Psychoactive drugs have been central to my life for a very long time: learning about them, and talking, writing, teaching and preaching about them (in roughly forty states and forty countries), and of course doing them. I’m fascinated by it all: the history, economics, politics and culture of drugs.

But of course I’ve also been deeply involved not just in changing the ways that people think about drugs but also drug laws and policies. I’ve played a central role not just in legalizing marijuana but also in promoting harm reduction policies and rolling back the role of the drug war in mass incarceration.

I founded and built the Drug Policy Alliance into the leading drug policy reform organization in the world; orchestrated over two dozen ballot initiatives to change marijuana and other drug laws; and played a key role as drug policy advisor to prominent philanthropists (including George Soros) and politicians. My TED Talk on ending the drug war has over two million views.

Last year I started a podcast about all things drugs–PSYCHOACTIVE–where I interview a broad range of leading researchers, activists, celebrities and politicians about drugs. This, however, is your opportunity to AMA!

Proof: Here's my proof!

You can find my podcast, PSYCHOACTIVE with Ethan Nadelmann, on Spotify or Apple or anywhere you get podcasts, and you can find me on Instagram and Twitter.

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EDIT: IT'S 4:20 HERE IN NYC. GOTTA TAKE A BREAK. WIL TRY TO COME BACK IN 10-15 MINUTES TO ANSWER OTHER QUESTIONS. THANKS FOR JOINING!

OK, I'M BACK (430 PM)

OK, TIME FOR ME TO SIGN OFF. THANKS EVER SO MUCH FOR YOUR GREAT COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS. BE SURE TO LISTEN TO MY PODCAST: PSYCHOACTIVE - AVAILABLE ON ALL THE BIG PLATFORMS. AND FEEL FREE TO SEND OTHER QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS TO [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) OR LEAVE A MESSAGE AT 833 PSYCHO-0 (THAT'S PYSCHO-ZERO)

EDIT (7/27/22): Many thanks for the upvotes and new questions. I will likely come back to answer more questions tomorrow!

OK! I came back for an hour to answer more of your questions. Thanks for engaging! And please listen to my podcast PSYCHOACTIVE and spread the word. My upcoming guests include "Mountain Girl" (MG) Garcia about the Merry Pranksters, the Grateful Dead and psychedelics; Eddy Portnoy on Jews and Cannabis; Norman Ohler on Hitler, the Nazis and Drugs; and Bia Labate on ayahuasca. The latest episode, which went up this morning, is a conversation with the most in/famous person in Big Tobacco - former CEO and now chair of Philip Morris International, Andre Calantzopoulos.