Many European countries have adopted policies that treat illicit drug use as a health problem rather than as a criminal problem. Travel writer Rick Steves will discuss the differences he has observed between the European and U.S. models a March 8 lecture at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, beginning at 7 p.m. 

The lecture is the keynote address for the conference "The War on Drugs Has Failed. Is Legalization the Answer?" Plenary sessions will be held all day March 9, with welcoming remarks at 8:30 a.m.

Steves is the host of the public television series, Rick Steves’ Europe, and public radio series Travel with Rick Steves and author of 50 European travel books.  

Steves believes that the U.S. government’s war on marijuana, like its war on alcohol during Prohibition, harms society more than the drug-abuse problem it targets. He will describe how Europe is fighting its drug-abuse problems differently and, he argues, more effectively than the United States. Europeans treat drug abuse as a health problem rather than a crime, and they measure the effectiveness of their drug policy by its success in reducing harm. Steves will explain how the European approach is not hard on drugs or soft on drugs, but rather is smart on drugs.

In addition to his travel writing, Steves is a board member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the co-writer and host of the ACLU television documentary Marijuana: A Time for Conversation and a co-sponsor of Washington State Initiative No. 502, a ballot measure aimed at legalizing, regulating and taxing the sale of marijuana.

The event is open to the public, but seating is limited. It will be webcast at http://bakerinstitute.org/events/travel-as-a-political-act-with-a-european-take-on-americas-war-on-marijuana.