Mark Kleiman

Born in Phoenix to a Jewish family, Kleiman grew up in Baltimore and attended the Baltimore public schools. He was a graduate of Haverford College and received a master's degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1977 and a Ph.D. in public policy, also from Harvard, in 1985.

Kleiman served for 18 years as a professor of public policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. He was also a visiting professor at Harvard Law School and the University of Virginia Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy (2012), and the first Thomas C. Schelling Visiting Professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy (2006-2007).

Kleiman was an emeritus professor at UCLA, a professor of public policy at New York University, and an adjunct scholar at the Center for American Progress. He was also a member of the Committee on Law and Justice of the United States National Research Council and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis.

In 1989, Kleiman wrote Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control, in which he attacked the conventional reasoning of national drug enforcement and the logic behind interpretations of the economics of drug markets. The book included a critique of the "Just Say No" rhetoric of the Reagan and Bush administrations, and suggested an alternative policy of "grudging toleration" of drug use.

In 1993, Kleiman wrote Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results, where, he argued that drug enforcement agencies should view arrest and incarceration of offenders as a loss not a win. He maintained that by concentrating resources on ensuring certain arrest for the worst offenders rather than a small risk of arrest for all, agencies could create environments with less drug abuse, less incarceration, and safer streets.

In 2010, Kleiman wrote When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment.

In 2011, Kleiman co-wrote Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken. That year, Kleiman also co-edited Encyclopedia of Drug Policy with James Hawdon.

Kleiman's book Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know co-written with Jonathan Caulkins, Angela Hawken, and Beau Kilmer, was published in 2012. The book is written in question-and-answer format, covering over 100 questions relating to marijuana.

Kleiman and his firm, Botec Analysis, were selected to advise Washington state in its regulation of legalized recreational marijuana in 2013.[4] In a Huffington Post interview, Kleiman said he was concerned that the National Cannabis Industry Association would favor profits over public health. He also said that it could become a predatory body like the lobbying arms of the tobacco and alcohol industries. Kleiman said: "The fact that the National Cannabis Industry Association has hired itself a K Street suit [lobbyist] is not a good sign."[5]

Kleiman was the organizer of a group blog, The Reality-Based Community. His writing also appeared on CNN, The American Prospect, Foreign Affairs, and Washington Monthly.

During an interview with PBS Frontline Kleiman famously claimed that "D.A.R.E. is a wonderful tool for police-community relations, particularly, in poor neighborhoods."

Kleiman was a legislative aide to Congressman Les Aspin (1974-1975) and a special assistant to Polaroid CEO Edwin Land (1975-1976). From 1977 to 1979, he was deputy director for management and director of program analysis for the Office of Management and Budget of the city of Boston. From 1979 to 1983, Kleiman worked for the Office of Policy and Management Analysis in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and in 1982-1983 he was its director and a member of the National Organized Crime Planning Council.

Kleiman died July 21, 2019, of complications from a kidney transplant.[1]

• Drug policy discussion with PBS Frontline
• The Reality-Based Community - Kleiman's blog