The New Prohibition
Voices of Dissent Challenge the Drug War
Edited by Sheriff Bill Masters

The New Prohibition isn’t the first book to criticize American drug policy and the so-called War on Drugs. In fact, Sheriff Masters has himself written on the topic before. What sets The New Prohibition apart isn’t its subject matter nor the fact it’s a collection of essays. No, what makes The New Prohibition different and gives it maximum impact is that its viewpoints come from so many different—and authoritative—directions.

Worried about the rule of law? There are several essays written by law enforcement officers, both active and retired. Likening the Drug War to the spectacularly unsuccessful prohibition on alcohol, the writers show in terms of personal experience and knowledge the extreme violence and other criminal behaviors engendered by prohibition eighty years ago and by the War on Drugs now.

What about public health? Doctors and administrators write against the present drug police from their own perspectives. Not least of their concerns is compassion for the ailing (which some states are beginning to recognize, but which the federal government still blithely and cruelly denies). Social implications, too, are considered and found to suffer under current policy as well.

Politicians discuss in writing the changes that must be made to the system; a judge and several attorneys weigh in on the overburdened court system and irrationality of sentencing guidelines. And then the argument is taken beyond our own city streets and the Fourth Amendment. Though you may not have considered it, The New Prohibition will show you how the War on Drugs also affects the Second and Tenth Amendments and even foreign policy. Of course, the book couldn’t be complete if the claims that illicit drug use helps fund terrorism weren’t also addressed.

Whatever your own argument against the War on Drugs, it’s bolstered here. And if you’re in favor of the War on Drugs, you won’t be when you’ve finished The New Prohibition. There are simply too many very good reasons you shouldn’t support the War, and they’re presented so cogently here you’ll find them impossible to ignore.

Although the foreward of the book is short, it strikes me as a particularly appropriate choice to let the introduction be by former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura. When Jesse Ventura ran for state office, he was very much a third party underdog. He didn’t have the organization or the money that the two major parties did. And yet he appealed to the people, and they voted accordingly. In much the same way, the War on Drugs has an almost bottomless financial well to draw from while it enjoys a substantial enforcement infrastructure.

But many people are beginning to see the flaws in the system, and it’s entirely possible that the status quo will be upset in the near future. Books like The New Prohibition will help that day come sooner, and for all of those who’ve been victimized in any of a multitude of ways by the War on Drugs, that day can’t come soon enough.

LADY LIBERTY’S READ: I’ve long found the War on Drugs to be irrational purely from a prohibition standpoint. So certainly I felt vindicated when I read some of what was contained in The New Prohibition. While that’s nice, the best parts of the book came for me when I found such well-reasoned arguments from other perspectives, some of which I frankly hadn’t even considered.

If you want to know more about the pitfalls of the War on Drugs, I can’t imagine a more complete or reader friendly book for you to use to start—or complete—your education. But be warned: finding so many other reasons to oppose the War on Drugs made me angrier than ever at those who perpetuate it. Still, if that anger can serve as motivation for change, then here’s hoping it makes you mad, too.

The New Prohibition: Voices of Dissent challenge the Drug War is available from Amazon.com, or directly from the publisher.