On today's Your Call, we’ll talk about the money behind the drug war. The U.S. government spent over $15 billion dollars in 2010. So how is that money spent? Reason Magazine reporter, Mike Riggs, argues that industries like beer and alcohol, private prisons, drug testing, and addiction recovery owe their profits to the war on drugs. And their lobbyists spend heavily to maintain the status quo. So what do you want to know about the money spent on the war on drugs? Join us at 10am PST or leave a comment here. It’s Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.
Guests
Bill Piper, director of national affairs with the Drug Policy Alliance
Mike Riggs, drug policy writer for Reason Magazine
James Anthony, former prosecutor and current member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Resources
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Reason: 4 Industries Getting Rich Off the Drug War
Drug Policy Alliance - Our Victories
Fear.org: Policing for Profit: The Drug War’s Hidden Economic Agenda
Voice of Mexico: The business that is and could be the drug war
Activist Post: 10 Ways the War on Drugs is a Wild Success
Republic Report: The Top 5 Special Interest Groups Lobbying to Keep Marijuana Legal
White House:2012 National Drug Control Strategy
NY Review of Books: An End to the War on Drugs?
Guardian: Western banks 'reaping billions from Colombian cocaine trade'
Republic Report: Why Can't You Smoke Pot? Because Lobbyists Are Getting Rich Off the War on Drugs
Alternatives: Follow the Money . . . Focus on America’s Failed War on Drugs, Prohibition Laws - Why they must go
Daily Kos: Addicted to Drugs: Profit Motives Leads Police Departments to Ignore Rapes and Other Violent Crimes