panel I — The Constitution and the Drug War Steven Duke, Professor of Law, Yale University, and author of America’s Longest War Roger Pilon, Vice President for Legal Affairs, Cato Institute David Kopel, Director of Research, Independence Institute |
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| 10:45 a.m. — 12:00 p.m. | Panel II — The Failure of Drug Prohibition: Law Enforcement Perspectives
David Klinger, Professor of Criminology, University of Missouri, and former police officer of Los Angeles Michael Levine, author of Deep Cover and former DEA agent Joseph McNamara, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and former police chief of San Jose |
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| 12:45 — 2:45 p.m. | Luncheon Address
Gary Johnson, Governor of New Mexico Debate — Resolved: America Should Legalize Drugs Daniel Polsby, Professor of Law, George Mason University Daniel Lungren, Former Attorney General of California |
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| 3:00 — 4:30 p.m. | Panel III — The Political and Social Effects of the Drug War
Julie Stewart, President, Families Against Mandatory Minimums Ted Galen Carpenter, Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, Cato Institute Ethan Nadelmann, Director of The Lindesmith Center Closing Remarks: Timothy Lynch, Director, Cato Project on Criminal Justice |
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