Hamilton Morris debates prohibition with the President who caught Escobar

Hamilton Morris, historian Kathleen Frydl, and former Colombian President César Gaviria discuss the ongoing consequences of the War on Drugs. The panel concludes that the global policy approach is a failure, primarily because it relies on the false premise of drug use as a criminal rather than a medical issue, ignoring the lack of any unified rational defense for continued prohibition. Reform focuses on harms reduction, as exemplified by developments like cannabis legalization in Colorado and the prescription-based treatment models for heroin addiction. The participants argue that the state must shift resources away from punitive measures toward health-centered policies. The discussion emphasizes that persistent prohibition is driven more by political strategy than effective public health intervention.