1
00:00:00,761 --> 00:00:04,975
What has the War on Drugs 
done to the world?

2
00:00:04,975 --> 00:00:07,152
Look at the murder and mayhem in Mexico,

3
00:00:07,152 --> 00:00:10,999
Central America, so many 
other parts of the planet,

4
00:00:10,999 --> 00:00:12,799
the global black market estimated

5
00:00:12,799 --> 00:00:15,375
at 300 billion dollars a year,

6
00:00:15,375 --> 00:00:18,817
prisons packed in the 
United States and elsewhere,

7
00:00:18,817 --> 00:00:21,495
police and military drawn 
into an unwinnable war

8
00:00:21,495 --> 00:00:24,757
that violates basic rights, 
and ordinary citizens

9
00:00:24,757 --> 00:00:27,738
just hope they don't get 
caught in the crossfire,

10
00:00:27,738 --> 00:00:30,100
and meanwhile, more people using

11
00:00:30,100 --> 00:00:32,361
more drugs than ever.

12
00:00:32,361 --> 00:00:34,656
It's my country's history 
with alcohol prohibition

13
00:00:34,656 --> 00:00:37,783
and Al Capone, times 50.

14
00:00:37,783 --> 00:00:41,336
Which is why it's 
particularly galling to me

15
00:00:41,336 --> 00:00:44,465
as an American that we've 
been the driving force

16
00:00:44,465 --> 00:00:46,501
behind this global drug war.

17
00:00:46,501 --> 00:00:48,503
Ask why so many countries criminalize

18
00:00:48,503 --> 00:00:50,292
drugs they'd never heard of,

19
00:00:50,292 --> 00:00:53,318
why the U.N. drug treaties emphasize

20
00:00:53,318 --> 00:00:55,540
criminalization over health,

21
00:00:55,540 --> 00:00:57,884
even why most of the money worldwide

22
00:00:57,884 --> 00:00:59,549
for dealing with drug abuse goes not

23
00:00:59,549 --> 00:01:02,320
to helping agencies but those that punish,

24
00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,639
and you'll find the good old U.S. of A.

25
00:01:05,639 --> 00:01:07,817
Why did we do this?

26
00:01:07,817 --> 00:01:11,113
Some people, especially in Latin America,

27
00:01:11,113 --> 00:01:12,846
think it's not really about drugs.

28
00:01:12,846 --> 00:01:15,009
It's just a subterfuge for advancing

29
00:01:15,009 --> 00:01:18,167
the realpolitik interests of the U.S.

30
00:01:18,167 --> 00:01:21,530
But by and large, that's not it.

31
00:01:21,530 --> 00:01:24,443
We don't want gangsters and guerrillas

32
00:01:24,443 --> 00:01:26,513
funded with illegal drug money

33
00:01:26,513 --> 00:01:29,629
terrorizing and taking over other nations.

34
00:01:29,629 --> 00:01:34,200
No, the fact is, America really is crazy

35
00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,040
when it comes to drugs.

36
00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,200
I mean, don't forget, we're 
the ones who thought

37
00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:39,866
that we could prohibit alcohol.

38
00:01:39,866 --> 00:01:42,149
So think about our global drug war

39
00:01:42,149 --> 00:01:44,885
not as any sort of rational policy,

40
00:01:44,885 --> 00:01:47,627
but as the international projection

41
00:01:47,627 --> 00:01:51,114
of a domestic psychosis.

42
00:01:51,114 --> 00:01:54,160
(Applause)

43
00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:55,827
But here's the good news.

44
00:01:55,827 --> 00:01:59,120
Now it's the Russians leading
the Drug War and not us.

45
00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:00,700
Most politicians in my country

46
00:02:00,700 --> 00:02:02,021
want to roll back the Drug War now,

47
00:02:02,021 --> 00:02:04,833
put fewer people behind bars, not more,

48
00:02:04,833 --> 00:02:07,342
and I'm proud to say as an American

49
00:02:07,342 --> 00:02:08,926
that we now lead the world

50
00:02:08,926 --> 00:02:11,166
in reforming marijuana policies.

