Prohibition's Second Failure: The Quest for a Rational and Humane Drug Policy

Vallance gives a current picture of the American drug problem and the ideological base that maintains it. The author analyzes economic and social costs of the drug problem, including the costs incurred by the recent war on drugs. Reporting the most recent economic cost data on the drug problem, the book states criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of current U.S. drug policy and then discusses its successes and failures. A search for alternatives and options leads to an analysis of values and desirable goals for a new policy orientation, followed by a set of recommendations on how policy change might be wrought. Appendices show reform-oriented organizations, summarize over a dozen commission reports on drug issues, and list major current laws that guide official policy.

THEODORE R. VALLANCE is Professor and Associate Dean Emeritus of Human Development at Pennsylvania State University. Earlier, he was chief of planning for the National Institute of Mental Health. He has edited Values and Ethics in Human Development Professions (1984) and Mental Health Services in Transition: A Policy Sourcebook (1983).