Opium's orphans The 200-year history of the war on drugs

This global political history of modern recreational drug prohibition begins with Qing China's early 19th-century attempt to suppress opium and ends with the US attempt to suppress opioids developed by pharmaceutical firms. Encompassing the Opium Wars of the 19th century; the development of the international legal regime for opiates, cocaine, and cannabis in the early 20th century; the eruption of psychedelics in the 1960s; and the clandestine relationship between Western intelligence agencies and drug lords in the Global South, the narrative ends with the erosion of prohibition in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Among the book's most interesting challenges to conventional thinking are the estimates of regular opium smokers in China in 1905--06--15 million people, or 3.3 percent of the population--which are lower than described in nationalist denunciations of the century of humiliation by imperialist powers. One overarching theme is the ultimately futile, often counterproductive policy of suppressing drug sources by interdicting transnational trade, which decision-makers in most countries have pursued for two centuries. Caquet (Univ. of Cambridge, UK) has written an engaging account meriting both scholarly and popular readers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --John Charles Hickman, Berry College

A comprehensive account of the troubled history of drug prohibition. Cambridge academic Caquet seeks to explain why so many attempts to counter the problem of drugs have failed. He points out that prohibition actually began in China during the colonial era, when Britain developed a lucrative market in opium. The Chinese government did as much as possible to curtail it, but two wars ensured that the business continued. Nevertheless, the seed of prohibition was planted, and it sprouted when transplanted to Europe and, later, America. In the 1950s, prohibition seemed to be working--until the explosion of the counterculture in the 1960s sparked a huge demand for marijuana, LSD, and other illicit substances. The Nixon administration coined the phrase "war on drugs" but failed to distinguish between types of drugs, a crucial mistake. There were a few short-lived successes, but by the time crack and then meth hit the market, it was clear that the long-term battle was being lost. When one source of supply was eradicated, another appeared, with the focus shifting to Mexico and South America. As Caquet shows, the money involved in the drug trade is staggering--so much that the drug cartels can challenge governments. Though the legalization of marijuana has helped in some places, the opioid and fentanyl crises have reached epic proportions. Most of the prohibition laws are still on the books, but Caquet believes that the game is largely over. He does not provide any solutions, but he suggests that the decriminalization of nonaddictive drugs should probably continue. Maybe people should be allowed to take whatever drugs they want as long as they don't affect anyone else. Of course, there are always collateral effects, some of which are grave. Caquet explains how we got here, but the road ahead is like a dark highway heading into the night. A thought-provoking, often disturbing account of drug prohibition that provides context for current debates. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.