51
00:02:11,166 --> 00:02:13,112
It's now legal for medical purposes

52
00:02:13,112 --> 00:02:14,912
in almost half our 50 states,

53
00:02:14,912 --> 00:02:17,274
millions of people can 
purchase their marijuana,

54
00:02:17,274 --> 00:02:20,190
their medicine, in government-
licensed dispensaries,

55
00:02:20,190 --> 00:02:23,270
and over half my fellow 
citizens now say it's time

56
00:02:23,270 --> 00:02:25,643
to legally regulate and tax marijuana

57
00:02:25,643 --> 00:02:27,320
more or less like alcohol.

58
00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:29,287
That's what Colorado and 
Washington are doing,

59
00:02:29,287 --> 00:02:33,673
and Uruguay, and others 
are sure to follow.

60
00:02:33,673 --> 00:02:36,161
So that's what I do:

61
00:02:36,161 --> 00:02:39,967
work to end the Drug War.

62
00:02:39,967 --> 00:02:42,626
I think it all started growing up

63
00:02:42,626 --> 00:02:45,205
in a fairly religious, moral family,

64
00:02:45,205 --> 00:02:47,241
eldest son of a rabbi,

65
00:02:47,241 --> 00:02:49,412
going off to university where I

66
00:02:49,412 --> 00:02:52,762
smoked some marijuana

67
00:02:52,762 --> 00:02:54,980
and I liked it. (Laughter)

68
00:02:54,980 --> 00:02:57,455
And I liked drinking too, but it was obvious

69
00:02:57,455 --> 00:02:59,930
that alcohol was really the
more dangerous of the two,

70
00:02:59,930 --> 00:03:01,617
but my friends and I could get busted

71
00:03:01,617 --> 00:03:03,190
for smoking a joint.

72
00:03:03,190 --> 00:03:05,749
Now, that hypocrisy kept bugging me,

73
00:03:05,749 --> 00:03:08,690
so I wrote my Ph.D dissertation
on international drug control.

74
00:03:08,690 --> 00:03:11,180
I talked my way into the State Department.

75
00:03:11,180 --> 00:03:12,409
I got a security clearance.

76
00:03:12,409 --> 00:03:15,373
I interviewed hundreds of DEA
and other law enforcement agents

77
00:03:15,373 --> 00:03:17,530
all around Europe and the Americas,

78
00:03:17,530 --> 00:03:18,761
and I'd ask them,

79
00:03:18,761 --> 00:03:21,385
"What do you think the answer is?"

80
00:03:21,385 --> 00:03:24,165
Well, in Latin America, they'd say to me,

81
00:03:24,165 --> 00:03:26,980
"You can't really cut off the supply.

82
00:03:26,980 --> 00:03:28,534
The answer lies back in the U.S.,

83
00:03:28,534 --> 00:03:30,337
in cutting off the demand."

84
00:03:30,337 --> 00:03:32,853
So then I go back home and I talk to people

85
00:03:32,853 --> 00:03:35,453
involved in anti-drug efforts there, and they'd say,

86
00:03:35,453 --> 00:03:38,681
"You know, Ethan, you can't 
really cut off the demand.

87
00:03:38,681 --> 00:03:41,628
The answer lies over there.
You've got to cut off the supply."

88
00:03:41,628 --> 00:03:44,238
Then I'd go and talk 
to the guys in customs

89
00:03:44,238 --> 00:03:46,600
trying to stop drugs at the borders,

90
00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,817
and they'd say, "You're 
not going to stop it here.

91
00:03:49,817 --> 00:03:51,786
The answer lies over there,

92
00:03:51,786 --> 00:03:54,778
in cutting off supply and demand."

93
00:03:54,778 --> 00:03:56,408
And it hit me:

94
00:03:56,408 --> 00:03:58,693
Everybody involved in this

95
00:03:58,693 --> 00:04:01,133
thought the answer lay in that area

96
00:04:01,133 --> 00:04:04,141
about which they knew the least.

