Udi Ofer (’01), Founding Director of the Policy Advocacy Clinic at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, contributed an opinion to Newsweek citing the failure of the war on drugs, calling for drug addiction to be treated as a public health matter (not a criminal law one), and pointing to Portugal’s success in decriminalizing drug possession, building treatment infrastructure and saving lives (“It’s Time to Decriminalize Personal Possession of All Drugs. Yes, All of Them,” June 8). “It’s time for a new approach that invests in drug treatment while decriminalizing personal drug use. To be clear, decriminalization alone is not the solution. But it must be part of a broader strategy that is grounded in health policy and invests in harm reduction and treatment. . . . It’s time for America to follow the will of the voters and public health experts.”
