Born in New York City, Ethan taught politics and public affairs at Princeton University (from 1987 to 1994) and founded and directed first The Lindesmith Center (1994-2000) and then the Drug Policy Alliance (2000-2017), the world’s leading drug policy reform organization. He also co-founded the Open Society Institute’s International Harm Reduction Development program. He has spoken publicly in over forty states and forty countries. His TED Talk on ending the drug war has over two million views. He has hosted the podcast, PSYCHOACTIVE. Ethan and his colleagues were at the forefront of dozens of successful campaigns to legalize marijuana, reduce the incarceration of drug law offenders, treat drug use and addiction as health, not criminal, issues, and otherwise promote alternatives to the war on drugs.