Opening event
Loading the latest details…
The US has spent over $1 trillion on the drug war since 1971 — overdoses still hit 107,000 in 2023. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and saw deaths plummet. Does legalization fix it — or abandon the most vulnerable? Two debaters, opposing sides — you score who makes the stronger case.
Thursday, September 17, 2026 · 7:00 PM EDT
What's at stake
Legalization dismantles the most racially unequal enforcement system in US law. It also removes the last barrier between addiction and unrestricted commercial marketing.
The Matchup
Debater: To be announced
Debater: To be announced
Join the debate
Record a 60-second video on either side, or make it in writing. The strongest cases get featured before the live debate.
“Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001. Drug-related deaths and HIV infections plummeted while drug use did not rise. Over 20 years of data from a well-controlled natural experiment shows that prohibition is the primary driver of drug-related harm — not the drugs themselves. No country that has tried legalization or decriminalization has reversed course.”
“The illicit drug market, by definition, cannot be regulated for purity or potency. Legalization would eliminate the fentanyl contamination that is killing tens of thousands of Americans annually. Overdose deaths are overwhelmingly caused by unknown potency and contamination in an unregulated supply, not by the pharmacological properties of the drugs themselves.”
“The evidence from tobacco, alcohol, and legal cannabis all shows that commercial availability increases use, and that the commercial industry optimizes for maximizing addiction rather than minimizing harm. Increasing the availability and social normalization of harder drugs will increase addiction and its downstream harms: homelessness, family destruction, lost productivity, and healthcare costs.”
“Addiction is not a free choice for those in its grip. A government that legalizes heroin and methamphetamine without adequate treatment infrastructure abandons the most vulnerable to a commercially optimized path to dependency. The freedom to destroy oneself is not the liberty that liberal democracies were built to protect.”
The Format
Standard SuperDebate: two people, cross-examination, moderated from start to finish.
4 min · PRO · opening case
4 min · CON questions PRO
4 min · CON · opening case
4 min · PRO questions CON
3 min · PRO
3 min · CON
3 min · PRO · final case
3 min · CON · final case
— · You pick the winner
Don't miss it
The debate happens live with real-time audience voting. Get one email right before we go live, with the watch link.
Premieres
Thursday, September 17, 2026 · 7:00 PM EDT
Open debate runs on the people who show up. Tell us how you want to be part of it.
Structured debates on the ideas that matter most. You score who makes the stronger case.
Humanity uses 1.7 Earths yearly. Degrowth economists say rich nations must shrink; others say technology can decouple growth from harm. Can the planet survive endless growth — or is degrowth a recipe for poverty? Two debaters, opposing sides — you score who makes the stronger case.
Aging kills 100,000 people every day — more than cancer and war combined. Google's Calico has invested billions in life-extension research. Should we treat aging as a disease — or accept it as part of a meaningful life? Two debaters, opposing sides — you score who makes the stronger case.
South Korea's birth rate hit 0.72 in 2023 — a record low. Japan and Hungary pay tens of thousands per child; birthrates keep falling. Is population collapse a civilizational crisis — or a feature of modernity and freedom? Two debaters, opposing sides — you score who makes the stronger case.
Capitalism lifted a billion people from poverty between 1990 and 2015. The world's billionaires now hold more wealth than the bottom 60% of humanity. Has it outlived its usefulness — or is there no better alternative? Two debaters, opposing sides — you score who makes the stronger case.
