These resources explore moral and ethical challenges related to criminal justice in general, and drug policy in particular. We pay special attention to how God’s creation order and God’s vision for relationships between human beings impacts the field of criminal justice.

Jimmy Carter, Call Off the Global Drug War. New York Times, Jun 16, 2011.

Jesse Carey, A Christian Case for Ending the War on Drugs. Relevant Magazine, Nov 3, 2015.

Top Resources: Ryan Grim, This Is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America. Trade Paper Press | Amazon page, Jun 2009. Dan Baum, Legalize It All. Harpers Magazine, Apr 2016. Essential reading including the confession from John Ehrlichman on the Nixon Administration’s “War on Drugs” as a political tool against the anti-war left and black people. Jon Schwarz, The History Channel Is Finally Telling the Stunning Secret Story of the War on Drugs. The Intercept, Jun 18, 2017. Krystal Ball and Kyle Kulinski, The Shocking History Of US Drug Laws Explained. Breaking Points, Jul 10, 2021. Racism and politics going back to European colonialism and Christian missionary thinking that the spread of Christian faith should bring about moral progress. Krystal Ball and Kyle Kulinsky, How The CIA Ran The Afghan Drug Trade. Breaking Points, Aug 22, 2021. Updates that paradigm with the history of US imperial involvement in Afghanistan.

Drug War Facts (website)

Wikipedia, Drug Policy of the Netherlands (Wikipedia article)

Wikipedia, Global Commission on Drug Policy (Wikipedia article)

Robert J. MacCoun, Peter Reuter, Drug War Heresies: Learning from Other Vices, Times, and Places.  Cambridge University Press | Amazon page, 2001.

Alfred W. McCoy, The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. Lawrence Hill Books | Amazon page, May 2003.

The first book to prove CIA and U.S. government complicity in global drug trafficking, The Politics of Heroin includes meticulous documentation of dishonesty and dirty dealings at the highest levels from the Cold War until today. Maintaining a global perspective, this groundbreaking study details the mechanics of drug trafficking in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South and Central America. New chapters detail U.S. involvement in the narcotics trade in Afghanistan and Pakistan before and after the fall of the Taliban, and how U.S. drug policy in Central America and Colombia has increased the global supply of illicit drugs.

Harry Gelber, The ‘Opium War’ that Wasn’t.  Harvard Crimson, Feb 23, 2006.

Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press | Amazon page, Jan 2010.  Alexander does not deal with the arguments for decriminalization directly, but does look at the constitutionality of the “war on drugs” and makes a compelling case indirectly for decriminalization.  See also Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow. Children’s Defense Fund, Dec 15, 2010.  A 20 min video interview.

Ryan Grim, This Is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America. Trade Paper Press | Amazon page, Jun 2009.

Everything we know about drugs-from acid to epidemics to DARE and salvia-turns out to be wrong. Stock up on munchies and line up your water bottles: journalist Ryan Grim will take you on a cross-country tour of illicit drug use in the U.S.-from the agony (the huge DEA bust of an acid lab in an abandoned missile silo in Kansas) to the ecstasy (hallucinogens at raves and music festivals). Along the way, Grim discovers some surprising truths. Did anti-drug campaigns actually encourage more drug use? Did acid really disappear in the early 2000s? And did meth peak years ago? Did our Founding Fathers-or, better yet, their wives-get high just as much as we do? Traces the evolution of United States's long and twisted relationship with drugs. Gives surprising answers to questions such as: how did heroin become popular, when did the meth epidemic peak, and has LSD gone the way of Quaaludes.

David Mineta, Decriminalization Would Increase the Use and the Economic and Social Costs of Drugs.  Americas Quarterly, Oct 21, 2010.  Mineta’s argument is important, and likely accurate within its scope and boundaries.  However, Mineta does not account for the experience of Portugal, where drug use levels did not increase, and other effects of criminalized drugs decreased:  court burden; incarceration; HIV diagnoses; drug overdose fatalities.  See Drug Decriminalization, Drug Policy Alliance for information on Portugal’s experience.  Nor does Mineta offer hypotheses about how more education, prevention, and mental health support policies might decrease the use of drugs.  Nor does he consider that decreasing police corruption and political corruption could be worthy goals.  See Gene Bolton, Drug Legalization in Latin America: Could it be the Answer? Council on Hemispheric Affairs, October 16, 2012. 

Mark A.R. Kleiman, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Angela Hawken, Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know.  Oxford University Press | Amazon page, 2011.

