This Is What’s Breaking the Drug War

An onslaught of new “psychoactive substances” — an ever-shifting range
of chemical products marketed in stores under names like “bath salts”
and “spice” — has transformed the global market for recreational drugs
and reduced drug enforcement efforts to a hopeless game of Whac-a-Mole:
as soon as one of these substances gets banned, a slightly different
formula pops up, untested and potentially dangerous.

In Pacific Standard‘s March/April cover story,
Maia Szalavitz, a reporter covering drugs and addiction for nearly 30
years, introduces us to Matt Bowden, a flamboyant New Zealand
glam-rocker and drug-maker who has played a key role in launching this
historically viral outbreak of new drugs. He has also spearheaded a
national reform in favor of establishing a regulated market for new
psychoactive substances, a tactic that may prove to be the only viable
policy response to this burgeoning pharmacopeia. Rather than punish New
Zealand for this experiment, world leaders — faced with their own
losing battles against so-called legal highs — are taking careful
notes. Has America reached a tipping point regarding the war on drugs?
Is cutting off supply instead of focusing on minimizing their damage
more retrograde than ever?

This podcast contains mature language.