IQ2 Debates: Should Drugs Be Legalized?

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Last Wednesday’s debate, “Legalize Drugs,”
couldn’t have been more timely. It was a topic that everyone in
attendance seemed to have a personal connection to.

Over
light appetizers at Boulud Sud, donors, media guests and the debaters
mingled, continuing the conversation. Issues of social class, race and
age all came up throughout the debate, leaving many to feel that the
night’s topic was representative of more than just legal issues. Paul
Hertel, editor at Martha Stewart’s Whole Living Magazine, said
the debate “was smart and very clean…I found it effective when the
debaters brought the conversation to social issues, since this topic is
much bigger than just laws.”
 
Deputy editor of the Council on
Foreign Relations’ publications Toni Johnson loved the energy in the
audience during the debate, citing the topic’s over-arching effect on
modern day society as the reason. “There was this vibe in the air…the
audience was really engaged. Not a single person there hadn’t been
effected in some way by this topic.”

Moderator John Donvan
appreciated the diversity, knowledge and respect of debate winners Paul
Butler and Nick Gillespie, and their opponents Asa Hutchinson and
Theodore Dalrymple: “There were law enforcers on both sides of the
debate & I think they both really respected one another and the work
they’ve done.”

Will Godfrey, managing editor of The Fix, also
praised Intelligence Squared and the composure of the participants for
effectively tackling such an emotionally charged topic, calling the
debate “a much more civil conversation on this topic than I’ve seen in
the past.”

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