Travel writer Rick Steves to discuss European versus US drug policies at Baker Institute lecture

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Franz Brotzen
713-348-6775
franz.brotzen@rice.edu

Many European countries have adopted policies that treat illicit drug use as a health problem rather than as a criminal problem. Travel writer Rick Steves will discuss the differences he has observed between the European and U.S. models at a March 8 lecture at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

The lecture is the keynote address for the conference “The War on Drugs Has Failed. Is Legalization the Answer?” Plenary sessions will be held all day March 9, with welcoming remarks at 8:30 a.m.

Who: Rick Steves, host of the public television series “Rick Steves’ Europe” and public radio series “Travel with Rick Steves” and author of 50 European travel books.

What: Lecture on “Travel as a Political Act, with a European Take on America’s War on Marijuana.”

When: Thursday, March 8, at 7 p.m.

Where: Rice University, Baker Hall’s Doré Commons, 6100 Main St.

Steves believes that the U.S. government’s war on marijuana, like its war on alcohol during Prohibition, harms society more than the drug-abuse problem it targets. He will describe how Europe is fighting its drug-abuse problems differently and, he argues, more effectively than the United States. Europeans treat drug abuse as a health problem rather than a crime, and they measure the effectiveness of their drug policy by its success in reducing harm. Steves will explain how the European approach is not hard on drugs or soft on drugs, but rather is smart on drugs.

In addition to his travel writing, Steves is a board member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the co-writer and host of the ACLU television documentary “Marijuana: A Time for Conversation” and a co-sponsor of Washington State Initiative No. 502, a ballot measure aimed at legalizing, regulating and taxing the sale of marijuana.

The event is open to the public, but seating is limited. It will be webcast at http://bakerinstitute.org/events/travel-as-a-political-act-with-a-european-take-on-americas-war-on-marijuana.

Members of the news media who want to attend should RSVP to Franz Brotzen at franz.brotzen@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.