Forty years ago, President Richard Nixon launched what we know today as the War on Drugs. The Drug Policy Program and Latin America Initiative of the Baker Institute are pleased to host a discussion on the successes and shortcomings of that effort, which continues to guide U.S. drug policy. Experts and policy analysts from varied perspectives will offer their assessments of its successes and failures and take a fresh look at plausible new directions for U.S. drug policy.
The panel "Cannabis, Cartels and Crime: Would Legalization Help?" will assess the strengths and weaknesses of federal and state policies regarding marijuana and other popular illegal drugs, while noting the contribution of both drugs and drug policy to the horrendous violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, and consider alternative strategies for reducing drug-related harms. It will bring together some of the nation"s leading and most articulate spokesmen for differing positions on these issues in what promises to be a lively and illuminating evening.
This program is a continuation of the conference "U.S. War on Drugs 1969-2009: From the U.S-Mexico Frontlines of the U.S. War on Drugs," held at The University of Texas at El Paso on Sept. 21 and 22, 2009, and co-sponsored by the Baker Institute.
