On Thursday, the Drug Policy Alliance will release An Exit Strategy for the Failed War on Drugs. This comprehensive report contains 75 broad and incremental recommendations for legislative reforms.
NEW YORK -- The House Judiciary Committee created a bipartisan task force Tuesday to investigate whether the federal code over-criminalizes minor offe...
Today we are releasing a science-driven plan for drug policy reform in America to build upon this progress. This 21st century drug policy outlines a series of evidence-based reforms that treat our nation's drug problem as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue.
NEW YORK -- U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske sought to portray the White House as a champion of drug policy reform on Wednesday, while staunchly opposin...
It is clear that we cannot simply arrest our way out of the drug problem. Instead, we need smarter, results-based criminal justice policies to keep our communities safe, including treatment for people with substance use disorders and mental health issues.
Something that most people might not know about the drug policy reform movement is the broad range of support it enjoys from people all across the political and cultural spectrums.
If the conversation at your Thanksgiving dinner gets boring, you should feel comfortable bringing up marijuana legalization. It's been all over the news since Election Day and public opinion about marijuana legalization is changing rapidly.
In an interview with reporters on Thursday, senior Obama White House adviser David Axelrod said he "wasn’t familiar" with any plans for the presiden...
This year, exactly three decades after both Democrats and Republicans first focused on creating the office that today leads drug policy efforts, both parties should co-lead today's drug challenges based on what we know can work.
It's time to stop gambling away taxpayer dollars on the failed drug war and start implementing rational, evidence-based, cost-effective, humane criminal justice policies.
Opposing the war on drugs is often portrayed as a liberal issue. But it is also a conservative issue for anyone who champions classic "republican" values.
It makes sense to devote our time and resources now to stopping drug use before it starts, intervening on early use, treating addiction, and enforcing our laws justly and smartly.
This year the Obama Administration allocated more money for drug prevention and treatment programs -- $10.1 billion -- than for U.S. law enforcement and incarceration. This Administration understands substance dependence is a public health issue, not just a law enforcement issue.
Democratic administrations are the worst drug policy reformers. That is, except for Republican adminstrations.
Our European counterparts acknowledge the horrific impact drugs have had on their societies, and they continue to pursue more rational policies. Next year, I hope we will join them to assess the damages both drug addiction and drug policy have cost our nation.
The Obama administration has adopted a mainstream approach to the drug problem, employing a balance of public health and safety approaches to reduce drug use and its consequences. All of these policies are grounded in science and research -- not politics or ideology.
In more than twenty years with the Los Angeles Police Department, where I retired as deputy chief of police, I saw a lot of puzzling behavior at close range. This week I saw some odd behavior from Google, YouTube and President Obama.
WASHINGTON -- Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson has no qualms about running as a third party candidate, telling HuffPost in a recent int...
There is no simple, straightforward fix to America's drug problem. Successfully combating this social challenge requires an approach that blends drug treatment, smart law enforcement and alternatives to incarceration.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) spoke out against the war on drugs on Monday, saying that "we need to do much different and much better than what w...
Innovative criminal justice reforms may produce misleading results if they are not implemented using systematic research methods.
The War on Drugs has failed. According to all available indices, it is no longer defendable.
America's penal system needs a top-to-bottom overhaul -- and a movement of people ready to do something about it is taking shape nicely.
Despite rates of drug use comparable with whites, black males in Illinois are much more likely to be arrested, prosecuted, and ultimately incarcerated for low-level drug crimes.
WASHINGTON — The White House is putting more resources into drug prevention and treatment, part of President Barack Obama's pledge to treat ille...
