Does Racism Drive Drug Prohibition?
Momentum - W Hotel
The U.S. has 5% of the world's population but 25% of the world's incarcerations; imprisoned 50,000 for drug crimes in 1980, a number which has ballooned to nearly 500,000 today; and locks up more people for violating drug laws than the entirety of Europe incarcerates for all crimes. Reformer Nadelmann postulates the true obstacles to re-envisioning the drug war lies within us--as fear, prejudice, and ignorance.This plenary connects the dots between rhetoric and reality and reminds us that healthy public discourse is impossible without an informed citizenry.