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Drug Crazy: How We Got into This Mess and How We Can Get Out
Drug Crazy is a scathing indictment of America's decades-long "war on drugs," an expensive & hypocritical folly which has essentially benefited only two classes of people: professional anti-drug advocates & drug lords. Did you know that a presidential commission determined that marijuana is neither an addicitve substance nor a "stepping stone" to harder drugs only to have President Nixon shelve the embarrassing final report & continue the government's policy of inflated drug addiction statistics? Did you know that several medical experts agree that cold turkey methods of withdrawal are essentially ineffective & recommend simply prescribing drugs to addicts & that communities in which this has been done report lower crime rates & reduced unemployment among addicts as a result? Whether he's writing about the American government's strong-arm tactics toward critics of its drug policy or the reduction of countries like Colombia & Mexico to anarchic killing zones by powerful cartels, Mike Gray's analysis has an immediacy & clarity worth noting. The passage of medical marijuana bills in California & Arizona (where it passed by a nearly 2-to-1 majority) indicates that people are getting fed up with the government's Prohibition-style tactics toward drugs. Drug Crazy just might speed that process along.
268 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1998
6 people are currently reading
547 people want to read
About the author
Mike Gray
5 books1 followerHarold Michael "Mike" Gray (October 26, 1935 – April 30, 2013)[1] was an American writer, screenwriter, cinematographer, film producer and director.
Gray's books include:
The Warning (1982), about the accident at Three Mile Island
Drug Crazy: How we got into this mess and how we can get out (1998)
Angle of Attack (1992), a biography of Harrison Storms which also details America's race to the moon
The Death Game: The luck of the draw (2003)
Busted (2004), a book about the USA's drug war
- Wikipedia
Gray's books include:
The Warning (1982), about the accident at Three Mile Island
Drug Crazy: How we got into this mess and how we can get out (1998)
Angle of Attack (1992), a biography of Harrison Storms which also details America's race to the moon
The Death Game: The luck of the draw (2003)
Busted (2004), a book about the USA's drug war
- Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 30, 2008
Please read this book if you believe drugs should be illegal! It will change your mind.
In short, Gray argues that the impetus behind this nation's prohibition on drugs wasn't science, wasn't facts, wasn't common sense - it was racism, fear mongering, bullying, and lies. That was news to me. He also makes an argument that, for me, is glaringly obvious - that the drug war is a complete waste; that drugs should have never been made illegal in the first place; that most of the problems we associate with drugs are due to the prohibition on drugs - not the drugs or the drug dealers or the drug cartels, and that drugs should be legalized and prescribed by medical doctors, just like all the other drugs we take. Doing so would save billions of dollars annually on law enforcement and incarceration, while putting the problem of addiction squarely on the shoulders of the experts - the medical community.
In the early 20th century, when drug (and alcohol) abuse was perfectly legal (and declining) there began to be a push to ban drugs like heroin and cocaine. Government officials made up statistics (and possibly still do) to 'prove' whatever was expedient: if they needed to be reelected, drug abuse had declined X% - if they needed more taxpayer dollars, drug abuse had increased by XYZ thousand people.
Legalization, above all, will significantly reduce theft and violent crime. Why? Because there's a premium on the value of black market drugs by virtue of the risk incurred by producers, smugglers, and dealers of the drugs. They would be much more affordable to the user (and far less profitable for the dealers) if they were legal. If drugs were cheap, addicts wouldn't have to steal things to afford their habit. If drugs were cheap, the profit motive of hustling drugs on the street would disappear, and there would be more of an incentive for kids to stay in school and obtain legitimate employment.
Legalization would also benefit those who are already addicted. Gray cites examples that demonstrate that patients who can rely on a weekly supply of, say heroin, from a pharmacist will find it far easier to settle into a normal, healthy routine than those who have to fend for themselves on the streets, never knowing when their supply will be cut short. They are more likely to quit on their own, less likely to be homeless, and far less likely to commit crimes.
Remember - drug addicts WILL get their drugs, one way or another. They can get a safe and reliable supply through their pharmacist, or they can get a potentially unsafe and unreliable supply from a gangster on the street.
Legalization wouldn't send "the wrong message" to the public any more than we're sending the wrong message by allowing people to buy cigarettes, alcohol, or fast food - everyone knows these things are bad, but we still allow them because this is a free country. Since when is it the government's role to set the moral tone of our country anyway? That role belongs to family, faith, and community.
After decriminalization, drugs, like tobacco and alcohol, will be allowed, but will also be taxed and regulated. Drug violence, like alcohol violence (remember Prohibition?), will be a thing of the past. Driving while high would be a crime similar in scale to DUI.
I'm personally opposed to all drugs - including alcohol and tobacco - but it is utter foolishness to suppose that criminalization is an effective way to handle drug abuse, especially when we have the failure of Prohibition in hindsight. Criminalization is far worse than doing nothing at all.
