While there have always been norms and customs around the use of drugs, explicit public policies--regulations, taxes, and prohibitions--designed to control drug abuse are a more recent phenomenon. Those policies sometimes have terrible side-effects: most prominently the development of criminal enterprises dealing in forbidden (or untaxed) drugs and the use of the profits of drug-dealing to finance insurgency and terrorism. Neither a drug-free world nor a world of free drugs seems to be on offer, leaving citizens and officials to face the age-old problem: What are we going to do about drugs?In Drugs and Drug Policy, three noted authorities survey the subject with exceptional clarity, in this addition to the acclaimed series, What Everyone Needs to Know. They begin by, defining "drugs," examining how they work in the brain, discussing the nature of addiction, and exploring the damage they do to users. The book moves on to policy, answering questions about legalization, the role of criminal prohibitions, and the relative legal tolerance for alcohol and tobacco. The authors then dissect the illicit trade, from street dealers to the flow of money to the effect of catching kingpins, and show the precise nature of the relationship between drugs and crime. They examine treatment, both its effectiveness and the role of public policy, and discuss the beneficial effects of some abusable substances. Finally they move outward to look at the role of drugs in our foreign policy, their relationship to terrorism, and the ugly politics that surround the issue.Crisp, clear, and comprehensive, this is a handy and up-to-date overview of one of the most pressing topics in today's world.

A timely, tightly reasoned, thought-provoking examination of ways to select policies for the enforcement of federal marijuana drug laws. Choice Mark Kleiman has written a thorough . . . analysis of federal law enforcement policy options regarding marijuana. The genesis of this work began when he worked as a policy analyst with the U.S. Department of Justice. . . . Kleiman presents a number of major arguments against increased federal enforcement of laws prohibiting marijuana, including that it would: (1) increase the use of other drugs such as PCP and alcohol, (2) increase drug dealing and theft among adolescent users, and (3) increase the involvement of organized crime in the illicit distribution and sale of marijuana due to the attraction of greater profits. Regarding this last item, he argues that as enforcement efforts increase it gives people with a propensity for using violence and corruption a competitive advantage in the marijuana trade. Because Kleiman argues for a severe curtailment of federal law enforcement efforts against marijuana, it will stimulate the debate about the role of federal law with regard to marijuana. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice How, and how vigorously, should U.S. federal law enforcement agencies enforce the laws against dealing in marijuana? This book assesses alternative ways of enforcing marijuana laws at the federal level. Marijuana grew out of work begun by Kleiman in 1981-1982 when, as a drug policy analyst for the Department of Justice, he was trying to calculate how an increase in enforcement resources would serve the twin goals of reducing drug abuse and limiting the power and wealth of large criminal organizations. This volume reproduces that analysis, using newer data, and compares results up to 1985-1986 with expectations. It is intended not to second-guess what was done, but to suggest how such choices ought to be made in the future. Kleiman divides his analysis into three parts. First, he identifies what is at stake in marijuana consumption and dealing, estimates the size of the problem, and discusses the criteria to be used in judging a policy recommendation. The second part is devoted to developing a theory of drug dealing and its response to varying levels of enforcement pressure. The remainder of the book applies that theory to the real world and discusses the policy options available now. Kleiman's conclusions are pessimistic about the ability of federal enforcement to influence marijuana consumption. His analysis supports both a reduction in federal marijuana enforcement efforts and a redirection towards the most violent dealing groups. As a study of a critical problem in contemporary American society and as a work of policy analysis, Marijuana will be challenging reading for political scientists, economists, policy analysts, and members of those agencies dealing with drug law enforcement. The serious general reader also will find it thought provoking.