The Long War on Drugs [Paperback]

Since the early twentieth century, the United States has led a global prohibition effort against certain drugs in which production restriction and criminalization are emphasized over prevention and treatment as means to reduce problematic usage. This “war on drugs” is widely seen to have failed, and periodically decriminalization and legalization movements arise. Debates continue over whether the problems of addiction and crime associated with illicit use of drugs stem from their illegal status or the nature of the drugs themselves. InThe Long War on DrugsAnne L. Foster explores the origin of the punitive approach to drugs and its continued appeal despite its obvious flaws. She provides a comprehensive overview, focusing not only on a political history of policy developments but also on changes in medical practices and understanding of drugs. Foster also outlines the social and cultural changes prompting different attitudes about drugs; the racial, environmental, and social justice implications of particular drug policies; and the international consequences of US drug policy.USAnne L. Foster provides a comprehensive overview of the “war on drugs,” its failures and continued appeal, and the international consequences of US drug policy.Anne L. Foster is Associate Professor of History at Indiana State University, author ofProjections of Power: The United States and Europe in Colonial Southeast Asia, 1919–1941, and coeditor ofThe American Colonial State in the Philippines: Global Perspectives, both also published by Duke University Press.“The Long War on Drugsmakes diplomatic history, the interaction between US domestic and regional drug policies, and social and cultural history work together to show how the present has been produced by the past. In beautiful prose, Anne L. Foster explains the diplomatic history of global prohibition and the various national interests it has supposedly served over time. Fosl4