Jimmy Carter, Call Off the Global Drug War. New York Times, Jun 16, 2011.

Jonathan P. Caulkins, Angela Hawken, Beau Kilmer, Mark Kleiman, Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know.  Oxford University Press | Amazon page, 2012.

The House I Live In (2013), documentary arguing that the U.S. War on Drugs has failed

Bruce Drake, Incarceration Rate Widens Between Blacks and Whites. Pew Research Center, Sep 6, 2013.

Lawrence O'Donnell, Senator Rand Paul Bravely Challenges America's War on Drugs. The Last Word, Sep 25, 2013.  From 2:30 min mark

Michelle Alexander, White Privilege and the War on Drugs. Vice News, Dec 2, 2014.

Zeeshan Aleem, 14 Years After Decriminalizing All Drugs, Here's What Portugal Looks Like. Mic, Feb 11, 2015.

Johann Hari, Portugal Cut Addiction Rates in Half by Connecting Drug Users With Communities Instead of Jailing Them. Yes! Feb 12, 2015.

Karen Foshay, When the SWAT Team You Founded Kills Your Son-in-Law. Aljazeera America, Mar 19, 2015.

John F. Pfaff, The War on Drugs and Prison Growth: Limited Importance, Limited Legislative Options. Harvard Journal of Legislation, Jun 2015.  Critiques Alexander but agrees on pragmatic grounds that change would be helpful

Eric March, A Town in Massachusetts Decided to Stop Arresting Drug Users. 2 Months Later, Here's How It's Going. Upworthy, Aug 18, 2015.

Vice, Shane Smith Asks, Obama Answers "Is the American Justice System Racist?" Vice News, Sep 25, 2015.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration. The Atlantic, Oct 2015.

Kay Hymowitz, The Breakdown of the Black Family. The Atlantic, Oct 4, 2015.

Katharine Q. Seelye, As Heroin Use by Whites Soars, Parents Urge Gentler Drug War. New York Times, Oct 30, 2015.

Jesse Carey, A Christian Case for Ending the War on Drugs. Relevant Magazine, Nov 3, 2015.

Abby Philip and Katie Zezima, GOP Contenders Are Talking About Drug Abuse, But Racial and Partisan Rifts Persist. Washington Post, Nov 27, 2015.

Ed Vulliamy, The Man Who Exposed the Lie of the War on Drugs. The Guardian UK, Dec 26, 2015.

David Epstein, How DEA Agents Took Down Mexico's Most Vicious Drug Cartel. The Atlantic, Jan/Feb 2016.

Martha Bebinger, Boston's Heroin Users Will Soon Get A Safer Place To Be High. NPR, Mar 1, 2016.

Tom LoBianco, Aide Says Nixon's War on Drugs Targeted Blacks, Hippies. CNN, Mar 24, 2016.

Dan Baum, Legalize It All. Harpers Magazine, Apr 2016.  Essential reading including the confession from John Ehrlichman on the Nixon Administration’s “War on Drugs” as a political tool against the anti-war left and black people.

Robin Scher, A Racist Stereotype is Shattered: Study Finds White Youth Are More Likely to Abuse Hard Drugs Than Black Youth. Alternet, Apr 6, 2016.

German Lopez, The Clinton-Backed 1994 Crime Law Had Many Flaws, But It Didn't Create Mass Incarceration. Vox, Apr 8, 2016.

Samuel Oakford, Portugal’s Example: What Happened After It Decriminalized All Drugs, From Weed to Heroin. Vice News, Apr 19, 2016.

David Dagan and Steven M. Teles, Conservatives and Criminal Justice. National Affairs, Spring 2016.  Offers an honest and fascinating history.

James Arkin, Criminal Justice Reform: There's Hope. Real Clear Politics, May 6, 2016.

Amanda Chicago Lewis, Marijuana Arrests Down In Colorado For White Teens, Up For Black And Latino Teens. Buzzfeed, May 10, 2016.

Asha Bandele, Jay Z: The War on Drugs is an Epic Fail. New York Times, Sep 15, 2016.  A short video narrated by Jay Z, artwork by Molly Crabapple

German Lopez, Mass Incarceration in America Explained in 22 Maps and Charts. Vox, Oct 11, 2016.

Marissa Ayala, Drug Wars in Latin America: The Environmental Impacts.  UC Davis Undergraduate Research Journal, 2016.

Trymaine Lee, The City: Prison’s Grip on the Black Family. MSNBC News, Dec 2016.

