Ed Meese on Drugs! Caught on Tape!

Sorry, strike that–should read Ed Meese talking about drugs.

On March 9, Reason's journalistic Dr. Feelgood, Jacob Sullum, participated in "An Analytic Assessment of U.S. Drug Policy" at the American Enterprise Institute.

Among the panelists were the former Reagan admin attorney general, former Clinton admin drug policy adviser Rand Beers (he's the proud papa of the hideously deformed Plan Colombia), and Peter Reuter and David Boyum, whose bold new monograph on drug policy was being discussed. The panel was moderated by James Q. Wilson, a hardcore drug warrior who recalled with pride his days in the Nixon admin's drug policy shop (go here to read Reason's 1995 interview with him on "bureaucracy, crime, and community"). Not since Riot on Sunset Strip have two such different worldviews collided with enough heat the melt the instruments of The Chocolate Watch Band.

The video is mandatory viewing for anyone interested in drug policy. Especially for pro-prohibitionists interested in a serious discussion of the costs and benefits of the drug war as it is currently constituted. Here's hoping some of them actually watch the discussion, which also poses serious questions for legalizers.

And a massive tip o' the gravity bong (but hey, man, not too big a tip cause then it will spill all over the floor–aw, man, why'd you do that, man) to AEI for bringing together a balanced and informed panel on a topic that rarely gets such treatment.

Go to video here.