Skip to content

Obama Talks Drug War With David Simon, Creator of The Wire

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWY79JCfhjw&feature=youtu.be  

The White House has posted a conversation between President Barack Obama and David Simon, the creator of The Wire, about changing the drug war to de-emphasize incarcerations.  

On the video, Obama declares himself a huge fan of the HBO series (Omar is his favorite character) and sounded sympathetic to Simon’s push to ratchet down a drug war that has put enormous numbers of people in prison.  

The comments are similar to ones he made to Vice News, where the president spoke in favor of decriminalization of marijuana as “progress.” The sudden burst of news from the president on the issue comes after years where he has done little on the issue directly and where his administration has sent conflicting messages on legalizing marijuana in particular.  


The 114th: CQ Roll Call’s Guide to the New Congress


Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call in your inbox or on your iPhone.

Recent Stories

House passes bill that would void DC ‘sanctuary’ policies

As officers sue over Jan. 6 plaque, Democrats hang replicas 

Sen. Alex Padilla forcibly removed from Noem press conference

At the races: Democrats get a reprieve

CBO: GOP budget bill would take from the poor, give to the rich

Ex-Rep. Long confirmed as Trump’s IRS commissioner