America has been fighting a War on Drugs for decades with no success. Many people might think that America has a “drug problem” when in fact, drugs may not be the issue. Through the use of these three books, Drugging the Poor, In Search of Respect, and Chasing the Scream, the “drug problem” is explained. Instead of a drug problem, society is facing a race problem where drug use is a symptom. The perspective and analysis used in these three books provides readers with a new perspective on drugs when compared to what society typically sees.
Drugging the Poor, by Merrill Singer, provides readers with a look into the complex drug problem American society has been facing for ages. The over arching point of this book, which has been proven consistently, …show more content…
America has been fighting the “War on Drugs” for decades. Despite the efforts to rid society of drug use, there seems to still be an enormous drug problem in the U.S., and little improvement overall. The U.S. government has shelled out billions of dollars towards fighting the drug problem; however, the U.S. is still the nation with the highest population of people in prison, with most being incarcerated on drug related charges. (Singer 2008: 20). Although the government is supposedly fighting a “War on Drugs”, there is a pharmaceutical industry that is very legal, but also very much contributing to the illegal drug market, which makes the entire system intertwined. To elaborate, highly addictive drugs, like Xanax, are prescribed legally by physicians, and are then sold illegally on the black market; so very quickly, a drug goes from being legal to illegal (Singer 2008: 137). Not only are pharmaceuticals a primary contributing factor in the illicit drug market, advertising is also shown to have powerful effects on society. Toward the end of the 1800s, pharmaceutical advertising was a mainstream approach for the pharmaceutical companies to make direct patient contact on a national level (Singer 2008: 140). Companies were able to use celebrity endorsements, testimonies, and other techniques to target certain groups of individuals, such as Lydia Pinkham being used to treat menstruation pains (Singer 2008: 141). Although this benefited the industry, it created a society where people became dependent on pharmaceuticals to fix their
Drugging the Poor, by Merrill Singer, provides readers with a look into the complex drug problem American society has been facing for ages. The over arching point of this book, which has been proven consistently, …show more content…
America has been fighting the “War on Drugs” for decades. Despite the efforts to rid society of drug use, there seems to still be an enormous drug problem in the U.S., and little improvement overall. The U.S. government has shelled out billions of dollars towards fighting the drug problem; however, the U.S. is still the nation with the highest population of people in prison, with most being incarcerated on drug related charges. (Singer 2008: 20). Although the government is supposedly fighting a “War on Drugs”, there is a pharmaceutical industry that is very legal, but also very much contributing to the illegal drug market, which makes the entire system intertwined. To elaborate, highly addictive drugs, like Xanax, are prescribed legally by physicians, and are then sold illegally on the black market; so very quickly, a drug goes from being legal to illegal (Singer 2008: 137). Not only are pharmaceuticals a primary contributing factor in the illicit drug market, advertising is also shown to have powerful effects on society. Toward the end of the 1800s, pharmaceutical advertising was a mainstream approach for the pharmaceutical companies to make direct patient contact on a national level (Singer 2008: 140). Companies were able to use celebrity endorsements, testimonies, and other techniques to target certain groups of individuals, such as Lydia Pinkham being used to treat menstruation pains (Singer 2008: 141). Although this benefited the industry, it created a society where people became dependent on pharmaceuticals to fix their