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How the War on Drugs Continues to Fuel Authoritarianism

  • When
  • June 25, 2020 12:00–1:30 p.m. (EDT)
  • Where
  • Live Stream
  • Speakers
  • Sheila Coronel, Geoff Ramsey, Aqeela Sherrills, and Matthew Wilson
Screen shot of four people in a Zoom meeting
1:28:05

As the world has been gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, the global “war on drugs” has continued in ways that are both surprising and tragically familiar. We can see how the drug war is utilized as political proxy, authoritarian instrument, and mechanism of oppression by charting recent examples across the globe: from President Trump’s surprising April 1 coronavirus press conference announcing “enhanced counter-narcotics operations” in the Western Hemisphere to restrictions on press freedoms in the Philippines to police brutality and systemic racism in the United States.

This live-streamed conversation will explore the current state of the drug war, the anti-racism protests taking place across the world, responses from political leaders, and the rise of authoritarianism in the context of COVID-19.

Speakers

  • Sheila Coronel

    Speaker

    Sheila Coronel is director of the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at the Columbia University School of Journalism.

    Read full bio

  • Geoff Ramsey

    Speaker

    Geoff Ramsey is director for Venezuela at the Washington Office on Latin America.

    Read full bio

  • Aqeela Sherrills

    Speaker

    Aqeela Sherrills is director of the Newark Community Street Team.

  • Matthew Wilson

    Moderator

    Matthew Wilson is division director of Equity for Global Programs at the Open Society Foundations.

Read more

Event Recap

How Authoritarianism Fuels the War on Drugs

Screen shot of four people in a Zoom meeting

While the world’s attention has shifted to the COVID-19 pandemic, the harms and injustices of the “war on drugs” are not only continuing; they’re being intensified. What can civil society reformers do in response?

July 7, 2020

Harm Reduction for All

A Lifesaving Loan: A New Investment to Help Curb the U.S. Overdose Crisis

A volunteer hands out naloxone.

For over a decade, the small Remedy Alliance nonprofit has revolutionized providing lifesaving healthcare for people who use drugs. Our new investment will help the group increase access to the overdose antidote naloxone.

December 12, 2023 | Sarah Evans & Georgia Levenson Keohane

Drug Policy

Three Decades of Drug Policy Reform Work

People wearing ATITUDE T-shirts smiling with a man

Over the past 30 years, Open Society has been the largest philanthropic supporter of efforts to reform drug policy and promote harm reduction around the world. This is a timeline of the Foundations’ pathbreaking work.

November 16, 2021

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