Drug use, and abuse, are as old as the Biblical warnings against drunkenness and as new as the latest "designer drug." Whether legal like alcohol and tobacco or illegal like cocaine, cannabis, heroin, and methamphetamine, drugs can provide harmless pleasure to some people who use them; others behave badly under the influence or fall into the grip of drug addiction. Some die, from overdoses or chronic illness.

Drug laws and enforcement can reduce the problems of drug abuse, but they create problems of their own: large criminal enterprises, violence among dealers, crime by users, and mass incarceration. Prevention and treatment are helpful; neither is a panacea. Since a drug-free world isn't on offer, and a world free of drugs doesn't seem like a good idea, citizens and officials face the age-old problem: what are we going to do about drugs?

In Drugs and Drug Policy, three noted authorities survey the subject with exceptional clarity and without ideological blinders. They discuss the pharmacology, economics, and politics of drugs; they explore both their benefits and their links with disease, crime, and terrorism. And they take a hard look at the ugly politics that surround the issue. Crisp, clear, and comprehensive, theis is a refreshing break from both drug-war cant and anti-drug-war rant.