Corruption

The Cato Institute and the World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C. invite you to a Policy Forum: Mexico’s Drug War: The Growing Crisis on Our Southern Border Featuring: Ted Galen Carpenter, Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, Cato Institute Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance Network Vanda Felbab-Brown, Foreign Policy Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Daniel T. Griswold, Director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute As the new Obama administration surveys possible national security threats confronting the United States, policymakers need to recognize that an especially lethal one is brewing close to home: the increasing drug-related violence in Mexico. Since January 2007 there have been more than 6,800 drug-war related deaths in Mexico, and Mexican drug cartels continue to expand their operations in American cities. Washington’s response has been to expand its prohibitionist efforts with the Mérida Initiative, a U.S.–Mexico anti-drug-trafficking program. Historically, however, prohibitionist policies have had little success in reducing the flow of drugs. Instead, those policies have led to increased turmoil and corruption. Please join us as we explore more effective alternatives for the new administration. This forum is funded by a grant from the Open Society Institute. Luncheon to follow. Cato Policy Forums and luncheons are free of charge. To register, visit www.cato.org, e-mail [email protected], fax (202) 371-0841 or call (202) 789-5229 by 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, February 18. News media inquiries only (no registrations), please call (202) 789-5200. If you can’t make it to the Cato Institute, watch this Forum live online at www.cato.org.

The War on Drugs has become the longest and most costly war in American history, the question has become, how much more can the country endure? Inspired by the death of four family members from "legal drugs" Texas filmmaker Kevin Booth sets out to discover why the Drug War has become such a big failure. Three and a half years in the making the film follows gang members, former DEA agents, CIA officers, narcotics officers, judges, politicians, prisoners and celebrities. Most notably the film befriends Freeway Ricky Ross; the man many accuse for starting the Crack epidemic, who after being arrested realized his cocaine source was working for the CIA. AMERICAN DRUG WAR "the last white hope" shows how money, power and greed have corrupted not just dope fiends but an entire government. More importantly, it shows what can be done about it. This is not some 'pro-drug' stoner film, but a collection of expert testimonials from the ground troops on the front lines of the drug war, the ones who are fighting it and the ones who are living it.