Ethan Nadelmann gives an impassioned and intellectual TED talk about “The War on Drugs,” and proposes a number of ideas of how we can turn the corner to create a more healthy society going forward.
“The fact is America really is crazy when it comes to drugs. I mean don’t forget we’re the ones who that thought we could prohibit alcohol, so think about our global drug war not as any sort of rational policy but as the international projection of a domestic psychosis,” says Ethan Nadelmann, founder and Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance.
Drug Policy reformer Ethan Nadelmann breaks down why America needs to focus on smart regulation of drugs, as opposed to the current failed prohibition policy that disproportionately targets and marginalizes large segments of the population.
America imprisons almost twenty five percent of all people imprisoned in the world, although containing only about 5% of the worlds population, an extremely disproportionate share of people imprisoned globally.
The U.S. houses 2.3 million inmates, while China, a country with four times the population of the U.S., is a distant second with 1.6 million prisoners.
The failed drug war is damaging the fabric of American society and marginalizing huge sectors of the society, the time has come to create a new paradigm that empowers American society. The time has come for the U.S. to lead a new way forward.
“Legally regulating and taxing most of the drugs that are now criminalized would radically reduce the crime, violence, corruption and black markets, and the problems of adulterated and unregulated drugs, and improve public safety and allow tax payer resources to be developed to more useful purposes.”
Take 15 minutes to see how we can create a better tomorrow by ending the “War on Drugs.” Click on the share buttons below to help others expose the violent and immoral atrocity that is the War on Drugs.
The Free Thought Project is planning a worldwide peaceful resistance to the war on drugs, you can follow the progress on the Facebook Page, End the Drug War.
Jay Syrmopoulos is an investigative journalist, freethinker, researcher, and ardent opponent of authoritarianism. He is currently a graduate student at University of Denver pursuing a masters in Global Affairs. Jay’s work has previously been published on BenSwann.com and WeAreChange.org. You can follow him on Twitter @sirmetropolis, on Facebook at Sir Metropolis and now on tsu.