97
00:04:04,141 --> 00:04:06,645
So that's when I started 
reading everything I could

98
00:04:06,645 --> 00:04:09,525
about psychoactive drugs: 
the history, the science,

99
00:04:09,525 --> 00:04:11,630
the politics, all of it,

100
00:04:11,630 --> 00:04:13,946
and the more one read,

101
00:04:13,946 --> 00:04:16,488
the more it hit you how a thoughtful,

102
00:04:16,488 --> 00:04:19,852
enlightened, intelligent 
approach took you over here,

103
00:04:19,852 --> 00:04:22,360
whereas the politics and laws of my country

104
00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:24,396
were taking you over here.

105
00:04:24,396 --> 00:04:28,187
And that disparity struck me as this incredible

106
00:04:28,187 --> 00:04:32,354
intellectual and moral puzzle.

107
00:04:34,385 --> 00:04:36,411
There's probably never been

108
00:04:36,411 --> 00:04:39,020
a drug-free society.

109
00:04:39,020 --> 00:04:40,770
Virtually every society

110
00:04:40,770 --> 00:04:43,171
has ingested psychoactive substances

111
00:04:43,171 --> 00:04:46,786
to deal with pain, increase 
our energy, socialize,

112
00:04:46,786 --> 00:04:48,819
even commune with God.

113
00:04:48,819 --> 00:04:51,507
Our desire to alter our consciousness

114
00:04:51,507 --> 00:04:53,937
may be as fundamental as our desires

115
00:04:53,937 --> 00:04:57,854
for food, companionship and sex.

116
00:04:57,854 --> 00:04:59,991
So our true challenge

117
00:04:59,991 --> 00:05:02,871
is to learn how to live with drugs

118
00:05:02,871 --> 00:05:05,627
so they cause the least possible harm

119
00:05:05,627 --> 00:05:09,840
and in some cases the 
greatest possible benefit.

120
00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:11,910
I'll tell you something else I learned,

121
00:05:11,910 --> 00:05:14,998
that the reason some drugs 
are legal and others not

122
00:05:14,998 --> 00:05:17,956
has almost nothing to do 
with science or health

123
00:05:17,956 --> 00:05:19,789
or the relative risk of drugs,

124
00:05:19,789 --> 00:05:22,185
and almost everything to do with who uses

125
00:05:22,185 --> 00:05:25,313
and who is perceived 
to use particular drugs.

126
00:05:25,313 --> 00:05:27,383
In the late 19th century,

127
00:05:27,383 --> 00:05:30,723
when most of the drugs that
are now illegal were legal,

128
00:05:30,723 --> 00:05:33,435
the principal consumers 
of opiates in my country

129
00:05:33,435 --> 00:05:37,239
and others were middle-aged white women,

130
00:05:37,239 --> 00:05:39,598
using them to alleviate aches and pains

131
00:05:39,598 --> 00:05:42,320
when few other analgesics were available.

132
00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:44,481
And nobody thought about 
criminalizing it back then

133
00:05:44,481 --> 00:05:47,478
because nobody wanted to 
put Grandma behind bars.

134
00:05:47,478 --> 00:05:49,936
But when hundreds of thousands of Chinese

135
00:05:49,936 --> 00:05:51,725
started showing up in my country,

136
00:05:51,725 --> 00:05:54,323
working hard on the railroads and the mines

137
00:05:54,323 --> 00:05:55,802
and then kicking back in the evening

138
00:05:55,802 --> 00:05:57,506
just like they had in the old country

139
00:05:57,506 --> 00:06:00,163
with a few puffs on that opium pipe,

140
00:06:00,163 --> 00:06:02,480
that's when you saw the 
first drug prohibition laws

141
00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:04,280
in California and Nevada,

142
00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:06,158
driven by racist fears of Chinese

143
00:06:06,158 --> 00:06:07,994
transforming white women

144
00:06:07,994 --> 00:06:11,378
into opium-addicted sex slaves.

