Ethan Nadelmann

Ethan Nadelmann
Born	March 13, 1957 (1957-03-13) New York City, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Harvard University (Ph.D.) London School of Economics (M.Sc) Harvard Law School (J.D.) Harvard University (B.A.) McGill University (transferred to Harvard)
Occupation	Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance
Website
Ethan Nadelmann

Ethan Nadelmann (born March 13, 1957 in New York City) is the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a New York City-based non-profit organization working to end the War on Drugs. Described by Rolling Stone as, "the point man for drug-policy-reform efforts," Ethan Nadelmann is known as a high profile critic and commentator on U.S. and international drug control policies.

Biography

Nadelmann was raised in a Jewish family in New York City; his father was a rabbi. He earned B.A., J.D., and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University and a master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics. He taught politics and public affairs at Princeton University from 1987 to 1994. While he was at Princeton, he lectured and wrote extensively on drug policy, attracting considerable attention with his articles in such periodicals as Science, Foreign Affairs, American Heritage and National Review. He also formed the Princeton Working Group on the Future of Drug Use and Alternatives to Drug Prohibition.

Nadelmann founded the Lindesmith Center in 1994, a drug policy institute created with the philanthropic support of George Soros. Six years later the Center merged with the Drug Policy Foundation founded by Kevin Zeese and Arnold Trebach. The merger became the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group for drug policies "grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights." As the Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, Nadelmann takes a public health - rather than a criminal justice - approach to the War on Drugs advocating for the application of harm reduction principles.

After Barack Obama won the presidential election, Matt Elrod, the director of the drug policy reform group DrugSense, filed an internet petition for Ethan Nadelmann as the new Drug Czar. Although any hopes in getting Nadelmann appointed were downplayed, "this petition will at least encourage President-elect Obama to think twice about his choice of drug czar." Drug Policy Alliance never lobbied for Nadelmann, however once media reports alleged that James Ramstad (R-MN) would be appointed to the post the organization urged people to oppose the appointment due to his opposition to medical marijuana and needle exchange among other things. Seattle's police chief Gil Kerlikowske became the next head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). An appointment that DPA is cautiously optimistic about.

Advocacy

Nadelmann has also been a strong advocate of less restrictive cannabis laws in the United States including legalizing the use of cannabis for medical purposes, regulating recreational usage, and imposing civil rather than criminal penalties for those who are caught using or possessing small amounts of cannabis.

Quotes

• The "war on drugs" and its prohibitionist, punitive strategy have failed to solve America's drug problem. In fact, they bear much of the blame for drug-related crime, epidemic use of crack cocaine and the spread of AIDS through dirty syringes. Washington must begin developing policy that seeks first to reduce the harm drugs do users and society. Officials need only look at successful innovations in Europe and Australia like needle exchange, addiction treatment and supervised maintenance, and decriminalization. Public health rather than politics should be paramount.
• We won't win until the average parent believes drug reform protects kids better than the war on drugs.
• Who are we? We are people who love drugs...we need to find a way to live with it in peace. But we are also people who hate drugs. We have suffered from overdoses and addiction. But we know that drugs are here to stay, and prohibition and the criminal justice system is not the way to deal with it. And we are people who don't care about drugs. People who care about the Constitution, who care about 2.2 million Americans behind bars, who care about fundamental rights and freedoms.
• "The best answer is to move slowly but firmly to dismantle the edifice of enforcement. Start with the possession and sale of cannabis and amphetamines, and experiment with different strategies. /.../ Removing the ban on possession would make it easier to regulate drug quality, to treat the health effects of overuse, and to punish drug-users only if they commit crimes against people or property."
• If they're going to have a drug czar it's more likely to be somebody with a health background than what we have in the U.S. which is somebody who's a former police chief, a military general or a professional moralist. - About Europe

Bibliography

• Cops Across Borders: The Internationalization of U.S. Criminal Law Enforcement. Pennsylvania State University Press, Dec. 1993. ISBN 0271010959
• Policing the Globe: Criminalization and Crime Control in International Relations, with Peter Andreas. Oxford University Press USA, August 3, 2006. ISBN 0195089480

External links

• Brief bio of Nadelman at Drug Policy Alliance website
• Article on his 2001 talk to the San Francisco Medical Society
• Ethan Nadelmann, Ph.D A Guide to the Drug-Legalization Movement