Drug Wars: An Oral History from the Trenches - Hardcover

Wells, Tim; Triplett, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688095488 ISBN 13: 9780688095482

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1992

Synopsis

Wells and Triplett have gone into the trenches and interviewed the street dealers, the fabulously rich smugglers, the undercover narcotics agents, the inner-city hospital doctors, the casual users and the hopelessly addicted. Each person's story allows readers to see beyond the headlines to the crisis in all its stark reality.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Junkies, dealers, narcs, and other combatants in the war on drugs speak out in this first-rate oral report from Wells (444 Days, 1985) and Triplett. Aiming to get the stories of those ``most intimately engaged on the front lines,'' the authors ``spent the last two years riding with undercover cops, and visiting jails, prisons, crack houses,'' etc. Here, that effort pays off handsomely with some truly riveting--and dismaying--reportage, tightly arranged into eight thematic chapters, each comprised of a brief introduction and several dozen statements, some signed, some anonymous. Even the innocuously titled opener, ``Recreational Users,'' makes your blood run cold as you listen to the woman who speaks of smoking pot for the first time at age nine (``I thought it was the neatest feeling in the world''); the Vietnam vet assigned to guard the White House (``I was stoned the entire time...''); the dealer who says that a crack high ``hits you with the force of religious revelation.'' And that's just for starters: The subsequent chapters (``Border Wars''; ``Dealers''; ``Cops''; ``Addiction''; ``Mean Streets''; ``Prosecution, Prison, and Punishment''; and ``Treatment'') detail moral pain (e.g., of the ravaged crack addict who runs into his mother: ``There was nothing but hurt in her eyes''); despair (e.g., of author Wells, who tells of visiting a shooting gallery and finding a little boy ``so filthy I didn't want to touch him''); and sociopathic violence (e.g., of the dealer who says, ``When a dude messed my money up, I'd cut him with a knife or I'd shoot him...You know, I had bills to pay'')--all so pervasive that you have to agree with the authors that ``the nation's drug enforcement policies have failed, and failed miserably.'' Smooth, smart, and very, very scary. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal

The past few years have seen a flurry of books dealing with the national drug problem; most only cover one aspect, such as trafficking, prevention, or law enforcement. In this riveting and extremely enlightening book, Wells and Triplett instead cover all areas, and quite comprehensively, weaving a complex and amazing tapestry from their interviews with those directly involved in all areas of the drug war. Dealers, recreational users, addicts, prisoners, and drug agents, among others, tell their stories, such as the addict who lost his job and wife, and said from prison, "crack is all I got left. It's the only thing in the world that can still make me feel good." Their gritty and eloquent words will help readers to see the drug crisis as it affects individuals, not just society in the abstract. A truly outstanding work, very highly recommended for all public and academic collections.
- Sally G. Waters, Stetson Law Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0688095488
• ISBN 13: 9780688095482
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272