Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure
In a retrospective look at the war on drugs in the United States, journalist Dan Baum calls the nation's drug policy "as expensive, ineffective, delusional and destructive as government gets." He examines theNixonWhite House's effort to turn the drug war to political advantage and theCarterAdministration's brief flirtation with decriminalizing marijuana. He also details the cover-ups and blunders of some of the biggest drug busts in the country's history. Yet despite the policy's ineffectiveness, at least 85 percent of Americans oppose legalization. Baum sheds light on the reasons for this issue and calls for radical compromise.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.