If you still believe our current Drug War policy is on the right track, please read up on this issue - read this book, and whatever others you can find that treat this subject. Check out www.leap.org and www.drugtruth.net to get the perspective of the brave law enforcement officers and legislators who've come out in favor of legalization. These people are not 'potheads' any more than I am - they simply want to quit destroying lives, wasting money, and eroding confidence in law enforcement.
Thanks for reading my long review :)
In short, Gray argues that the impetus behind this nation's prohibition on drugs wasn't science, wasn't facts, wasn't common sense - it was racism, fear mongering, bullying, and lies. That was news to me. He also makes an argument that, for me, is glaringly obvious - that the drug war is a complete waste; that drugs should have never been made illegal in the first place; that most of the problems we associate with drugs are due to the prohibition on drugs - not the drugs or the drug dealers or the drug cartels, and that drugs should be legalized and prescribed by medical doctors, just like all the other drugs we take. Doing so would save billions of dollars annually on law enforcement and incarceration, while putting the problem of addiction squarely on the shoulders of the experts - the medical community.
In the early 20th century, when drug (and alcohol) abuse was perfectly legal (and declining) there began to be a push to ban drugs like heroin and cocaine. Government officials made up statistics (and possibly still do) to 'prove' whatever was expedient: if they needed to be reelected, drug abuse had declined X% - if they needed more taxpayer dollars, drug abuse had increased by XYZ thousand people.
Legalization, above all, will significantly reduce theft and violent crime. Why? Because there's a premium on the value of black market drugs by virtue of the risk incurred by producers, smugglers, and dealers of the drugs. They would be much more affordable to the user (and far less profitable for the dealers) if they were legal. If drugs were cheap, addicts wouldn't have to steal things to afford their habit. If drugs were cheap, the profit motive of hustling drugs on the street would disappear, and there would be more of an incentive for kids to stay in school and obtain legitimate employment.
Legalization would also benefit those who are already addicted. Gray cites examples that demonstrate that patients who can rely on a weekly supply of, say heroin, from a pharmacist will find it far easier to settle into a normal, healthy routine than those who have to fend for themselves on the streets, never knowing when their supply will be cut short. They are more likely to quit on their own, less likely to be homeless, and far less likely to commit crimes.
Remember - drug addicts WILL get their drugs, one way or another. They can get a safe and reliable supply through their pharmacist, or they can get a potentially unsafe and unreliable supply from a gangster on the street.
Legalization wouldn't send "the wrong message" to the public any more than we're sending the wrong message by allowing people to buy cigarettes, alcohol, or fast food - everyone knows these things are bad, but we still allow them because this is a free country. Since when is it the government's role to set the moral tone of our country anyway? That role belongs to family, faith, and community.
After decriminalization, drugs, like tobacco and alcohol, will be allowed, but will also be taxed and regulated. Drug violence, like alcohol violence (remember Prohibition?), will be a thing of the past. Driving while high would be a crime similar in scale to DUI.
I'm personally opposed to all drugs - including alcohol and tobacco - but it is utter foolishness to suppose that criminalization is an effective way to handle drug abuse, especially when we have the failure of Prohibition in hindsight. Criminalization is far worse than doing nothing at all.
If you still believe our current Drug War policy is on the right track, please read up on this issue - read this book, and whatever others you can find that treat this subject. Check out www.leap.org and www.drugtruth.net to get the perspective of the brave law enforcement officers and legislators who've come out in favor of legalization. These people are not 'potheads' any more than I am - they simply want to quit destroying lives, wasting money, and eroding confidence in law enforcement.
Thanks for reading my long review :)
July 20, 2015
Best book on drug war.
April 22, 2008
This is a pretty entertaining book about the history of our drug war and prohibition. Although I knew most of the things in it already, the author wrote about it in an engaging way and I learned a lot of new stuff anyway. The way the author ties these times to the era of alcohol prohibition is especially enlightening, as well as the explanations of how smarter countries have dealt with the situation. The author also explains how the drug war now reaches into a huge amount of lives, both as a basis for degrading human rights and as a race war, and corrupts almost everything it touches. There's some great stuff in here that I wish were common knowledge--of course if it were, drugs would already be decriminalized and we'd have way safer streets & neighborhoods.
I would say it's a pretty good introduction for everyone who has not yet learned about the horrors of America's "war on drugs."
I would say it's a pretty good introduction for everyone who has not yet learned about the horrors of America's "war on drugs."
April 17, 2014
This book was pretty good. Good facts and figures about the drug war, although the style it was written in wasn't always compelling. There are other books that do a better job of keeping the reader engaged.
I do recommend this to anyone willing to read about the subject, though. It wasn't too difficult to read, seemed to be pretty well footnoted, and for the most part kept its tone pretty professional, although some snark did sneak in (in well justified places however).
