Summary Of Drug Crazy

The very mention of drugs summons demonic images: needles, babies addicted at birth, violence. No issue generates such a visceral reaction in people like the topic of drugs. In Mike Gray’s book “Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out,” his analysis of the drug war in America explores the mass hysteria surrounding addiction that was nourished with misinformation. Based on the history Gray has compiled, coupled with modern studies, the drug war appears to be a lost cause, now and into the foreseeable future. In 1909, Dr. Hamilton Wright was appointed as the third U.S delegate to the International Opium Commission at Shanghai and became “personally responsible for shaping the international narcotics laws as we know them today.” (pg. 42) Unfortunately, Dr. Wright’s knowledge of opium addiction in the U.S. was nonexistent, and the unscientific surveys he conducted led him to believe that America’s opium problem rivaled that of China’s. Not only was he incredibly misinformed on the issue, he used his political power to spread false information to the public. A perfect example of Wright’s lack of credibility emerged when he called for a national drug law with a national police force, which Southerners’ considered an intrusion of state’s rights. Since race was a sensitive subject …show more content…
Public opinion alone has shifted in favor of sensible reforms that are geared towards health-based approaches and reducing the role of law enforcement in drug policy. But organizations including police forces continue to profit from the rooted ways of the drug war. In a Washington Post article, Dennis Flaherty, executive director of the MPPOA, explains that “legalization- in any form- could lead to harmful reductions in federal grants that are an important funding source for many police agencies…” This places a strong incentive on police agencies to make drug policy a high