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How The War On Drugs Affects Property Rights

Praeger Press

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Comprehensive Crime Control Act. This spurred the "War on Drugs" and allowed the federal government to establish the Assets Forfeiture Fund and bring lawsuits against items of property.

In his new book, How the Drug War Ruins American Lives (Praeger Press/2016), Art Benavie examines how the Assets Forfeiture Fund has eroded American citizens' property rights.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Benavie, emeritus professor of economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, about the legacy of the War of Drugs.

Charlie Shelton-Ormond

Charlie Shelton-Ormond is a podcast producer for WUNC.

See stories by Charlie Shelton-Ormond

Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

See stories by Frank Stasio