Jacob Sullum is a senior editor of Reason, a monthly libertarian magazine, and a syndicated newspaper columnist.

Sullum has also written for National Review, Cigar Aficionado, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and many other publications.

Sullum writes about a wide range of issues, including drug policy, gun control, censorship, privacy, education, and religious freedom.

Sullum's first book, For Your Own Good: The Anti-Smoking Crusade and the Tyranny of Public Health was Amazon.com's #1 public policy bestseller in 1998. It was widely praised by reviewers, who called it "compelling" (The Wall Street Journal), "meticulously logical" (The New York Times), and a "cogent and thorough...must-read" (The Washington Post).

His second book is "Saying Yes," a challenge to conventional wisdom about Drug War issues, and it has received wide praise.

Sullum, a fellow of the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, has been a featured speaker at the International Conference on Drug Policy Reform and the Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy. In 1988 he won the Keystone Press Award for investigative reporting, and in 1991 he received First Prize in the Felix Morley Memorial Journalism Competition. In 1998 his article on pain treatment for Reason was a National Magazine Award finalist in the Public Interest category.

Sullum first joined Reason in 1989 as an assistant editor, later serving as associate editor and managing editor. He has also worked as the articles editor of National Review and as a newspaper reporter for the News and Courier/Evening Post in Charleston, South Carolina, and The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Sullum is a graduate of Cornell University, where he majored in economics and psychology. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and daughter.

Quotable

"The hate crime bill also runs afoul of the First Amendment by punishing people for their beliefs. In determining whether a particular crime was motivated by bigotry, it is relevant to know not only what the perpetrator may have said during the attack but what he said to friends and acquaintances on other occasions, which organizations he belongs to, which books he reads, and what signs, symbols, and bumper stickers he displays...

"I don't know about you, but a country where legislators try to forcibly extirpate ideas they do not like is not my vision of America."

-- "Hate Haters," June 28, 2000 column

Books & Tapes

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