Good overall book, nothing too impressive, but nothing terrible either.
I do recommend this to anyone willing to read about the subject, though. It wasn't too difficult to read, seemed to be pretty well footnoted, and for the most part kept its tone pretty professional, although some snark did sneak in (in well justified places however).
Good overall book, nothing too impressive, but nothing terrible either.
February 7, 2018
Well written and it definitely highlights the problems with the 'war on drugs'. It is amazing how much of the current US drug policy appears to be derived from made-up numbers and political expediency. However, I am not sure if the author is balanced in their view of the medical establishment. The book lauds doctors who have been involved in harm reduction (appropriately), but never once mentions doctors feeding habits (particularly in regards to celebrities). Thus, the proposed solution (i.e., how we can get out) promised by the title was not developed well enough.
May 26, 2012
Despite reading a 1998 edition, I consider it a good book. It helped me get the picture of when and how DRUGS became a "problem" for US. I think the analogy the author makes with the history of alcohol Prohibition, helps understand how the "drug problem" is growing and why. I definitely believe that Mr Gray's theory makes sense. More than 20 years later, I think this book would only need a chapter with the latest facts to complete the story of a problem that stll has not been solved.
March 12, 2013
I learned so much about the creation of drug policy in the United States and it terrified me. Discussed several other countries approach to addiction management. In my opinion we could take some cues from the Dutch and the British. Really informative and engaging text.
June 2, 2011
Fantastic...really thought-provoking.
May 21, 2020
Our government is corrupt and has been for years. we need to let drug addicts have their fix.
August 1, 2019
An excellent voice in the wilderness
This is an anti-"war on drugs" book—for another see Dirk Chase Eldredge's Ending the War on Drugs: A Solution for America (1998)—and a good one emphasizing both the current stupidity and past stupidities. The author makes the point that the use of addictive drugs is not as bad as middle America would like to believe. Gray points to studies showing that people addicted to heroin (for example) can hold down jobs and be "productive" citizens at a maintenance level, a truth that the "drug war industry" wants to keep hidden. However, junkies can't be productive when they have to hustle and commit crimes to support their habit. Hence the so-called war on drugs that artificially keeps the price of street drugs high and works to keep users unproductive (not to mention criminal).
Gray also makes the familiar point that this is the sort of thing that some humans will always do. Just as a certain percentage of the population will always be unemployed, a certain percentage will turn to drug addiction. So it’s Prohibition all over again.
Less familiar however is the idea that street drugs and street drug users supply our society with a target for hate now that the "evil empire" of communism has largely expired. Ordinary people can sit around and get morally worked up about the evil of drugs the way they once got worked up about the "red menace." We might be in for a perpetually divided society. If we didn't have the druggies, whom would we hate?
More ominous for the present society though is the possibility that the war on drugs, by supporting the price of street drugs the way tobacco farmers would like us to support the price of tobacco, has increased drug use by making it into a hugely profitable business. Since we are a capitalist society that celebrates financial success above all else, it is not surprising that the illegal drug business is seen as glamorous by a significant percentage of our young people.
Even scarier is the very sad truth that "the war" continues to be "waged" as a means to support the huge criminal justice bureaucracy that it created!
With this last point in mind, Gray's way out of the mess through the decriminalization of street drugs isn't likely to happen any time soon.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
This is an anti-"war on drugs" book—for another see Dirk Chase Eldredge's Ending the War on Drugs: A Solution for America (1998)—and a good one emphasizing both the current stupidity and past stupidities. The author makes the point that the use of addictive drugs is not as bad as middle America would like to believe. Gray points to studies showing that people addicted to heroin (for example) can hold down jobs and be "productive" citizens at a maintenance level, a truth that the "drug war industry" wants to keep hidden. However, junkies can't be productive when they have to hustle and commit crimes to support their habit. Hence the so-called war on drugs that artificially keeps the price of street drugs high and works to keep users unproductive (not to mention criminal).
Gray also makes the familiar point that this is the sort of thing that some humans will always do. Just as a certain percentage of the population will always be unemployed, a certain percentage will turn to drug addiction. So it’s Prohibition all over again.
Less familiar however is the idea that street drugs and street drug users supply our society with a target for hate now that the "evil empire" of communism has largely expired. Ordinary people can sit around and get morally worked up about the evil of drugs the way they once got worked up about the "red menace." We might be in for a perpetually divided society. If we didn't have the druggies, whom would we hate?
More ominous for the present society though is the possibility that the war on drugs, by supporting the price of street drugs the way tobacco farmers would like us to support the price of tobacco, has increased drug use by making it into a hugely profitable business. Since we are a capitalist society that celebrates financial success above all else, it is not surprising that the illegal drug business is seen as glamorous by a significant percentage of our young people.
