Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors: the War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure is a nonfiction book that has altered my thinking on the government’s response to drug use in this country.  I have always supported the “war on drugs.”  After all, illegal drugs have destroyed countless lives and have few redeeming factors.  The problem brought out in this book is the fact that all the arrests and harassment over many years have not had the intended noble effects.  Drug use has not diminished.  In fact, many users switched from marihuana to cocaine or heroin because they are more difficult to detect.  The banning of legal channels has created a highly lucrative black market dominated by brutal gangs that have created havoc in this country and a state of war in countries below the Rio Grande.  Its failure exceeds the folly of prohibition that in like manner destroyed respect for the law and fostered the growth of the mafia in this country.