Taryn Finley, The Racial Achievement Gap Can’t Close Without Prison Reform, Report Shows. Huffington Post, Dec 19, 2016.

S. Adam Seagrave, Race, the Legacy of Slavery, and American Promise. Public Discourse, Witherspoon Institute, Jan 4, 2017.  a review of Ava Duvernay's documentary The 13th.

Barack Obama, The President’s Role in Advancing Criminal Justice Reform. Harvard Law Review, Jan 5, 2017.

Emma Young, Iceland Knows How to Stop Teen Substance Abuse But the Rest of the World Isn't Listening. Mosaic Science, Jan 17, 2017.  exercise, arts, and other bodily activities heavily subsidized by the government

Eli Hager and Bill Keller, Everything You Think You Know About Mass Incarceration Is Wrong. The Marshall Project, Feb 9, 2017.  very helpful analysis of violent vs. non-violent crime, federal vs. state prison populations, and the role of the prosecutor

German Lopez, Why You Can't Blame Mass Incarceration on the War on Drugs. Vox, May 30, 2017.

Jon Schwarz, The History Channel Is Finally Telling the Stunning Secret Story of the War on Drugs. The Intercept, Jun 18, 2017.

Jeremy Scahill, Donald Trump and the Coming Fall of the American Empire. The Intercept, Jul 22, 2017.  CIA activities abroad and drug use in the military

David Dayen, Ryan Grim, Trump's Opioid Commission Had Some Stunningly Good Recommendations. He Ignored Them for 80's Drug War Nostalgia. The Intercept, Aug 9, 2017.

German Lopez, How to Stop the Deadliest Drug Overdose Crisis in American History. Vox, Oct 26, 2017.

Christopher Barbera, The Impact of Drug Enforcement Policies on Transnational Organized Crime in Latin America: A Case Study.  Denver Journal of International Law & Policy, Nov 21, 2017. Barbera spotlights Mexico and Uruguay and gives an overview of the relationship between drug policy and criminal justice policy and actual crime statistics.  This is useful, but limited, since cartel activity does not stay within national borders.  The article shows the importance of regional analyses and coordinated strategies.

Steve Brown, 7 Key Provisions Of The Mass. Criminal Justice Bill. NPR, Apr 6, 2018.

Rene Chun, Ending Weed Prohibition Hasn’t Stopped Drug Crimes. The Atlantic, Jan/Feb 2019.

Mark Joseph Stern, Ending The New Criminal Justice Reform Law Has Already Righted One Outrageous Injustice. Slate, Jan 3, 2019.  Crack cocaine sentence shortening applied retroactively.

Nicholas Kristof, Seattle Has Figured Out How to End the War on Drugs. New York Times, Aug 23, 2019.  Seattle decriminalized the use of hard drugs and treating it as a public health issue, e.g. through law enforcement assisted diversion designed to identify non-violent users who want help, which since 2011 has been very successful.

Krystal Ball, Yang vs. Bernie on the War on Drugs. Rising | The Hill, Sep 19, 2019.  arguments supporting the Portugal model

John Hudak, Marijuana’s Racist History Shows the Need for Comprehensive Drug Reform. Brookings Institute, Jun 23, 2020.

Krystal Ball, Hunter Reveals Biden's War On Drugs Hypocrisy. Rising | The Hill, Oct 14, 2020.  shows how Biden still defends the notorious 1994 crime bill which he authored

Michael Pollan, How Should We Do Drugs Now? New York Times, Jul 9, 2021.  “The 2020 elections brought plenty of proof that voters have leapt ahead of politicians in recognizing both the failures of the drug war and the potential of certain illicit drugs as powerful tools for healing.”

Krystal Ball and Kyle Kulinski, The Shocking History Of US Drug Laws Explained. Breaking Points, Jul 10, 2021.  racism and politics going back to European colonialism and Christian missionary thinking that the spread of Christian faith should bring about moral progress

Krystal Ball and Kyle Kulinsky, How The CIA Ran The Afghan Drug Trade. Breaking Points, Aug 22, 2021.

Transform Drug Policy Foundation (website) a U.K. based group advocating for decriminalization and regulation, with 5 levels of control

Amy Goodman, U.S.-Backed Drug War Fuels Murders of Journalists in Mexico, Most Dangerous Country for Media.  Democracy Now, Jan 28, 2022.  In Mexico, several hundred journalists have been murdered in the last few years.  They are calling attention to corruption, crime, and the drug money.  Refers to Ioan Grillo, Blood Gun Money: How America Arms Gangs and Cartels.  Bloomsbury Publishing | Amazon page, Feb 2021.  Grillo shows how important it would be for the U.S. to pass corporate laws and trade policy restricting guns going out of the U.S.  

Cody Johnston, How Racism And Greed Prevent Us From Solving Problems.  Some More News, Feb 23, 2022.  This 1 hr video cleverly presents federally subsidized child care to bring down the cost of children, single family zoning to bring down the cost of housing, stopping police no-knock raids, setting up safe injection sites.

Jan Hoffman, ‘You Murdered My Daughter’: Relatives of OxyContin Victims Confront the Sacklers.  New York Times, Mar 10, 2022.  “It was the first time, after years of lawsuits, that the family that owns Purdue Pharma heard directly from families who had lost loved ones to addiction.”

Ryan Grim, Studies Suggest Psychedelic Treatments Curb Addiction, As The Country Reels From Opioids.  Rising, Mar 22, 2022.  Grim discusses, from first hand use, the impact and differences of acid (mild hallucinations) and ayahuasca (nightmarish) and ibogaine (also nightmarish, better at helping detox from cocaine and opioid withdrawal).  So far, various cities in the U.S. have moved to decriminalize these drugs:  Oakland, CA (2019); Santa Cruz, CA; Ann Arbor, MI; Washington DC (2020); Seattle, WA; Detroit, MI (2021).  

John Oliver, Harm Reduction.  Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), Mar 28, 2022.  Explores drug use, fentanyl, and obtuse outcomes from bad policies.

Mehdi Hasan, Race Hard To Ignore In Sentencing Differences In Voting Cases.  MSNBC, Apr 16, 2022.  Hasan compares white men who commit voter fraud to people of color:  Crystal Mason (Texas); etc.

Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, Biden's Weed Move Overwhelmingly Popular.  Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar, Oct 10, 2022.

The Economist, Why Belgium Is Now the Cocaine Capital of Europe.  The Economist, Oct 28, 2022.  Antwerp, Belgium has very efficient trade infrastructure, allowing drugs to get off ships and onto trains and trucks quickly.  European mafia organizations are invested, bribing port and police officials. 

Peter Zeihan, Cartels Part 3: The North American Drug War.  Zeihan on Geopolitics, Mar 16, 2023. 

Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley, Trump Asks Advisers for ‘Battle Plans’ to ‘Attack Mexico’ if Reelected.  Rolling Stone, Mar 29, 2023.  “Trump and his MAGAfied Republican Party are pushing plans for military action against drug cartels in Mexico — with or without the Mexican government's consent.”

Alexander Ward, GOP Embraces a New Foreign Policy: Bomb Mexico to Stop Fentanyl.  Politico, Apr 10, 2023. 

David Weigel, Republicans Want a New, Non-Metaphorical Drug War.  Semafor, Apr 14, 2023. 

Zack Beauchamp, Why So Many Top Republicans Want to Go to War in Mexico.  Vox, Apr 21, 2023.  Beauchamp credits 3 sources: Rolling Stone (March 29), Vox (April 10), and Semafor (April 14).

Matt Welch, The Republican Primary Consensus for Sending the Military Into Mexico.  Reason, May 24, 2023.  “Presidential contender Tim Scott, who announced recently, says he will use "the world's greatest military to fight these terrorists" south of the border. He's not alone.” All GOP candidates support it.

Kyle Kulinsky and Krystal Ball, Every Republican Candidate Supports War With Mexico.  Secular Talk, May 27, 2023.  All 6 GOP candidates support sending the U.S. military into Mexico with or without Mexico’s permission.   

Joe Scarborough and Mike Brzezinksi, Trump Shows Cluelessness on Policy When Talking About Drug Crimes Proposal.  Morning Joe | MSNBC, Jun 21, 2023.  In an interview with Fox News host Bret Baier, Trump was confused that a policy he champions would have resulted in the death of a woman he pardoned.  This shows that Republican leaders use “drug policy” to scapegoat non-white people and militarize the government into big spending plans.

Saagar Enjeti and Ryan Grim, Massive Oregon Backlash to Decriminalizing Hard Drugs. Breaking Points, Nov 14, 2023.

Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, 100% Drop In Afghan Opium: How CIA Propped Up Drug Trade For Years. Breaking Points, Sep 24, 2024. Seth Harp, contributing editor at Rolling Stone, has a forthcoming 2025 book Fort Bragg Cartel.