Even scarier is the very sad truth that "the war" continues to be "waged" as a means to support the huge criminal justice bureaucracy that it created!
With this last point in mind, Gray's way out of the mess through the decriminalization of street drugs isn't likely to happen any time soon.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
December 26, 2021
An interesting history of drugs. The war on drugs hasn't changed much even though this was written in 2000.
April 7, 2013
Interesting book, material a little dated since it came out in 1998, but easy to understand for an avid fan of The Wire, as the author talks about the ports and the buy bust mentality of law enforcement. (And there was an experiement to push all drug use to one particular area, you don't say? Probably where David Simon got the idea.) The author had a very measured solution in mind for curbing America's out of control drug problem. I expected that by the end of the book he would be calling for complete legalization, instead it's more like harm reduction. Sounds good to me, our current system is all about harm magnification. Really, should a segement of society routinely have to give up their civil rights so that we can have a few more ounces of heroin off the streets. Most horrifying aspect was probably the fortfeiture system, an astounding number of people had their property taken and then WERE NEVER CHARGED WITH A CRIME. This shouldn't happen in America.
April 23, 2016
One might expect that a book written almost twenty years ago on the drug war would be relatively out-of-date today. The fact that it isn't is yet another data point in defense of the claims of the book. Despite the massive amounts of money and political capital spent on the drug war, things don't change. "Drug Crazy" is not an argument that drugs are not as bad for you as you think, but rather that, at this point in the war on drugs, the cure is worse than the disease. Though the book is merely adequately, rather than eloquently, written, and you sometimes get the feeling that the author is doing a great amount of summarizing of complicated histories, the author's argument is compelling. The reader may or may not ultimately be convinced, but this book at least starts the discussion, which is something that, even today, is difficult to do.
January 21, 2016
Excellent historical review of the public perceptions and governmental interventions in the drug problem. Gives a rundown of how the drug wars have played out on our streets and those of other countries. Very readable, in an appalling way. Clearly exdplains how everything the government has done to fight the war on drugs has benefited dealers, drug producers and gangsters and actively damaged treatment and prevention efforts. Explains why other countries have better success in preventing and treating addictions.
January 28, 2016
Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess & How We Can Get Out by Mike Gray (Random House 1998) (363.45). Here is an interesting recounting of the history of America's drug laws along with the personalities and policies that have led to our current state of laws and law enforcement. From Harry Anslinger through Prohibition and on into the Reagan and Bush administrations, the players and their errors are all here. The answer to our current dilemma: look to Amsterdam! My rating: 7/10, finished 1/28/16.
July 8, 2009
A compelling recounting of America's second prohibition, the futile "war on drugs" that has cost some much wealth and so many lives. Mike Gray shows how we can and should take another path, emphasizing education and regulation. We have recently put a free online copy up (with the author's permission) www.libertary.com/books/drug-crazy It has a new introduction and a new short film about medical marijuana.
Read
August 8, 2011Absolutely fascinating account of the history behind America's prohibitionist drug laws. This information in this book is very well researched and presented. It doesn't come across as too prescriptive, though makes it painstakingly clear that almost all our current policies were enacted either in the absence of data or in direct opposition to it. Also, and perhaps most importantly, it clearly lays out the systemic racial injustice that is the result of current policies.
November 18, 2008
It provided interesting perspective on the drug war and its roots. How choices in the past have lead to serious problems now. It also provided some insight into how to get out of the mess. The book was written with a 90s perspective, which is interesting, as the war on drugs has sort of fallen behind the war on terror now.
September 23, 2012
Wow! This book is a must read. There is so much valuable information in here, it is a bit overwhelming, but you will be astounded by this text. It is pretty amazing to see all of the different views of different people who fought against or with the Drug war. I had never heard of the term "drug war" before until I read this book, and I am shocked that was the case.
November 5, 2014
Prescient 2000 novel with some very deep bits on the legislative history of drug laws, which as I'm sure most literate folks acknowledge, were not so much based on empirical data as much as they were based on whatever the opposite of empiric data is.
February 4, 2015
Might write a review later. Hard to review because it's definitely outdated but that's not the author's fault and despite that there is a ton of interesting insights concerning the origins of our drug laws.
Want to read
January 12, 2009just picked this up off my mom's shelf...something I wouldn't normally read, so I'm giving it a chance!
December 15, 2008
This book is awesome, If you can, give it a try.
November 3, 2009
Sure makes you think about thinks.
March 21, 2013
interesting perspective and a solution for the drug war that is currently gripping out country
May 17, 2013
The dirty truth behind why the American government keeps certain drugs illegal and others legal.
December 24, 2014
Had to read for World History class
November 7, 2015
This book is important! Please read!
June 24, 2008
I kind of stopped reading it in the middle. Just couldn't get into it.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews