Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at
Reason and a nationally syndicated columnist. He is an award-winning journalist who has covered drug policy, public health, gun control, civil liberties, and criminal justice for more than three decades.
Sullum is the author of two critically acclaimed books:
Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use (Tarcher/Penguin, 2004) and
For Your Own Good: The Anti-Smoking Crusade and the Tyranny of Public Health (Free Press, 1998).
Sullum's weekly column, distributed by
Creators Syndicate since 1997, is carried by newspapers across the United States, including the
New York Post, the
Chicago Sun-Times, and the
Los Angeles Daily News. His work also has appeared in
The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today,
The New York Times, the
Los Angeles Times,
Cigar Aficionado,
National Review, and many other publications.
Saying Yes has been praised by both sides of the political spectrum.
National Review called it "a highly effective debunking," and
Mother Jones described it as "a healthy dose of sober talk in a debate dominated by yelping dopes."
For Your Own Good also 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).
Sullum is a frequent guest on TV and radio networks, including
Fox News Channel,
CNN, and
NPR. A fellow of the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, he has given talks on drug policy at
South by Southwest,
IdeaCity, and the International Conference on Drug Policy Reform. He has debated drug policy on
The Charlie Rose Show, on
The O'Reilly Factor, on
The Glenn Beck Show, at the
Soho Forum, and in the pages of the
Los Angeles Times. He and David Keating, president of the Center for Competitive Politics, were pitted against former Federal Election Commission Chairman Trevor Potter and Roosevelt Institute senior fellow Jonathan Soros in an
Intelligence Squared debate on campaign finance regulation.
In 1988 Sullum 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
Reason cover story about pain treatment, "
No Relief in Sight," was a
National Magazine Award finalist in the Public Interest category. In 2004 he received the
Thomas S. Szasz Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Cause of Civil Liberties, and in 2005 he received the
Drug Policy Alliance's Edward M. Brecher Award for Achievement in the Field of Journalism. His 2007
Reason essay "
Thank Deng Xiaoping for Little Girls" won first place for commentary or feature in the
Southern California Journalism Awards. His 2018 cover story "
America's War on Pain Pills Is Killing Addicts and Leaving Patients in Agony" won first place for investigative reporting in the same competition.
Sullum first joined
Reason in 1989 as an assistant editor, later serving as associate editor and managing editor. He also has worked as the articles editor of
National Review and as a 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 Dallas with his wife and three daughters.