War on Drugs
(see also Drug Trade & Abuse, Drug Policy Reform, Colombia: Drug Wars 1980-present, & Afghanistan)
Basics
On the Web: Articles
The Other War. Silja J.A. Talvi, Nation (12/24/02).
The Secret of World-Wide Drug Prohibition. Harry G. Levine, Independent Review 7,2 (fall 02).
Seeking Data on the Drug War's Child Casualties. George Sánchez, Mother Jones (7/24/02).
Heeding the Lessons of the War Against Drugs. Jim Oliphant, Legal Times (10/11/01). If we haven't won ten-year "war on drugs," how can we win against terrorism?
Bad Investment. Gary Johnson, Mother Jones (7/10/01). Republican governor of New Mexico lays out businessman's arguments against drug war.
Bush's
Faustian Deal with the Taliban. Robert Scheer, LA Times (5/22/01)
On $43m payment to Taliban regime for suppressing opium poppy cultivation.
On the Web: Specialized Sites
Common Sense for Drug Policy. See their NarcoTerrorism for worldwide news concerning "wars" on drugs & terrorism.
Drug Policy Alliance (formerly Lindesmith Center Drug Policy Foundation).
Drug War Facts. Seeks to correct misinformation about drugs & "drug war" in US.
In the Library: Articles
Anderson, Gary M. & Robert D. Tollison. "The war on drugs as antitrust regulation," Cato Journal 10,3 (win 91).
Bertram, Eva & Kenneth Sharpe. "War ends; drugs win," Nation (1/6/97):11-17.
De Kort, Marcel. "Drug policy: medical or crime control? Medicalization & criminalization of drug use, & shifting drug policies," in H. Binneveld & R. Dekker (eds.) Curing & Insuring, Essays on Illness in Past Times (Hilversum, 1993), pp. 203-18.
__________. "The development of drug trade & drug control in the Netherlands, an historical perspective," Crime, Law & Social Change 17,1 (1992):123-44.
Del Olmo, Rosa. "Aerogeology & the war on drugs: a transnational crime," Crime & Social Justice 30 (1987):28-44.
Dingelstad, David et al. "The social construction of drug debates," Social Science Medicine 43,12 (1996):1829-38.
Giordano, Al. "The war on drugs: who drafted the press?" Washington Journalism Review 12,1 (1-2/90).
Goldstein, Paul. "The drugs/violence nexus: a tripartite conceptual framework," Journal of Drug Issues 15 (1985).
Hersh, Seymour. "Overwhelming force," New Yorker (5/22/00):49-82. Story of last days of the Persian Gulf War, including profile of Gen. Barry McCaffrey, later Clinton's "drug czar".
Holland, Gina. "High court to consider US arrests overseas," San Jose Mercury (12/2/03).
Kawell, Jo Ann. "Coke &
the CIA: the real thing?" Nation (9/28/98).
Kornbluh, Peter. [article on the CIA & the cocaine trade], Columbia Journalism
Review (1-2/97).
Males, Mike & Faye Docuyanan. "The return of reefer madness," Progressive (5/96):26-29. Sharp critique of thinking behind war on drugs in Los Angeles.
Manderson, Desmond. "Metamorphosis: clashing symbols in the social construction of drugs," Journal of Drug Issues 23,4 (1995):799-816.
Nadelmann, Ethan. "Global prohibition regimes: the evolution of norms in international society," International Organization 44,4 (1990):479-526.
Quesada, James (with Philippe Bourgois & M. Lettiere). "Social misery & the sanctions of drug abuse," Social Problems 44,2 (1997):155-73.
Reinarman, Craig & C. Duskin. "Dominant ideology & drugs in the media," International Journal of Drug Policy 3 (1992).
Schultz, Carl B. "Statutory classification of cocaine as a narcotic: an illogical anachronism," American Journal of Law & Medicine 9,2 (1983):225-45.
Scott, Peter Dale. "The CIA, drugs, the ghetto—and media whitewash," Tikkun 12,4 (7-8/97):27-33.
Schrag, Peter. "Hooked on narcomyths
[rev. essay on MacCoun & Reuter, Drug War Heresies," Nation
(11/26/01):44-50.