145
00:06:11,378 --> 00:06:14,213
The first cocaine prohibition 
laws, similarly prompted

146
00:06:14,213 --> 00:06:17,980
by racist fears of black men 
sniffing that white powder

147
00:06:17,980 --> 00:06:19,859
and forgetting their proper place

148
00:06:19,859 --> 00:06:21,813
in Southern society.

149
00:06:21,813 --> 00:06:23,796
And the first marijuana prohibition laws,

150
00:06:23,796 --> 00:06:25,869
all about fears of Mexican migrants

151
00:06:25,869 --> 00:06:29,645
in the West and the Southwest.

152
00:06:29,645 --> 00:06:32,379
And what was true in my country,

153
00:06:32,379 --> 00:06:34,876
is true in so many others as well,

154
00:06:34,876 --> 00:06:37,120
with both the origins of these laws

155
00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,543
and their implementation.

156
00:06:40,543 --> 00:06:42,160
Put it this way,

157
00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:44,841
and I exaggerate only slightly:

158
00:06:44,841 --> 00:06:47,923
If the principal smokers of cocaine

159
00:06:47,923 --> 00:06:49,917
were affluent older white men

160
00:06:49,917 --> 00:06:52,906
and the principal consumers of Viagra

161
00:06:52,906 --> 00:06:54,800
were poor young black men,

162
00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:57,912
then smokable cocaine would be easy to
get with a prescription from your doctor

163
00:06:57,912 --> 00:07:01,197
and selling Viagra would get you 
five to 10 years behind bars.

164
00:07:01,197 --> 00:07:04,981
(Applause)

165
00:07:04,981 --> 00:07:08,835
I used to be a professor teaching about this.

166
00:07:08,835 --> 00:07:12,490
Now I'm an activist, a human rights activist,

167
00:07:12,490 --> 00:07:15,251
and what drives me is my shame

168
00:07:15,251 --> 00:07:17,429
at living in an otherwise great nation

169
00:07:17,429 --> 00:07:20,212
that has less than five percent
of the world's population

170
00:07:20,212 --> 00:07:23,840
but almost 25 percent of the
world's incarcerated population.

171
00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,241
It's the people I meet 
who have lost someone

172
00:07:26,241 --> 00:07:28,795
they love to drug-related 
violence or prison

173
00:07:28,795 --> 00:07:30,257
or overdose or AIDS

174
00:07:30,257 --> 00:07:32,237
because our drug policies emphasize

175
00:07:32,237 --> 00:07:34,261
criminalization over health.

176
00:07:34,261 --> 00:07:37,490
It's good people who have lost their jobs,

177
00:07:37,490 --> 00:07:41,120
their homes, their freedom, 
even their children

178
00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,588
to the state, not because they hurt anyone

179
00:07:44,588 --> 00:07:47,813
but solely because they chose to use one drug

180
00:07:47,813 --> 00:07:50,827
instead of another.

181
00:07:50,827 --> 00:07:55,176
So is legalization the answer?

182
00:07:55,176 --> 00:07:57,213
On that, I'm torn:

183
00:07:57,213 --> 00:08:00,396
three days a week I think yes,
three days a week I think no,

184
00:08:00,396 --> 00:08:02,616
and on Sundays I'm agnostic.

185
00:08:02,616 --> 00:08:05,142
But since today is Tuesday,

186
00:08:05,142 --> 00:08:09,844
let me just say that legally 
regulating and taxing

187
00:08:09,844 --> 00:08:12,262
most of the drugs that 
are now criminalized

188
00:08:12,262 --> 00:08:14,636
would radically reduce 
the crime, violence,

189
00:08:14,636 --> 00:08:16,368
corruption and black markets,

190
00:08:16,368 --> 00:08:19,405
and the problems of adulterated
and unregulated drugs,

191
00:08:19,405 --> 00:08:21,352
and improve public safety,

192
00:08:21,352 --> 00:08:23,556
and allow taxpayer resources to be developed

193
00:08:23,556 --> 00:08:25,772
to more useful purposes.

