Century of Lies


04/27/22 MP Gord Johns

This week on Century: Legalization and the art of the impossible. The Canadian Parliament is currently considering Bill C-126, A Health-Based Approach to the Substance Use Act. We hear from the sponsor, MP Gord Johns. Plus Eris Nyx with the Drug User Liberation Front.

Guest(s): MP Gord Johns
Organization(s): Drug War Facts
Link(s): Drug War Facts

04/20/22 Sheila Vakharia

This week on Century we discuss adolescent overdose deaths, harm reduction, and recovery with Joseph Friedman, an addictions researcher and MD/PhD student at the Center for Social Medicine at UCLA, and Dr. Sheila Vakharia, Deputy Director of the Department of Research and Academic Engagement for the Drug Policy Alliance.

Guest(s): Sheila Vakharia
Organization(s): Drug Policy Alliance
Link(s): Drug Policy Alliance

04/13/22 Sarah Reyes

On this edition of Century we're joined by Sarah Reyes, MSW, Policy Analyst with the Texas Center for Justice and Equity and co-author of their new report “Reversing the War on Drugs in Texas: Prioritizing REAL Public Health and Safety for Texans.” We discuss the failures of the state’s existing drug policies and some solutions, including decriminalization of drug use and the prioritization of health and dignity for people who use drugs. Find Texas CJRE at https://texascje.org/

Guest(s): Sarah Reyes
Organization(s): Texas CJRE
Link(s): Texas CJRE

04/06/22 David Borden

This week on Century, a discussion on Extrajudicial Drug War Killings in 2022 with David Borden, Director of the DRCNet Foundation / StopTheDrugWar.org; Zaved Mahmood, human rights and drug policy advisor to the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights; and Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit, a member of the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines.

Guest(s): David Borden
Organization(s): Drug Reform Coordination Network
Link(s): Drug Reform Coordination Network

03/30/22 Dave Borden


On this week's Century, it's part three of our coverage of the 65th annual session of the UN's Commission on Narcotic Drugs: Russia finally falls from grace, plus words from Dave Borden, Executive Director of DRCNet Foundation and StopTheDrugWar.org, and Luciana Pol, an Argentine sociologist and Senior Fellow in Security Policy and Human Rights at the Center for Legal and Social Studies.

Guest(s): Dave Borden
Organization(s): Stop the Drug War
Link(s): Stop The Drug War

03/23/22 Joao Goulao,

This week on Century, it’s part two of our coverage of the 65th annual session of the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which took place March 14-18 2022 in Vienna, Austria. We hear from Dr. Joao Goulao, President of the Pompidou Group and Director-General of Portugal’s Service for Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies; Ambassador Aldrik Gierveld, permanent representative of the Netherlands in Vienna; Jindrich Voboril, representative of the Czech Republic; Kasia Malinowska with the Open Society Foundation; and Elina Steinerte, Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on arbitrary detention of the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.

Guest(s): Joao Goulao,
Organization(s): Drug War Facts
Link(s): Drug War Facts

03/16/22 Winnie Byanyima

This week on Century, it’s part one of our coverage of the 65th annual session of the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Austria, taking place March 14-18 2022 in Vienna, Austria. We hear from Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS; Jamie Bridge, Chief Operating Officer of the International Drug Policy Consortium and Chair of the Vienna NGO Committee; Halyna Korniyenko, program manager with the Ukrainian Network of Women who Use Drugs; Aditia Taslim, Advocacy Officer for the International Network of People who Use Drugs; and US Ambassador Todd D. Robinson, Assistant Secretary for the US State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Guest(s): Winnie Byanyima
Organization(s): UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs
Link(s): Drug War Facts

03/09/22 Joseph R. Friedman

On this edition of Century, we speak with Joseph R. Friedman, MPH, an addictions researcher and MD/PhD student at the Center for Social Medicine and Humanities at UCLA, about overdose, harm reduction, and racial justice; plus we hear from Dr. Christy Sutherland with the Portland Hotel Society about decriminalization of people who use drugs.

Guest(s): Joseph R. Friedman
Organization(s): Center for Social Medicine and Humanities at UCLA
Link(s): Drug War Facts

03/02/22 Sanho Tree

On this edition of Century of Lies, Imperialism and the War on Drugs: A Conversation with Sanho Tree, Director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.

Guest(s): Sanho Tree
Organization(s): Institute for Policy Studies
Link(s): Institute for Policy Studies

02/23/22 Shaun Shelly

Justice Edwin Cameron and Shaun Shelly discuss stigma, racism, and drug policy in South Africa; and we learn about safer smoking kits and harm reduction from Lindsey LaSalle from the Drug Policy Alliance; Daniel Raymond with the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable; Shilo Hassan Jama, a longtime activist formerly with the People’s Harm Reduction Alliance; Isaac Jackson, PhD, president of the San Francisco chapter of the Urban Survivors Union; Mindy Vincent, founder and executive director of the Utah Harm Reduction Coalition; and Michael Discepola with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Guest(s): Shaun Shelly
Organization(s): Drug War Facts
Link(s): Drug War Facts
