Described by Rolling Stone as “the point man” for drug policy reform efforts and “the real drug czar,” Ethan Nadelmann is widely regarded as the outstanding proponent of drug policy reform both in the United States and abroad. He founded and directed (from 2000 to 2017) the Drug Policy Alliance.
Ethan Nadlemann stepped down from the DPA in 2017. He reflects on the years between 2017 and 2019 as cannabis continues its path forward legislativally, societally, and scientifically.
Ethan Nadelmann discusses the pivotal marijuana reform that took place in 2015 and 2016 and how it all came to pass. “I never would have believed California would have worked out so well. There was intense, internecine conflict.”
Before we dive in on the cannabis happenings of 2014, let’s recap the events leading up to it. The big victories in Colorado and Washington State legalizing recreational cannabis took place in 2012. However, they brought with them questions like, how w …
The energy put into the winding path toward legalization shifted away from California after a legislative loss in 2010. Some activists focused on Colorado. Others in Washington. I had stayed out of the previous failed efforts in 2008, but I recognized …
The New MillenniumAs we made our way into the new millennium, Peter Lewis, one of the major donors with George Soros and John Sperling…
Entering the Tail End of the DecadeWe came out of ’96 with medical marijuana victories in California with Proposition 215, a pivotal piece…
In the summer of ’92, I received a phone call inviting me to lunch with George Soros. This was a pivotal thing that happened to me in drug…
The early years of the War on Drugs Stigma surrounding marijuana began to heat up slowly in the ‘80s starting with Ronald Reagan. Rudy Giuliani was working in the Justice Department and began to plot out a kind of federal war on drugs. 1986 is when it …