194
00:08:25,772 --> 00:08:29,552
I mean, look, the markets 
in marijuana, cocaine,

195
00:08:29,552 --> 00:08:31,565
heroin and methamphetamine

196
00:08:31,565 --> 00:08:34,130
are global commodities markets

197
00:08:34,130 --> 00:08:37,325
just like the global markets 
in alcohol, tobacco,

198
00:08:37,325 --> 00:08:40,205
coffee, sugar, and so many other things.

199
00:08:40,205 --> 00:08:42,601
Where there is a demand,

200
00:08:42,601 --> 00:08:45,124
there will be a supply.

201
00:08:45,124 --> 00:08:47,280
Knock out one source and another

202
00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:48,990
inevitably emerges.

203
00:08:48,990 --> 00:08:51,370
People tend to think of prohibition

204
00:08:51,370 --> 00:08:53,868
as the ultimate form of regulation

205
00:08:53,868 --> 00:08:57,887
when in fact it represents 
the abdication of regulation

206
00:08:57,887 --> 00:09:01,904
with criminals filling the void.

207
00:09:01,904 --> 00:09:04,164
Which is why putting criminal laws and police

208
00:09:04,164 --> 00:09:07,382
front and center in trying to control

209
00:09:07,382 --> 00:09:10,486
a dynamic global commodities market

210
00:09:10,486 --> 00:09:13,355
is a recipe for disaster.

211
00:09:13,355 --> 00:09:15,526
And what we really need to do

212
00:09:15,526 --> 00:09:17,900
is to bring the underground drug markets

213
00:09:17,900 --> 00:09:20,813
as much as possible aboveground

214
00:09:20,813 --> 00:09:24,885
and regulate them as 
intelligently as we can

215
00:09:24,885 --> 00:09:27,674
to minimize both the harms of drugs

216
00:09:27,674 --> 00:09:31,162
and the harms of prohibitionist policies.

217
00:09:31,162 --> 00:09:34,727
Now, with marijuana, that obviously means

218
00:09:34,727 --> 00:09:37,393
legally regulating and 
taxing it like alcohol.

219
00:09:37,393 --> 00:09:40,723
The benefits of doing so are
enormous, the risks minimal.

220
00:09:40,723 --> 00:09:43,434
Will more people use marijuana?

221
00:09:43,434 --> 00:09:47,405
Maybe, but it's not 
going to be young people,

222
00:09:47,405 --> 00:09:49,407
because it's not going to 
be legalized for them,

223
00:09:49,407 --> 00:09:51,218
and quite frankly, they already have

224
00:09:51,218 --> 00:09:53,254
the best access to marijuana.

225
00:09:53,254 --> 00:09:55,403
I think it's going to be older people.

226
00:09:55,403 --> 00:09:57,562
It's going to be people in their 40s and 60s

227
00:09:57,562 --> 00:10:01,208
and 80s who find they prefer a little marijuana

228
00:10:01,208 --> 00:10:04,498
to that drink in the evening or the sleeping pill

229
00:10:04,498 --> 00:10:08,138
or that it helps with 
their arthritis or diabetes

230
00:10:08,138 --> 00:10:13,330
or maybe helps spice up a 
long-term marriage. (Laughter)

231
00:10:13,330 --> 00:10:16,484
And that just might be a 
net public health benefit.

232
00:10:16,484 --> 00:10:18,846
As for the other drugs,

233
00:10:18,846 --> 00:10:21,467
look at Portugal, where 
nobody goes to jail

234
00:10:21,467 --> 00:10:23,230
for possessing drugs,

235
00:10:23,230 --> 00:10:24,600
and the government's made 
a serious commitment

236
00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:26,810
to treating addiction as a health issue.

