Presented by ProCon.org + Santa Monica Pier

PRO/CON is a non-partisan debate series designed to inform public discourse on ballot measures and current issues. ProCon.org supplies experts from both sides and a neutral moderator to facilitate discussion and reinvigorate the art of critical thinking.

Each debate is free and takes place at the west end of the Santa Monica Pier  from 6 - 7pm every Tuesday leading up to the Election Day.

More details about each debate can be found HERE.

OCt. 11 - GMOS: Should we care?

Moderator: Kamy Akhavan, President at ProCon.org

PRO: Dave Murphy, Founder and Director of Food Democracy Now

CON: Bob Goldberg, Professor of Molecular Cell & Developmental Biology at UCLA

OCT. 18 - Death Penalty: time to repeal?

Moderator: Senator Ben Allen, California State Senator

PRO: Gil Garcetti, Former LA County District Attorney & father of Mayor Eric Garcetti

CON: Michelle Hanisee, Current Deputy District Attorney for LA County

OCT. 25 - cost of education: is College Worth it?

Moderator: Maureen Langan, Former PBS and Bloomberg TV journalist, now host of a weekly radio show in San Francisco

PRO: Michelle Herczog, Immediate Past President of the National Council for the Social Studies

CON: Dale Stephens, Author of "Hacking Your Education" and Founder of uncollege.com

Nov. 1 - marijuana: to legalize or not

Moderator: Alan Thicke, 7-time Emmy winning actor, star of "Growing Pains", author of "How to Raise Kids Who Won't Hate You"

PRO: Karen O'Keefe, Director of State Policies for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)

CON: CALM (Californians Against Legalizing Marijuana) Committee dedicated to defeating any effort to legalize marijuana