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The Project works with grassroots entities, media, and policy makers to shift away from the drug “war” paradigm and its disastrous impacts on the environment, toward holistic policies that address public health, safety and economic alternatives to the prohibition drug economy.

The intersection of race and poverty in the drug war is at the heart of the project’s work. The project has focused recently on the attendant “collateral damage” caused by the United States exporting its drug war to Colombia and Afghanistan, peace efforts in Colombia, drug war-related politics in the Philippines, and border politics between the U.S. and Mexico. Establishing humane and sustainable alternatives to the “drug war” paradigm fits into the IPS mandate as a major contemporary social justice issue on a global scale.

Expert on Drug Policy

Sanho Tree
Project Director
Sanho Tree
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More articles on Drug Policy

Peace & Foreign Policy | Articles

VIDEO: The Worst Drug Traffickers Are Often U.S. Allies

Sanho Tree tells the BBC the “hypocrisy is quite striking” when it comes to Trump’s claims about Venezuela.
Peace & Foreign Policy | Articles

VIDEO: Trump’s Caribbean Strikes Are a Dangerous New Front in the Failed War on Drugs

"We've lost the war on drugs miserably," Sanho Tree says, and Trump's Caribbean strikes are creating a "much more dangerous environment."
Peace & Foreign Policy | Articles

The Dangers of Trump’s New ‘Forever War’ on Alleged Drug Traffickers

Sanho Tree explains how the U.S. is using the "war on drugs" to justify attacks on Venezuela and beyond.
Peace & Foreign Policy | Articles

Blowing Up Fishing Boats Won’t Win the Drug War

There’s a reason we don’t want drug warriors playing judge, jury, and executioner.
Peace & Foreign Policy | Articles

VIDEO: “We Shouldn’t Allow Drug Warriors to Act as Judge, Jury, and Executioner”

Sanho Tree briefs congressional staffers about Trump’s extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean.
Peace & Foreign Policy, Racial & Gender Justice | Articles

VIDEO: Upholding Racial Justice in Policing and the Rule of Law in Colombia

Our congressional briefing on the young Colombians who are fighting against police racism and protecting the right to protest.
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‘I Don’t Mind the Work’: An IPS Tribute to Harry Belafonte

IPS experts remember their time with the legendary activist, entertainer, and IPS board member.
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Danny Glover Supports Landmark Reparations Fund in Chicago Suburb

The Hollywood actor spoke at an Evanston townhall in support of a new policy to use revenue from marijuana legalization to narrow racial...
Economic Justice | Articles

World Drug Day and the Movement to Legalize Marijuana

On World Drug Day, Sanho Tree discusses marijuana legalization around the world and how countries are confronting drug abuse and trafficking.
Economic Justice, Racial & Gender Justice | Articles

Has the U.S. ‘War on Drugs’ Failed?

Derek Maltz and Sanho Tree debate the one-trillion-dollar 'war on drugs' and Trump's dream of a border wall with Mexico.
Economic Justice | Articles

The Heat: Canada’s decision to legalize marijuana

Canada recently became the first industrialized nation to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes.
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Donald Trump is Flirting With Fascism

His language is right out of the Nazi playbook.

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