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Legalize Pot? (1999-01-12)
About this film
Another go-around on the marijuana question, this time with the anti-legalization position represented by New York's very successful police commissioner. He is an adherent of the James Q. Wilson "broken window" theory, which holds that taking care of seemingly small things, like broken windows, has a disproportionate impact on major things. And sure enough, crime in New York City had dropped dramatically since the police started aggressively pursuing infractions such as "fare beating" on the subways, open drinking on the streets--and marijuana possession. A lively, sometimes heated, debate. HS: "If your premise is that there is something wrong with marijuana, then we should encourage not using it. We shouldn't encourage people to go out and continue to use marijuana, and legalization would do just that." LZ: "Look, I think there is something wrong with adultery, but I don't think the New York City Police Department should be out searching for adulterers."
Directors & creators
Southern Educational Communications Association
Subjects
public broadcasting, AAPB, William F. Buckley Jr., marijuana legalization, broken windows theory, James Q. Wilson, New York City, New York City Police Department, drug policy, criminal justice reform, substance abuse, law enforcement, civil liberties, crime prevention, marijuana possession
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