The Drugreporter video team was invited by the Drug Policy Alliance to their conference in Atlanta to produce a film about the latest developments in drug policy in the US and beyond. You can now watch our short summary movie on race and the drug war, as well as recorded key speeches and sessions!
The biannual International Drug Policy Reform Conferences are among the key drug policy gatherings in the world. We have been filming these conferences since 2005, when the conference took place in New Orleans, Louisiana, a symbolic choice after Hurricane Katrina. Last year the meeting returned to the Southern states of the US, to Atlanta, Georgia – a symbolic choice again. This was one of the birthplaces of the civil rights movement. Many people, including the key speaker of the opening session, Michelle Alexander, are of the opinion that Jim Crow racial segregation has never been annihilated in the US – it has survived in the form of the war on drugs. The War on Drugs devastated Afro-American communities and created a system that effectively blocks their political empowerment. This is true even in our times, when 8 US states have already legalised marijuana. Although Afro-Americans were disproportionally hit by the war on drugs they are not benefiting from legalisation, and stay in prison in great numbers. Especially in the South, where the drug war, with its mass incarceration and racial profiling, is alive and well. If you would like to end the war on drugs, says Michelle Alexander, you cannot leave these communities behind. That’s why the conference moved to Atlanta this year, to raise awareness on the forgotten victims of ill-advised drug policies. And that is why we produced a short movie about the same issue – please make sure you share it with your peers and friends!
If you could not attend the conference or if you were there but would like to relive some moments of the event, Drugreporter recorded several key speeches and sessions for you. Enjoy 13 hours of drug policy reform footage below!
Opening session (playlist with 3 videos)
Achievement awards ceremony (playlist with 9 videos)
Closing ceremony (8 videos)
Candlelight Vigil to pay tribute to all those who have perished as a
result of the drug war
SESSIONS
Who Run the World: Women’s Leadership & Drug Policy Reform
The Drug War in the South
The Fight in Asia: Drug Policy Reform in an Unforgiving Region
Case for Reparations: 50 Years After the Drug War and Mass
Incarceration, What Does America Owe Us?
Moving Out of the Shadows: Harm Reduction for Stimulant Users
Istvan Gabor Takacs and Peter Sarosi
