Smoke and Mirrors by Dan Baum is a concise, well-researched and eminently readable history of the War on Drugs and the social, political and often very personal cost this set of policies has had on not just America, but the world at large. He succinctly breaks down the myriad of incentives that went into starting the War on Drugs in 1968, from political pandering on the campaign trail to appear tough on crime to the backlash against the unfulfilled promises of the civil rights era in the war on poverty. The ball started downhill by Nixon, Dan Baum weaves a tale of how the War on Drugs swallowed up more and more of the body politic in America until we are deposited into a world where police ramp up punishment of non-violent offenders in a bid to get RICO seizures and federal funding, writing a letter critical of the War on Drugs to your local newspaper will get you put under investigation, more black men are in jail than college and after lobbying to defund public defender programs, more of the jail population is awaiting trial than currently convicted.
It is a rabbit hole of political tail-chasing which is beautifully summed up in a passage wherein Congress is likened to a pack of wildebeest set into stampede due to a couple of them getting spooked as they try to pass one Omnibus crime bill or other. The reasons for the rampaging beast that is the War on Drugs are laid bare by skillful explanations of the actions of little known but key players in policy circles, police commanders and the often discarded casualties of a legislative monster run amok. This book is detailed enough to hold the attention of those who know the subject at hand but basic enough for the novice. I highly recommend this book for any who are interested in understanding how we have come to this place in our society.
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