Century of Lies

An effort in the state of Colorado to prevent overdose deaths suffered a setback in the Colorado Legislature on February 14. The Co Senate's State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee held a hearing on Senate Bill 40, Substance Use Disorder Harm Reduction. The measure was not approved and has been postponed indefinitely. Experts in public health and public safety along with people who have lost family members to overdose and others who are concerned about the community testified overwhelmingly in support of Senate Bill 40. On this edition of Century of Lies, we hear from some of them.

This week on Century of Lies we continue our look at the state of marijuana legalization in the US; we hear from Vanita Gupta with the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights on the state of civil rights in America; and we pay tribute to the legendary activist Dennis Peron, who died in late January.

The UK House of Parliament held a debate recently on safe injection sites, otherwise known as drug consumption rooms. On today's show, we hear from Ronnie Cowan, MP from Inverclyde; Thangam Debbonaire, MP for Bristol West; and Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central.

Movement leaders and elected officials are speaking out against this week's decision by the current administration to rescind previous guidelines on marijuana enforcement, returning to the policies of the Bush and Clinton eras. On this week's show, we hear from a leading Congressional drug policy reformer, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ).