Christina Dent: The Evangelical Christian Fighting To End the Drug War

The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

This week's guest is Christina Dent, whose organization, End It For Good, seeks to change the approach to addiction from a criminal justice issue to a health-centered one. But Dent is not your typical anti–drug war activist. She's an evangelical Christian who believes legalizing drugs is the conservative thing to do—a position she adopted after an encounter she had as a foster mom.

Reason's Billy Binion and Dent talked about her conservative religious upbringing, the surprising history of the war on drugs, how the current approach to substance abuse fuels crime, misconceptions about people struggling with addiction, and why prohibition is actually a progressive response. She has also offered to send a copy of her recent memoir, Curious, free of charge to anyone interested in learning more, which you can request at [email protected].

0:00—Introduction
4:45—The foster experience that changed Dent
11:43—What causes addiction?
16:55—Addiction and recovery are not one-size-fits-all.

25:57—Drug criminalization is anti-Christian conservative values
33:14—Helping families struggling with addiction
41:34—Decriminalization efforts in the U.S.
46:52—The costs and tradeoffs of legalization
59:43—Is Dent conservative or Republican?
1:02:15—Dent's law enforcement outreach
1:17:26—Effective treatment is not cold turkey or zero-sum.

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

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