237
00:10:26,810 --> 00:10:28,711
Look at Switzerland, 
Germany, the Netherlands,

238
00:10:28,711 --> 00:10:30,657
Denmark, England, where people who have

239
00:10:30,657 --> 00:10:32,558
been addicted to heroin for many years

240
00:10:32,558 --> 00:10:34,864
and repeatedly tried to quit and failed

241
00:10:34,864 --> 00:10:37,722
can get pharmaceutical 
heroin and helping services

242
00:10:37,722 --> 00:10:41,163
in medical clinics, and 
the results are in:

243
00:10:41,163 --> 00:10:44,227
Illegal drug abuse and disease

244
00:10:44,227 --> 00:10:48,374
and overdoses and crime 
and arrests all go down,

245
00:10:48,374 --> 00:10:50,523
health and well-being improve,

246
00:10:50,523 --> 00:10:52,255
taxpayers benefit,

247
00:10:52,255 --> 00:10:56,405
and many drug users even
put their addictions behind them.

248
00:10:56,405 --> 00:10:59,207
Look at New Zealand, which 
recently enacted a law

249
00:10:59,207 --> 00:11:02,142
allowing certain recreational 
drugs to be sold legally

250
00:11:02,142 --> 00:11:04,843
provided their safety had been established.

251
00:11:04,843 --> 00:11:07,542
Look here in Brazil, and some other countries,

252
00:11:07,542 --> 00:11:10,605
where a remarkable psychoactive substance,

253
00:11:10,605 --> 00:11:13,830
ayahuasca, can be legally 
bought and consumed

254
00:11:13,830 --> 00:11:16,958
provided it's done so 
within a religious context.

255
00:11:16,958 --> 00:11:18,960
Look in Bolivia and Peru,

256
00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:21,749
where all sorts of products 
made from the coca leaf,

257
00:11:21,749 --> 00:11:23,650
the source of cocaine,

258
00:11:23,650 --> 00:11:25,270
are sold legally over the counter

259
00:11:25,270 --> 00:11:28,403
with no apparent harm to people's public health.

260
00:11:28,403 --> 00:11:32,439
I mean, don't forget, Coca-Cola
had cocaine in it until 1900,

261
00:11:32,439 --> 00:11:34,407
and so far as we know was no more addictive

262
00:11:34,407 --> 00:11:38,460
than Coca-Cola is today.

263
00:11:38,460 --> 00:11:41,537
Conversely, think about cigarettes:

264
00:11:41,537 --> 00:11:46,523
Nothing can both hook you 
and kill you like cigarettes.

265
00:11:46,523 --> 00:11:49,587
When researchers ask heroin addicts

266
00:11:49,587 --> 00:11:52,793
what's the toughest drug to 
quit, most say cigarettes.

267
00:11:52,793 --> 00:11:55,167
Yet in my country and many others,

268
00:11:55,167 --> 00:11:57,709
half of all the people who 
were ever addicted

269
00:11:57,709 --> 00:11:59,644
to cigarettes have quit

270
00:11:59,644 --> 00:12:02,652
without anyone being 
arrested or put in jail

271
00:12:02,652 --> 00:12:04,908
or sent to a "treatment program"

272
00:12:04,908 --> 00:12:06,641
by a prosecutor or a judge.

273
00:12:06,641 --> 00:12:09,937
What did it were higher taxes

274
00:12:09,937 --> 00:12:13,480
and time and place 
restrictions on sale and use

275
00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,552
and effective anti-smoking campaigns.

276
00:12:16,552 --> 00:12:20,492
Now, could we reduce smoking even more

277
00:12:20,492 --> 00:12:24,831
by making it totally illegal? Probably.

278
00:12:24,831 --> 00:12:28,442
But just imagine the drug war nightmare

279
00:12:28,442 --> 00:12:31,480
that would result.

280
00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:33,763
So the challenges we face today

281
00:12:33,763 --> 00:12:35,630
are twofold.

282
00:12:35,630 --> 00:12:38,645
The first is the policy challenge

283
00:12:38,645 --> 00:12:42,323
of designing and implementing alternatives

284
00:12:42,323 --> 00:12:44,741
to ineffective prohibitionist policies,

285
00:12:44,741 --> 00:12:48,161
even as we need to get 
better at regulating

286
00:12:48,161 --> 00:12:51,830
and living with the drugs 
that are now legal.

287
00:12:51,830 --> 00:12:55,191
But the second challenge is tougher,

288
00:12:55,191 --> 00:12:58,802
because it's about us.

