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Mark Kleiman
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Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know® 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Mark A.R. Kleiman (Author), Jonathan Caulkins (Author), Angela Hawken (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
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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.

What Everyone Needs to Know® is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.
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  1. ISBN-13
    978-0199764501
  2. Edition
    1st
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    July 13, 2011
  6. Part of series
    What Everyone Needs To Know?
  7. Language
    English
  8. File size
    1120 KB
  9. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
46 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book very informative, objective, and excellent for people starting to study the world of drugs. They also say it's easy to read.

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ContentReadability
6 customers mention "Content"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book very informative, objective, and accurate. They also say it provides a masterful survey of issuers to be considered. Readers also say the book is extremely useful for policymakers and excellent for people starting to study the world of drugs.

"...Their encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject matter, combined with a breezy style, allows the reader to quickly make sense of complex and..." Read more

"...The information was a real eye opener as so much of the sensational media reporting grossly distorts the realities of the drug "problem"." Read more

"Good book that's very informative and objective about this topic. The whole thing is organized into questions about drugs and drug policy...." Read more

"Excellent book for people starting to study the world of drugs, or that want simpler explanations for such a complicated topic. Very recomendable." Read more

3 customers mention "Readability"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read.

"...They managed to condense, in very readable terms, layer upon layer of scholarly research about the many facets of drug policy...." Read more

"...the various sides of the war on drugs conundrum, and their book is indeed an easy read...." Read more

"Easy to read..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Alejandro S. Hope
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely useful for policymakers
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2011
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Kleiman, Caulkins, and Hawken have pulled a great coup with this volume. They managed to condense, in very readable terms, layer upon layer of scholarly research about the many facets of drug policy. Their encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject matter, combined with a breezy style, allows the reader to quickly make sense of complex and controversial issues. This is not, however, a dry reference book: the authors have strong, sometimes eccentric opinions that will not be to everyone's liking. But that is indeed one of this book's strenghts: it allows its pages to feel as an animated conservation with three very smart people.

Anyone with even a passing interest in drugs or drug policy should buy this book; and for policymakers involved in drug issues, this should be required reading.
13 people found this helpful
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Phil DeProtine
5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive Information on the Drug "Problem?"
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2016
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This book was published in 2011 and updates the arguments (pro and con) for some form of regulated legalization. The book presents a masterful survey of the issuers to be considered and provides factual data and statistics about drugs and drug use. The information was a real eye opener as so much of the sensational media reporting grossly distorts the realities of the drug "problem".
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Nick
4.0 out of 5 stars Very informative book that does not take sides
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2014
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Good book that's very informative and objective about this topic. The whole thing is organized into questions about drugs and drug policy. At the end the are three sections of possible solutions to the current situation ranging from easily implementable to not a chance that it will happen.
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Sylvia Longmire
5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable source of information
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2011
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Being an analyst who follows the drug war in Mexico on a daily basis, I was really interested in this book to learn more about the drugs themselves, rather than just how they were being transported into the United States. SO many of the assumptions I had and things I "knew" about drugs and drug addiction were turned on their heads by the time I finished reading this! I'm still on the fence about whether we, as a country, would benefit more from maintaining current drug policy (or at least a smarter version of it) or ending all drug prohibition; there are just so many unknowns, and it's a very complex issue that can't be easily predicted. But what this book does is provide all of us - and hopefully several US policy makers - with solid information we can all use to be smarter about how we approach drug trafficking, drug addiction, and drug policy.
2 people found this helpful
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Marcel L.
3.0 out of 5 stars fails to to reach its logical conclusion
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2012
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Kleiman, Caulkins & Hawken do an overall good job at presenting the various sides of the war on drugs conundrum, and their book is indeed an easy read. But this comes at a price as their perspective is sometimes simplistic and self-serving. While they do not seem to deny that the current prohibitionist policies have created a big mess, they seem to believe that alternatives would be far worse, while they fail to truly explore all the viable alternatives. Between prohibition and free market, there is a continuum of options and free-market is certainly not the only alternative. Likewise, regulations should differ widely according to the substance, the mode of administration and the type of user. Kleiman & all correctly point out a variety of potential problems, such as the potential conflicts of interests between the various actors of a regulated drug marketplace, pitting employees and shareholders against regulators. They also correctly bundle all psychoactive substances, at least to a certain point, but they fail to push their observations to its logical conclusion. The vast majority of psychoactive substances are legal, and those that are currently illegal can be compared to legal counterparts that are at least as potentially harmful, therefore there is no logical rationale for the legal status of the substances currently illicit. As the authors correctly point out, the prohibition of certain substances create a dangerous black-market, as well as all kinds of derived problems due to complete lack of quality control and unsanitary administration practices among others. Altogether, the unintended consequences of prohibition bear a huge economic, societal and human toll, with marginal effects on price and availability. The nearly 8-fold increase in jailed population since the launch of the War on Drugs has created an underclass with no social prospects besides crime, and catastrophic consequences for dependents.
The authors seem to ignore a few facts worth noticing: Despite the huge power of the alcohol industry, alcohol abuse has been on an overall decline since it peaked in the mid-1800s to early 1900s. This has been accomplished mostly through prevention, education and decreased social acceptability of alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is still a huge problem, but has been reduced greatly. Same with tobacco abuse.
Cocaine use has declined substantially since its peak in the 1980s, but this has been more than compensated by the abuse of prescription drugs. To quote the authors, "non-medical use of prescription pharmaceuticals is already an enormous problem", which is putting it mildly. There seems to have been a displacement of use here. Drug prohibition is most likely merely kicking the can and displacing the underlying problem of substance abuse and addiction, with its added layer of nefarious consequences.
At the end of the day, the book is too simplistic and disappointing in its failure to truly explore alternative to the current failed prohibitionist regime. On the heel of the report issued by the Global Commission on Drug Policy issued in June 2010, the book seems outdated. I suggest reading the excellent report issued by the "Transform Drug Policy Foundation" in 2004: `After the War on Drugs: Options for Control,'
The recently released  World War D. The Case against prohibitionism, roadmap to controlled re-legalization  offers a much broader picture with deeper analysis and more in-depth understanding of the issues revolving around use and abuse of psychoactive substances and the perverse effect of the criminalization of certain substances. The book also presents realistic and reasoned alternatives to the status quo.
10 people found this helpful
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Luisa Sanchez Iriarte Mendoza
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2014
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Excellent book for people starting to study the world of drugs, or that want simpler explanations for such a complicated topic. Very recomendable.
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Alex D-99
1.0 out of 5 stars Not Worth the Paper it's Written On
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2012
Kleinman claims he's all for drug policy, yet in this video he's in kahooz with drug legalizers. Kelinman's book is lacking in understanding of the recovery process and shows no understanding of this process or its successes. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Richard Cowan video:
[...]
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G. Whitty
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2015
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covers all points objectively
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Top reviews from other countries

Marios
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2012
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It is a very nice book. The authors have a very innovative way to present nowadays data considering anything related to drugs. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in learning anything new regarding drugs and drugs policy. It is a very useful book for teachers, students and even doctors who deal with drug users.
One person found this helpful
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Jot
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 2016
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All good
One person found this helpful
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S
5.0 out of 5 stars A*****
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2013
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I would strongly recommend this title.
Rated. An in depth read for enquiring minds
I give it the highest accolade.
One person found this helpful
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Miss Louise Green
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 12, 2014
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Highly recommended read
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daren webster
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 24, 2018
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OKAY
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