Artists vs. the Drug War: On the Scene at the Drug Policy Alliance's re:FORM Art Auction

Think the drug war does more harm than good?

The Drug Policy Alliance sure does, and recently the DPA hosted the re:FORM Art Auction where artists donated their work to raise money for a most worthy cause—ending the war on drugs. Reason.tv was on the scene at the Honor Fraser Gallery in Culver City, California to talk to art lovers and drug policy reformers about everything from fixing our nation's prison policy to legalizing marijuana.

"I think the number one thing is basically to break the taboo on really open and honest dialog on all drug policy options including legalization," says Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the DPA.

Contributing artists include: Josh Levine, Ed Moses, Jeffrey Palladini, Gina Stepaniuk, and Jill Sykes.

Approximately 2.5 minutes.

"Artists Versus the Drug War" was Produced by Ted Balaker, Hawk Jensen and Alex Manning.

Go to http://www.reason.tv for downloadable versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• libertarian
• drug
• war
• reason.com
• reason.tv
• reason.org
• reason
• foundation
• legalization
• marijuana
• policy
• alliance

[felpaluche]

Interesting but too short

[ZM7241994]

@myusernameisluc You're right, everything does have a certain level of danger, but none come close to the danger of drugs like coke, cocaine, and heroin. One little bag of meth or crack can get someone hooked for life or even kill someone. When people become hooked on drugs, they are mindless husks. The only thing that they think about is "How can I get more drugs?" because they are so addictive. Drugs affect more then the users, but their friends and families.

[myusernameisluc]

@ZM7241994

I would consider extreme mountainbiking more dangerous than snorting coke. "Danger" is an entirely arbitrary criterium. Everything has a certain level of danger, from choking on your sandwich to geting hit by a car when crossing the street. What contitutes an "acceptable" level of danger or not is entirely subjective. The question you should ask yourself is: Is it right to violently meddle in actions that don´t have involuntary victims? The action of using drugs itself doesn´t.

[myusernameisluc]

@ZM7241994

You want something to be illegal. From that follows that some must assume a higher moral in relation to other people to forbid it, like a parent to his child.

Can you specify in what concrete way the use of drugs affect more than just the users? With everything someone does he affects others.

Drugs don´t "cause", users do. If users initiate violence, they can be held accountable, but as long as they don´t damage anyone, no-one has the right to prohibit subtances from them.

[ZM7241994]

@myusernameisluc I'm not saying some people are morally superior to ohters, but that some things are just too dangerous to be legal. The use of drugs like coke, crack, and heroin affect more then just the users, but their families and society. Drugs have caused close families to be ripped apart, and entire neighborhoods to become impoverished. I'm not saying that drugs are the only dangerous things in America, but that they are some of the most dangerous things in America.

[myusernameisluc]

@ZM7241994

I don´t think you understand my point. You do your profile picture honor. By claiming certain substances should be made illegal, which means some people can forbid something for other people, you implicitely claim that some people have a superior moral control over other people.

[myusernameisluc]

@ZM7241994

And what do you think gives a person the right to determine what other adults put in their own body? Does anyone have a higher claim on your body than you yourself do?

What constitutes "far too dangerous" is subjective. Thai boxing and extreme mountainbiking are also very dangerous, and to some extremely addictive, do you think they should be illegal too? BTW, EVERYTHING can kill a person "in one use". If you drink too much water in one session you will die.

[ZM7241994]

@myusernameisluc I understand your point, but coke, crack, and heroin are dangerous. They cause all sorts of health problems and are extremely addictive. They are so dangerous that they can kill a person after one use. Marijuana might not be dangerous, but coke, crack, and heroin are far too dangerous to be legal.

[myusernameisluc]

@ZM7241994

I want adults to be able to decide for themselves whatever substance they put in their body, as long as they don't initiate violence. You own your body.

[Huboons]

@Nielsio Well then you understand basic morality, but how many of the people in this video apply their views on the drug war across the board? As an objectivist myself, and one who enjoys art and counter culture, I have to deal with a lot of selective collectivism. Lets face it, the art community is almost exclusively on the political left and has funny ideas about the government staying out of some things but absolutely ruling with an iron fist on others.