full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Ethan Nadelmann: Why we need to end the War on Drugs

Unscramble the Blue Letters

So the challenges we face taody are twofold. The first is the policy challenge of designing and implementing alternatives to iecefnivfte prohibitionist policies, even as we need to get better at regulating and living with the dgurs that are now legal. But the second cghaelnle is tougher, because it's about us. The obstacles to reform lie not just out there in the power of the prison industrial cpelomx or other vested ieetrsnts that want to keep things the way they are, but within each and every one of us. It's our fears and our lack of knowledge and imagination that stands in the way of real reform. And ultimately, I think that boils down to the kids, and to every parent's deirse to put our baby in a bubble, and the fear that somehow drugs will piecre that bubble and put our young ones at risk. In fact, sometimes it seems like the entire War on Drugs gets justified as one gerat big child protection act, which any young person can tell you it's not.

Open Cloze

So the challenges we face _____ are twofold. The first is the policy challenge of designing and implementing alternatives to ___________ prohibitionist policies, even as we need to get better at regulating and living with the _____ that are now legal. But the second _________ is tougher, because it's about us. The obstacles to reform lie not just out there in the power of the prison industrial _______ or other vested _________ that want to keep things the way they are, but within each and every one of us. It's our fears and our lack of knowledge and imagination that stands in the way of real reform. And ultimately, I think that boils down to the kids, and to every parent's ______ to put our baby in a bubble, and the fear that somehow drugs will ______ that bubble and put our young ones at risk. In fact, sometimes it seems like the entire War on Drugs gets justified as one _____ big child protection act, which any young person can tell you it's not.

Solution

  1. interests
  2. drugs
  3. great
  4. desire
  5. ineffective
  6. pierce
  7. challenge
  8. complex
  9. today

Original Text

So the challenges we face today are twofold. The first is the policy challenge of designing and implementing alternatives to ineffective prohibitionist policies, even as we need to get better at regulating and living with the drugs that are now legal. But the second challenge is tougher, because it's about us. The obstacles to reform lie not just out there in the power of the prison industrial complex or other vested interests that want to keep things the way they are, but within each and every one of us. It's our fears and our lack of knowledge and imagination that stands in the way of real reform. And ultimately, I think that boils down to the kids, and to every parent's desire to put our baby in a bubble, and the fear that somehow drugs will pierce that bubble and put our young ones at risk. In fact, sometimes it seems like the entire War on Drugs gets justified as one great big child protection act, which any young person can tell you it's not.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
drug war 7
answer lies 3
global drug 2
emphasize criminalization 2
drug abuse 2
illegal drug 2
principal consumers 2
racist fears 2
drug policies 2
legally regulating 2
global commodities 2
public health 2
sold legally 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
global drug war 2

Important Words

  1. act
  2. alternatives
  3. baby
  4. big
  5. boils
  6. bubble
  7. challenge
  8. challenges
  9. child
  10. complex
  11. designing
  12. desire
  13. drugs
  14. entire
  15. face
  16. fact
  17. fear
  18. fears
  19. great
  20. imagination
  21. implementing
  22. industrial
  23. ineffective
  24. interests
  25. justified
  26. kids
  27. knowledge
  28. lack
  29. legal
  30. lie
  31. living
  32. obstacles
  33. person
  34. pierce
  35. policies
  36. policy
  37. power
  38. prison
  39. prohibitionist
  40. protection
  41. put
  42. real
  43. reform
  44. regulating
  45. risk
  46. stands
  47. today
  48. tougher
  49. twofold
  50. ultimately
  51. vested
  52. war
  53. young