Solomon, Norman. "Crack
reporters: how top papers covered up the Contra-cocaine connection," Extra!
(? 1997)
Spillane, Joseph F. "Did drug prohibition work? Reflections on the end of the first cocaine experience in the US, 1910-1945," Journal of Drug Issues 28 (1998):517-38.
Toobin, Jeffrey. "High tea," New Yorker (12/20/04):48. DEA goes after ayahuasca-drinking members of US branch of Brazilian-based Centro Espirita Beneficente União do Vegetal (UDV).
Winters, Ben. "Chill factor. Dubious lawsuit forces Narco News to shut down," In These Times (8/01):5.
Zinberg, Norman E. "GIs & OJs in Vietnam," NY Times Mag (12/5/71). On Army's effort to suppress marijuana use among troops in Vietnam.
In the Library: Non-Fiction Books
Andreas, Peter. Border Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide (Ithaca NY: Cornell, 2001). How US imports drugs & undocumented workers consumers & employers demand, while government gets credit for energetic campaigns to exclude them.
Benson, Robert; Martha Honey & Sanho Tree. The War on Drugs: Addicted to Failure. Recommendations of the Citizens' Commission on US Drug Policy (Washington: Institute for Policy Studies, 2000).
Beresford, John (ed.) The Tallahassee
Project (San Francisco: Last Gasp, 2001). 100 nonviolent women prisoners of drug war
talk about consequences of long jail sentences for their families.
Bertram, Eva; Morris Blachman, Kenneth Sharpe & Peter Andreas. Drug War
Politics: The Price of Denial (Berkeley: U. of California, 1996).
Carpenter, Ted Galen. Bad Neighbor Policy: Washington's Futile War on Drugs in Latin America (NY: Palgrave, 2002).
Chepesiuk, Ronald. The War on Drugs: An International Encyclopedia (Santa Barbara CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999).
Cockburn, Alexander & Jeffrey St. Clair. Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs, & the Press (London, 1998).
De Greiff, Pablo (ed.) Drugs & the Limits of Liberalism: Moral & Legal Issues (Ithaca NY: Cornell, 1999).
Epstein, Edward Jay. Agency of Fear: Opiates & Political Power in America [1977] (2nd ed.; NY: Verso, 1977)
Friman, H. Richard. NarcoDiplomacy: Exporting the U.S. War on Drugs (Ithaca NY: Cornell, 1996).
Gagliano, Joseph. Coca Prohibition in Peru: The Historical Debates (Tucson: U. of Arizona, 1994).
Gerber, Jung & Eric L. Jensen (eds.) Drug War American Style. The Internationalization of Failed Policy & Its Alternatives (NY, 2000).
Gootenberg, Paul (ed.) Cocaine Histories: Constructing a Global Drug Menace, 1880-1980 (NY, 2000).
Gray, Mike. Drug Crazy: How We Got Into this Mess & How We Can Get Out (NY: Random House, 1998).
__________. Busted: Stone Cowboys, Narco-Lords & Washington's War on Drugs (NY: Nation Books, 2002).
Inciardi, James A. The War on Drugs: Heroin, Cocaine, Crime, & Public Policy (Palo Alto CA: Mayfield, 1986).
__________. The War on Drugs II: The Continuing Epic of Heroin, Cocaine, Crack, Crime, AIDS & Public Policy (Mountain View CA: Mayfield, 1992).
Levine, Michael with Laura Kavanau-Levine.
The Big White Lie: The CIA and the Cocaine/Crack Epidemic: An Undercover
Odyssey (NY: Thunder's Mouth, 1993).
MacCoun, Robert J. & Peter Reuter. Drug War Heresies: Learning from Other
Vices, Times & Places (NY: Cambridge, 2001).
Manderson, Desmond. From Mr. Sin to Mr. Big: A History of Australian Drug Laws (NY: Oxford, 1993).
Marez, Curtis. Drug Wars: The Political Economy of Narcotics (Minneapolis: U. of Minnesota, 2004).
Massing, Michael. The Fix (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1998). Blistering critique of U.S.
anti-drug policy.
