Back in 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs." With $2.5 trillion dollars spent, drug use is half of what it was 30 years ago. Thousands of offenders are successfully diverted to treatment instead of jail. But 22 million Americans still use illegal drugs. The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world much of it for drugs.
"The war on drugs has been a war on communities of color. The racial disparities are staggering: despite the fact that whites engage in drug offenses at a higher rate than African-Americans, African-Americans are incarcerated for drug offenses at a rate that is 10 times greater than that of whites." ~ American Civil Liberties Union
For legalizing drugs: Paul Butler, who is a Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and Nick Gillespie, who is Editor in Chief of Reason.tv and Reason.com
Against legalizing drugs: Asa Hutchinson, who is a former Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Theodore Dalrymple, who is the Dietrich Weismann Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Source: intelligence2 Debates: Legalize Drugs
Privacy on the Internet
What can Internet surveillance learn about you? Steve Henn invited a couple computer guys to bug his Internet connection for a week. They discovered what a stranger can learn about you from smart phones and free WiFi. Source: planet money: Project Eavesdrop
Music includes Elvis Costello - Tramp the Dirt Down, Michael Franti & Spearhead - Bomb the World, Capitol Steps - Tribute to Hillary, K'naan - Hobaalayow (Hees Soomaali), Chumbawamba - Words Can Save Us, Capitol Steps - Don't Go Fakin' You're Smart, Earth Mama - We Are One, Capitol Steps - Help Me Fake it to the Right, Ryan Harvey - Hudson Valley Rent Strike, David Rovics - Ballad Of A Cluster Bomb, U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday, David Rovics - Evening News, Neil Young - After The Garden, Eels - Hey Man (Now You're Really Living), Eric Clapton - Classical Guitar