Conference 

# Ending the Global War on Drugs 

Date and Time 

November 15, 2011 10 AM - 7:15 PM EST 

Location 

National Association of Home Builders<br>1201 15th Street, NW, Washington DC 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring **Fernando Henrique Cardoso**, Former President, Brazil; **Jorge Castañeda**, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mexico; **Mary Anastasia O’Grady**, Member of the Editorial Board, *Wall Street Journal*; **Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou**, Speaker of the House of Deputies, Uruguay; **Glenn Greenwald**, Columnist and Blogger, *Salon*; **Leigh Maddox**, Board Member, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Professor, University of Maryland Francis Carey School of Law; **Ethan Nadelmann**, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance; **Tucker Carlson**, Editor-in-Chief, *Daily Caller*. 

Although the global prohibition of drugs has manifestly failed to stem the use of narcotics, it has generated enormous costs and perverse outcomes. In the United States, the war on drugs is generating alarming violations of civil liberties, weakening the rule of law, and compromising law enforcement efforts. The U.S.-led drug war is also undermining legitimate foreign policy goals around the world, including the spread of liberal democracy and an effective war on terror. This conference will bring together prominent scholars and international leaders to analyze current policy and propose practical alternatives such as legalization.

Speakers will discuss:

- The impact of the drug war in Mexico, on the U.S. border, and in Central America
- How prohibition helps fund terrorist groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and beyond
- How Washington’s anti-narcotics campaign violates the Constitution
- The effects of criminalization on minorities in the United States
- Lessons from South America
- The evolution of drug policy in the United States and what decriminalization or legalization would look like in practice

**Schedule:**

| **8:30 — 9:00AM** | **Registration** |
|---|:--|
| **9:00 — 9:05AM** | **Welcoming Remarks** **Ed Crane**, President, Cato Institute |
| **9:05 — 10:00AM** | **Keynote Address** **Jorge Casteñeda**, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mexico [Download a podcast of the “Keynote Address”](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2011/drugpolicy_conference_castaneda_audio.mp3) |
| **10:00 — 11:05AM** | **Panel 1: The Fire Next Door: Drug Violence in Mexico and Central America** [**Ted Galen Carpenter**](https://www.cato.org/people/ted-galen-carpenter), Senior Fellow, Cato Institute **Beto O’Rourke**, Former City Councilman, El Paso, TX **Peter Hakim**, President Emeritus, Inter-American Dialogue Moderated by **Mary Anastasia O’Grady**, Member, Editorial Board, *Wall Street Journal* [Download a podcast of Panel 1](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2011/drugpolicy_conference_panel1_audio.mp3) |
| **11:15 — 11:30AM** | **Coffee Break** |
| **11:30AM — 12:45PM** | **Panel 2: The Impact on Rights and the Rule of Law in the United State** **Tim Lynch**, Director, Center for Criminal Studies, Cato Institute **Harry G. Levine**, Professor of Sociology, Queens College, New York **Leigh Maddox**, Board Member, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Professor, University of Maryland Francis Carey School of Law Moderated by **Tucker Carlson**, Editor-in-Chief, *Daily Caller* [Download a podcast of Panel 2](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2011/drugpolicy_conference_panel2_audio.mp3) |
| **12:45 — 1:30PM** | **Luncheon** |
| **1:30 — 2:00PM** | **Special Video Message** **Vicente Fox**, Former President, Mexico **George Shultz**, Former Secretary of State, United States [Download a podcast of the “Special Video Message”](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2011/drugpolicy_conference_fox-shultz_audio.mp3) |
| **2:00 — 3:15PM** | **Panel 3: Other Battlegrounds: South America, Afghanistan, Pakistan** **Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou**, Speaker of the House of Deputies, Uruguay **Enrique Gomez Hurtado**, Former Senator, Colombia **Romesh Bhattacharji**, Former Narcotics Commissioner, India Moderated by [**Ian Vasquez**](https://www.cato.org/people/ian-vasquez), Director, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute [Download a podcast of Panel 3](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2011/drugpolicy_conference_panel3_audio.mp3) |
| **3:15 — 3:30PM** | **Coffee Break** |
| **3:30 — 4:30PM** | **Panel 4: A Non-Prohibitionist Way Forward for U.S. and International Drug Policy** **Glenn Greenwald**, Columnist and Blogger, *Salon* **Jefferson Fish**, Professor Emeritus, St John’s University **Ethan Nadelmann**, Drug Policy Alliance Moderated by [**David Boaz**](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz), Executive Vice President, Cato Institute [Download a podcast of Panel 4](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2011/drugpolicy_conference_panel4_audio.mp3) |
| **4:30 — 5:15PM** | **Closing Address** **Fernando Henrique Cardoso**, Former President, Brazil [Download a podcast of the “Closing Address”](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2011/drugpolicy_conference_cardoso_audio.mp3) |

Follow the conversation on twitter with the hashtag: [\#EndDrugWar](https://twitter.com/hashtag/enddrugwar).

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