McCoy, Alfred W., with Colleen B. Read & Leonard P. Adams II. The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia (NY: Harper & Row, 1972); & completely rev. & updated version The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade (NY: Lawrence Hill, 1991).
__________ & Alan A. Block (eds.) War on Drugs: Studies in the Failure of US Narcotics Policy (Boulder: Westview, 1992).
Miron, Jeffrey A. Drug War Crimes: The Consequences of Prohibition (Oakland: Independent Institute, 2004).
Morgan, John & Lynn Zimmer. Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts (NY: Lindesmith Center, 1997).
Morone, James. Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History (New Haven: Yale, 2003). Engaging & informative though surprisingly ahistorical & secularist exploration of moral tradition in radicalism left & right.
Musto, David F. The American Disease: The Origins of Narcotics Control [1973] (NY: Oxford, 1999).
Pacini, Deborah & Christine Franquemont (eds.) Coca & Cocaine: Effects on People & Policy in Latin America (Ithaca NY: Cornell, 1986).
Reeves, Jimmie & R. Campbell. Cracked Coverage: Television News, the Anti-Cocaine Crusade, & the Reagan Legacy (Durham NC: Duke, 1994).
Reinarman, Craig & Harry G. Levine. Crack in America: Demon Drugs & Social Justice (Berkeley: U. of California, 1997).
Scott, Peter Dale & Jonathan
Marshall. Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, & the CIA in Central America
(rev. ed.; Berkeley: U. California, 1998).
Stares, Paul B. Global Habit:
The Drug Problem in a Borderless World (Washington: Brookings Institution, 1996).
Poppa, Terrence E. Drug Lord: The Life & Death of a Mexican Kingpin: A True Story (NY: Pharos, 1990).
Taylor, Arnold H. American Diplomacy & the Narcotics Trade, 1900-1939: A Study in International Humanitarian Reform (Durham NC: Duke, 1969).
Thompson, Stephen P. (ed.) The War on Drugs: Opposing Viewpoints (San Diego CA: Greenhaven, 1998).
Tonry, Michael & James Q. Wilson (eds.) Drugs & Crime (Chicago: U. Chicago, 1990).
Trebach, Arthur & Kevin Zeese (eds.) Drug Prohibition & the Conscience of Nations (Washington: Drug Policy Foundation, 1990).
Wagner, David. The New Temperance: The American Obsession with Sin & Vice (Boulder: Westview, 1997).
Waldorf, Dan: C. Reinarman & S. Murphy. Cocaine Changes: The Experience of Using & Quitting (Philadelphia: Temple U., 1991).
Walker, William III. Drug Control in the Americas (Albuquerque: U. of New Mexico, 1981).
__________. Drug Control Policy:
Essays in Historical & Comparative Perspective (University Park: Pennsylvania State U.,
1992).
__________ (comp.) Drugs in the Western Hemisphere: An Odyssey of Cultures
in Conflict (Wilmington DE: Scholarly Resources, 1996).
Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion (NY: Seven Stories, 1998).
In the Library: Fiction
Winslow, Don. The Power of the Dog (NY: Knopf, 2005).
In the Library: For Young Readers
In the Library: Poetry
In the Library: Drama
In the Library: Photography
CD & Audio
Film & Video
"Air America" [1990], dir. Roger Spottiswoode, 112m. In video stores. Comedy about drug trade in CIA airlift operation out of Laos during Vietnam War.
"Traffic" [1999], dir. Steven Soderbergh, 147m. In video stores. Four intertwined stores on operations of drug trade & drug war in US, & on the US-Mexican border.
"Traffik" [1989], dir. Alistair Reid, 315m in six episodes. In video stores. Much superior to the US remake (above), explores heroin trade between Pakistan & Europe in serious & revealing way.
"The 25th Hour" [2002], dir. Spike Lee, 135m. In video stores. Reflections & actions of young drug dealer out on town in post-9/11 Manhattan, the night before beginning a 7-year prison term. Critique of draconian Rockefeller drug laws, now greatly revised in late 2004.
"The War Against the War on Drugs" [2000], dir. Jerry Thompson. 45 min. From Films for the Humanities & Sciences.