289
00:12:58,802 --> 00:13:02,290
The obstacles to reform 
lie not just out there

290
00:13:02,290 --> 00:13:04,450
in the power of the 
prison industrial complex

291
00:13:04,450 --> 00:13:06,654
or other vested interests 
that want to keep things

292
00:13:06,654 --> 00:13:08,080
the way they are,

293
00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,920
but within each and every one of us.

294
00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:15,970
It's our fears and our lack of knowledge

295
00:13:15,970 --> 00:13:22,670
and imagination that stands 
in the way of real reform.

296
00:13:22,670 --> 00:13:27,240
And ultimately, I think that 
boils down to the kids,

297
00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,985
and to every parent's desire
to put our baby in a bubble,

298
00:13:30,985 --> 00:13:34,315
and the fear that somehow
drugs will pierce that bubble

299
00:13:34,315 --> 00:13:36,244
and put our young ones at risk.

300
00:13:36,244 --> 00:13:38,314
In fact, sometimes it 
seems like the entire

301
00:13:38,314 --> 00:13:40,290
War on Drugs gets justified

302
00:13:40,290 --> 00:13:44,216
as one great big child protection act,

303
00:13:44,216 --> 00:13:47,823
which any young person 
can tell you it's not.

304
00:13:47,823 --> 00:13:51,929
So here's what I say to teenagers.

305
00:13:51,929 --> 00:13:55,615
First, don't do drugs.

306
00:13:55,615 --> 00:13:59,405
Second, don't do drugs.

307
00:13:59,405 --> 00:14:02,825
Third, if you do do drugs,

308
00:14:02,825 --> 00:14:05,367
there's some things I want you to know,

309
00:14:05,367 --> 00:14:09,410
because my bottom line as your parent is,

310
00:14:09,410 --> 00:14:12,391
come home safely at the end of the night

311
00:14:12,391 --> 00:14:15,924
and grow up and lead a 
healthy and good adulthood.

312
00:14:15,924 --> 00:14:21,537
That's my drug education 
mantra: Safety first.

313
00:14:21,537 --> 00:14:25,193
So this is what I've dedicated my life to,

314
00:14:25,193 --> 00:14:27,701
to building an organization and a movement

315
00:14:27,701 --> 00:14:30,561
of people who believe we 
need to turn our backs

316
00:14:30,561 --> 00:14:32,606
on the failed prohibitions of the past

317
00:14:32,606 --> 00:14:35,305
and embrace new drug 
policies grounded in science,

318
00:14:35,305 --> 00:14:38,246
compassion, health and human rights,

319
00:14:38,246 --> 00:14:40,884
where people who come from
across the political spectrum

320
00:14:40,884 --> 00:14:42,865
and every other spectrum as well,

321
00:14:42,865 --> 00:14:44,599
where people who love our drugs,

322
00:14:44,599 --> 00:14:45,938
people who hate drugs,

323
00:14:45,938 --> 00:14:48,250
and people who don't give 
a damn about drugs,

324
00:14:48,250 --> 00:14:51,684
but every one of us believes 
that this War on Drugs,

325
00:14:51,684 --> 00:14:55,931
this backward, heartless, 
disastrous War on Drugs,

326
00:14:55,931 --> 00:14:59,030
has got to end.

327
00:14:59,030 --> 00:15:00,873
Thank you.

328
00:15:00,873 --> 00:15:05,880
(Applause)

329
00:15:15,042 --> 00:15:17,722
Thank you. Thank you.

330
00:15:17,722 --> 00:15:19,943
Chris Anderson: Ethan,

331
00:15:19,943 --> 00:15:23,182
congrats — quite the reaction.

332
00:15:23,182 --> 00:15:25,926
That was a powerful talk.

333
00:15:25,926 --> 00:15:29,234
Not quite a complete standing O, though,

334
00:15:29,234 --> 00:15:30,921
and I'm guessing that some people here

335
00:15:30,921 --> 00:15:33,187
and maybe a few watching online,

336
00:15:33,187 --> 00:15:37,287
maybe someone knows a teenager or a friend

337
00:15:37,287 --> 00:15:39,504
or whatever who got sick,

338
00:15:39,504 --> 00:15:42,500
maybe died from some drug overdose.

