In contrast with the scholarly tone of Web of Smoke, Mike Gray's Drug Crazy is an angry book. Gray detects a decades-long pattern of officials manipulating statistics and the public's fears in order to mobilize billions of dollars in a futile effort to halt the drug trade. From the streets of Chicago to the jungles of Peru, Gray vividly describes the front lines of the drug war. His description of Cook County's night drug court, more of a grim production line than a court of law, is particularly disturbing. A policeman can decide whether to prosecute or not.
Absolute power is inevitably subject to political pressure and favoritism.
The white kid in the Mercedes gets a pass and the black kid in the car behind him gets five years without parole. Everything from crack cocaine to Dilaudid is just a phone call away and chances are they'll deliver. Now they can get anything they want from the neighbor's kid. At the least, these two books provide persuasive evidence that the war on drugs has never worked well and that new approaches must be tried. Dan Southerland, vice president and executive editor of Radio Free Asia, reported on the drug trade from Asia as a foreign correspondent.