Christina Dent: The Evangelical Christian Fighting To End the Drug War

The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

Content provided by The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

4M ago 1:26:04

MP3•Episode home

Fetch error

Hmmm there seems to be a problem fetching this series right now. Last successful fetch was on May 28, 2025 15:56 (1d ago)

What now? This series will be checked again in the next day. If you believe it should be working, please verify the publisher's feed link below is valid and includes actual episode links. You can contact support to request the feed be immediately fetched.

This week's guest is Christina Dent, whose organization, End It For Good, seeks to change the approach to addiction from a criminal justice issue to a health-centered one. But Dent is not your typical anti–drug war activist. She's an evangelical Christian who believes legalizing drugs is the conservative thing to do—a position she adopted after an encounter she had as a foster mom.

Reason's Billy Binion and Dent talked about her conservative religious upbringing, the surprising history of the war on drugs, how the current approach to substance abuse fuels crime, misconceptions about people struggling with addiction, and why prohibition is actually a progressive response. She has also offered to send a copy of her recent memoir, Curious, free of charge to anyone interested in learning more, which you can request at [email protected].

0:00—Introduction
4:45—The foster experience that changed Dent
11:43—What causes addiction?
16:55—Addiction and recovery are not one-size-fits-all.

25:57—Drug criminalization is anti-Christian conservative values
33:14—Helping families struggling with addiction
41:34—Decriminalization efforts in the U.S.
46:52—The costs and tradeoffs of legalization
59:43—Is Dent conservative or Republican?
1:02:15—Dent's law enforcement outreach
1:17:26—Effective treatment is not cold turkey or zero-sum.

Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Christina Dent: The Evangelical Christian Fighting To End the Drug War appeared first on Reason.com.

375 episodes

#Libertarian #News #Politics #Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie #Donald Trump