339
00:15:42,500 --> 00:15:44,386
I'm sure you've had these
people approach you before.

340
00:15:44,386 --> 00:15:46,557
What do you say to them?

341
00:15:46,557 --> 00:15:48,739
Ethan Nadelmann: Chris, the most
amazing thing that's happened of late

342
00:15:48,739 --> 00:15:50,980
is that I've met a growing number of people

343
00:15:50,980 --> 00:15:53,558
who have actually 
lost a sibling or a child

344
00:15:53,558 --> 00:15:55,184
to a drug overdose,

345
00:15:55,184 --> 00:15:57,160
and 10 years ago, those 
people just wanted to say,

346
00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,140
let's line up all the drug 
dealers and shoot them

347
00:15:59,140 --> 00:16:00,481
and that will solve it.

348
00:16:00,481 --> 00:16:01,776
And what they've come to understand

349
00:16:01,776 --> 00:16:04,659
is that the Drug War did 
nothing to protect their kids.

350
00:16:04,659 --> 00:16:06,108
If anything, it made it more likely

351
00:16:06,108 --> 00:16:08,210
that those kids were put at risk.

352
00:16:08,210 --> 00:16:09,820
And so they're now becoming part of this

353
00:16:09,820 --> 00:16:11,695
drug policy reform movement.

354
00:16:11,695 --> 00:16:13,385
There's other people who have kids,

355
00:16:13,385 --> 00:16:16,850
one's addicted to alcohol, the other
one's addicted to cocaine or heroin,

356
00:16:16,850 --> 00:16:18,278
and they ask themselves the question:

357
00:16:18,278 --> 00:16:20,595
Why does this kid get to 
take one step at a time

358
00:16:20,595 --> 00:16:21,889
and try to get better

359
00:16:21,889 --> 00:16:23,453
and that one's got to deal with jail

360
00:16:23,453 --> 00:16:25,478
and police and criminals all the time?

361
00:16:25,478 --> 00:16:26,948
So everybody's understanding,

362
00:16:26,948 --> 00:16:29,673
the Drug War's not protecting anybody.

363
00:16:29,673 --> 00:16:31,754
CA: Certainly in the U.S., 
you've got political gridlock

364
00:16:31,754 --> 00:16:33,149
on most issues.

365
00:16:33,149 --> 00:16:34,881
Is there any realistic chance of anything

366
00:16:34,881 --> 00:16:38,227
actually shifting on this 
issue in the next five years?

367
00:16:38,227 --> 00:16:40,245
EN: I'd say it's quite remarkable. 
I'm getting all these calls

368
00:16:40,245 --> 00:16:42,126
from journalists now who are saying to me,

369
00:16:42,126 --> 00:16:44,130
"Ethan, it seems like the only two issues

370
00:16:44,130 --> 00:16:46,423
advancing politically in America right now

371
00:16:46,423 --> 00:16:49,314
are marijuana law reform and gay marriage.

372
00:16:49,314 --> 00:16:50,891
What are you doing right?"

373
00:16:50,891 --> 00:16:53,479
And then you're looking at 
bipartisanship breaking out

374
00:16:53,479 --> 00:16:55,771
with, actually, Republicans in the Congress

375
00:16:55,771 --> 00:16:58,840
and state legislatures 
allowing bills to be enacted

376
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:00,804
with majority Democratic support,

377
00:17:00,804 --> 00:17:03,320
so we've gone from being sort of the third rail,

378
00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:05,411
the most fearful issue of American politics,

379
00:17:05,411 --> 00:17:08,161
to becoming one of the most successful.

380
00:17:08,161 --> 00:17:10,344
CA: Ethan, thank you so much for coming to TEDGlobal.
EN: Chris, thanks so much.

381
00:17:10,344 --> 00:17:13,264
CA: Thank you.
EN: Thank you. (Applause)