Arleene Barrios

Public Information Officer
UTEP Office of University Communications
Phone: 915-539-4677
E-mail: news@utep.edu

UTEP and International Drug Policy Experts Seek Solutions To War on Drugs

The U.S. government will spend more than $14 billion this year in attempt to curb illicit drug use in the nation.

The University of Texas at El Paso in conjunction with prominent community leaders will host “The Global Public Policy Forum on the U.S. War on Drugs” on Sept. 20 to 22 at various campus and city locations.

Forty-years after President Richard Nixon declared the “War on Drugs,” the conference will evaluate the success or failure of U.S. drug policies, including their impact on communities throughout the world.

“It's fitting that an international conference on the 40th anniversary of the war on drugs is taking place in El Paso and Juárez. It is my hope and belief that the policy solutions to peacefully and effectively end this war will be developed by the people who are suffering its most brutal consequences,” said Beto O’Rourke, El Paso city representative.

The conference will bring together policy experts and leading scholars from the U.S. and Mexico to analyze past policies and consider new options. Panels will discuss prohibition policies and the effects of drug decriminalization by doing a comparative analysis of drug policies in other countries.

Notable speakers include Sigrid Arzt, former National Security Council Advisor to Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Sergio Fajardo, former mayor of Medellín, Colombia.

The forum will open the door to a national debate on drugs.

“We’ve had 40 years of ineffective drug policies and consumption and addiction are as high as ever. We need to reevaluate the U.S. ‘War on Drugs’ to come up with solutions to this ongoing problem,” said Kathleen Staudt, Ph.D., UTEP professor of political science.

“Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas are ground zero on the war on drugs. More people are dying, more drugs are being transited and more federal dollars (both Mexican and U.S.) are being spent in this region than in any other theater of this war,” said O’Rourke.

The event is free and open to the public.

* Media note
There will be two opportunities for members of the media to conduct one-on-one interviews with conference speakers at The University of Texas at El Paso.

Sunday, Sept. 20
6:15-7:30 p.m.
Geology Reading Room and Geology Room 308

Monday, Sept. 21
3:15-4:30 p.m.
The Tomás Rivera Conference Center, Union Building East, 3rd floor.

Special accommodations upon request.

For the conference agenda, visit the Website: http://warondrugsconference.utep.edu/default.htm.