In 1971, President Nixon declared drug abuse ‘public enemy number one’— the first salvo in America’s War on Drugs. Fifty years later, with drug overdoses in the US at a record high, are we any closer to ‘victory’? The War on Drugs has a more profound effect on society than any of us really understands. It is embedded in the fabric of our culture and permeates our daily lives in visible and invisible ways – perhaps the most daunting pandemic we face. Lava for Good’s The War on Drugs podcast, co-hosted by comedian Clayton English and Greg Glod, senior criminal justice fellow at Americans for Prosperity, examines the true cost of five decades of policy, policing, and persecution. Special guests, including diverse subject matter experts, peel back the surface of this complicated period of US history, showing the ways the War on Drugs has fueled over incarceration, exacerbated addiction and hampered economic progress. By shining a spotlight on how our communities have crumbled under the weight of this so-called ‘war,’ we can explore the politicization of public health policy, institutional racism and classism in the legislation and administration of criminal law, and how decriminalization and other alternatives could bring the fruitless ‘war’ to an end.  The War on Drugs will be available every Wednesday beginning January 25 wherever you get your podcasts. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the wake of college basketball star Len Bias’s death from a cocaine overdose, Congressional Democrats sought to retake the Senate by portraying themselves as tough on drugs. What resulted was one of the most destructive pieces of legislation in the entire history of the War on Drugs, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act. Among its key provisions was the introduction of federal mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offenses. The result was generations of men and women, disproportionately from minority communities, lost to over incarceration. Clayton and Greg talk with Eric Sterling, the special counsel to the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary from 1979-1989, who helped write the mandatory minimum sentencing laws that were part of the legislation. Clayton and Greg also talk with Eric about a little-known figure in the War on Drugs, a D.C. police officer who served as a chief investigator for Congress before he was discredited for perjuring himself hundreds of times as a government witness. A new episode of The War on Drugs will be available every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our co-hosts Clayton English and Greg Glod, along with guest Johann Hari discuss the long-forgotten mastermind behind America’s War on Drugs: Harry Anslinger - the infamous head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics toward the end of Prohibition. Desperate to justify his agency, and secure funding from Congress, Anslinger, by all accounts a virulent racist, fabricated stories about the dangers of drugs by demonizing minority communities four decades before Richard Nixon's declaration of war on drugs.  A new episode of The War on Drugs will be available every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clayton and Greg chat with Jason Flom, CEO of Lava Media and host of the Wrongful Conviction podcast about the enormous amount of money spent on the War on Drugs. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clayton and Greg are joined by comedian and activist Eric André. In October 2022, Clayton and Eric sued the Clayton County Georgia Police Department (CCPD) and district attorney's office for being racially profiled, separately, at the Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport. Clayton and Eric speak to the anger and humiliation of being stopped on the jet bridge of their plane as they were boarding. But their lawsuit uncovered something neither expected, the CCPD seized more than $1 million from travelers even though they found no illegal drugs on them and the travelers were never charged with a crime. The CCPD relied on a constitutionally suspect practice known as Civil Asset Forfeiture.  To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.policingproject.org The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eric Sterling tells Clayton and Greg about the futility in how the War on Drugs is being waged in South America. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clayton and Greg sit down with Natalie Papillion from the Last Prisoner Project and talk about how thousands of people are still unjustly incarcerated for the simple crime of marijuana possession—a startling fact given that many states have since legalized the plant. Even more shocking is the fact that many of the people who wrote or enforced America’s drug laws are now making millions of dollars in the cannabis industry while thousands rot in jail serving lengthy prison terms for cannabis possession. Among them is Edwin Rubis, who is serving a 35-year prison term in a federal prison in Talladega, GA for conspiracy to distribute 2200 pounds of marijuana even though no drugs or money were ever found by police. Edwin’s release date is not until 2032.  To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.lastprisonerproject.org https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/fathers-day-in-the-slammer Edwin Rubis: edwinrubis@aol.com The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eric André and the crew challenge the accuracy of drug sniffing dogs. