| Details | | Publication Date: | 1998-07-01 | | Editor: | Jefferson M. Fish | | Edition Description: | Illustrated |
| Size | | Length: | 675 pages | | Height: | 9.8 in | | Width: | 6.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.8 in | | Weight: | 39.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
It is no wonder that the war on drugs is being lost: the warriors' arrows are all pointed in the wrong directions. The blackmarket-driven effects of prohibition, which include crime and its spiraling scourges as well as death and disease, are overall counterproductive. Ironically, the severe penalties intended to halt serious abuse intimidate the occasional user but not the real target, whose desperate search for consolation in drugs is more result than cause of the misery of marginalization. The rationale for reform, most commonly rooted in a cost/benefit comparison (public harm versus public health) or in the libertarian argument, comprises the first part of this persuasive plea for a paradigm shift and paves the way for the second, on approaches to legalizing drugs. To examine the problem and propose solutions, Jefferson Fish has marshaled contributions from some two dozen creative thinkers representing the disciplines of anthropology, economics, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, and sociology. No one disputes the power of illegal drugs to ravage lives and communities, to shake our collective sense of control and self-respect. Dr. Fish's monumental enterprise merits wide and considered attention because redefining the challenge -- the adversary, the weapons, the goal -- promises to engage us in a worthy battle that we perhaps can win.
| See an error? Submit a change request |
All rights reserved.
