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Book Forum: Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics: A Critical Analysis of Claims Made by the ONDCP

Submitted by dguard on
Each year the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) publishes a report called The National Drug Control Strategy. Those reports are supposed to provide information about trends in drug use and assess federal programs that are aimed at reducing the supply of and demand for illegal drugs. Policymakers rely on that information in making budget decisions and holding executive branch agencies accountable. Matthew B. Robinson and Renee G. Scherlen conducted an independent review of those reports, and their research found numerous instances in which information was distorted to justify continuing the war on drugs. Join us for a discussion of the use and abuse of statistics and of policy recommendations for changing the federal approach to problems associated with drug use. The event features the authors Matthew B. Robinson, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Appalachian State University and Renee G. Scherlen, Associate Professor of Political Science at Appalachian State University, as well as Dr. David Murray, Senior Policy Analyst for ONDCP. It will be moderated by Timothy Lynch, Director of the Project on Criminal Justice at the Cato Institute. To register, see http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=3807, call (202) 789-5229 by 12:00 noon, Wednesday, May 30, 2007. Please arrive early. Seating is limited and not guaranteed. News media inquiries only (no registrations), please call (202) 789-5200. A luncheon follows the event.
Location

The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC
United States

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