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sam Quinones, bestselling author of The Least of Us, tells Clayton and Greg the harrowing story of how one man known as el Cerebro (the Brain) introduced the Sinaloa Drug cartel to fentanyl in 2005. The cartel’s discovery of synthetic opioids forever changed the illicit drug market and sparked a crisis that has contributed to over 100,000 deaths a year in the United States alone. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Biden administration pardons those convicted of possession of marijuana at the federal level. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The War on Drugs killed Breonna Taylor. Clayton and Greg sit down with journalist Radley Balko to talk about how the War on Drugs has steadily eroded our Constitutional rights and led to the militarization of the police. They zero in on the practice of no-knock warrants and discuss how deadly and unnecessary they are. Special attention is paid to the case of Breonna Taylor and how she was a tragic and innocent victim of America’s decade-long War on Drugs.  To learn more and get involved, visit: Radley Balko’s The Watch: https://radleybalko.substack.com The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clayton and Greg dispel the myth that if fentanyl touches your skin, you die.  The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clayton and Greg are joined by New York Times columnist Maia Szalavitz to discuss one of the least talked about consequences of the War on Drugs: the criminalization of pain. Millions of Americans have been cut off from the pain medications they need to survive (including terminal cancer patients) as the United States tries to stem the tide of the opioid epidemic. Doctors who treat patients with chronic pain are finding themselves being labeled by the DEA as drug traffickers. The CDC has set guidelines for pain management that has left thousands of Americans without the medications they need. The results have been as horrifying as the opioid crisis these policies were meant to address—another clear example of the systemic failure of the War on Drugs. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greg tells Clayton about the time the police in Henry Country, GA served a No Knock Warrant to the wrong house and violated the civil liberties of a 79 year old innocent man. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jesse Gould graduated from Cornell University in 2009 and shortly thereafter, driven by a sense of duty and patriotism, enlisted in the Airborne Rangers. He returned home in 2014 from three tours in Afghanistan only to find himself with debilitating PTSD. After finding that none of the traditional treatments offered by the VA helped his PTSD, Jesse quit his job in finance, sold all his belongings, and took off for Peru where he underwent a traditional ayahuasca healing ritual. The experience was transformative. Jesse now heads the Heroic Hearts Foundation that helps veterans who are suffering from PTSD find the psychedelic treatment they need to heal. Jesse talks with Clayton and Greg about his personal journey and how psychedelics, long demonized by the War on Drugs, are now being seen by the medical community as a possible key to helping solve our veteran health crisis.  To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.heroicheartsproject.org The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clayton and Greg explain how the War on Drugs allows law enforcement to examine your medical records without a warrant. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MDMA therapy gained a following among psychiatrists in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Some psychiatrists believed that it allowed their patients to achieve unique insights into their mental health problems. It was also during this time that MDMA started becoming more widely available on the street. It gained a foothold as a ‘party drug' under the names Ecstasy and Molly. Then, in 1985, the DEA declared an emergency ban on MDMA, placing it on the list of Schedule I drugs, meaning it had no medical use and a high potential for abuse. Today, guided MDMA therapy is on the verge of being approved by the FDA. This revolution in therapeutic treatment, mostly of PTSD, is largely because of the decades-long effort of one organization: MAPS. (Short for Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.) Clayton and Greg are joined by Ismael Ali, Director of Policy and Advocacy at MAPS to discuss the science and history of MDMA therapy.  To learn more and get involved, visit: MAPS: https://maps.org                                               MAPS Clinical Trials: https://maps.org/take-action/participate-in-trial/ The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Johann Hari tells Clayton and Greg how Portugal kicked its heroin habit. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Season One of The War on Drugs concludes with the story of a single addict’s journey, Morgan Godvin. Her story illustrates the disastrous consequences of America’s decision to treat addiction as a crime. Morgan spent five years addicted to heroin and four years incarcerated as a direct result of her addiction. She lost her mom and four close friends to overdose. And yet, Morgan’s story is ultimately one of hope—one that takes her from addiction to advocacy. Told by Morgan herself and set in an immersive audio soundscape, Morgan’s journey lays bare how our nation’s 50-year War on Drugs has destroyed millions of lives. It also suggests a better path forward where solutions to America’s overdose crisis are not found by punishing those in need of help, but in harm reduction policies that treat addiction as the medical and mental health crisis it is. To learn more, visit: https://www.morgangodvin.com The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.