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See also media reviews of The New Prohibition, along with chapter and biographical notes. Information about Drug War Addiction is available as well.
The New Prohibition is available from the publisher at 1.800.374.4049 ($14.95).
News Releases
Judge Kane to Join July 13 Drug-Policy Discussion
Senior U.S. District Judge John L. Kane will attend a July 13 event at the Boulder Bookstore (1107 Pearl St.) to discuss a new book to which he contributed an essay: The New Prohibition: Voices of Dissent Challenge the Drug War.
The event will begin at 7:30 in the evening and is open to the public. Kane and other participants will take questions from the audience and will be available to sign copies of the book.
Kane will join Ari Armstrong, who served as assistant editor for the book and also contributed an essay titled "Drugs and Terror," along with Dave Kopel and Mike Krause of the Independence Institute and Michael Huemer of CU's philosophy department. For the book, Kopel and Krause addressed the impacts of U.S. drug policy in Mexico and South America, while Huemer reviewed the moral case against drug prohibition.
In his essay, "Policy is Not a Synonym for Justice," Kane argues, "[O]ur national drug policy is inconsistent with the nature of justice, abusive of the nature of authority, and ignorant of the compelling force of forgiveness. Our drug laws, indeed, are more mocked than feared. We endure a policy that will never achieve its stated purpose, but sends a very clear message that people are not to be trusted with the freedom to choose."
The New Prohibition, edited by Sheriff Bill Masters of San Miguel County (the seat of which is Telluride), was released in May. It contains 21 essays by peace officers, public officials, scholars, and policy experts.
More information about the book is available at www.LibertyBill.net. For review copies and additional information, please contact Ari Armstrong at 303.412.8366 or ari**AT**freecolorado.com.
The New Prohibition Set for May Release
The New Prohibition: Voices of Dissent Challenge the Drug War
For Release: May 20*, 2004
Edited by Sheriff Bill Masters
Softcover, 224 pages plus viii, 21 essays, Foreword by Jesse Ventura
Advanced orders available through the publisher at 1.800.374.4049 ($14.95 plus $3.00 shipping/handling)
Reviewers may contact Ari Amstrong at 303.412.8366 or ari**AT**freecolorado.com for review copies.
Today's war on drugs funds terrorists, undermines justice, corrupts business, and destroys people's lives, argue the contributors to Sheriff Bill Masters' new book, The New Prohibition: Voices of Dissent Challenge the Drug War (Accurate Press 2004).
Federal deficits are exploding, even as the U.S. government continues to spend billions of dollars every year on a drug war that is "a total and abject failure," as former police detective Jack Cole summarizes. Meanwhile, The Christian Science Monitor recently cited "growing evidence that Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are profiting from narcotics" -- a black-market spawned by prohibition. Masters brings together provocative essays from peace officers, public officials, scholars, and policy experts that analyze the many harms of modern drug prohibition.
Along with a foreword by Governor Jesse Ventura, The New Prohibition features 21 essays. The writers consist of two retired undercover narcotics officers, a U.S. district judge, a Congressman, a retired mayor who ran a needle exchange program, a lawyer who helped write America's drug laws, and numerous policy leaders from all points along the political spectrum.
Contributors address the relationship between the drug war and terrorism; the impact of drug policy on American business; the ethics of drug policy; the debate over marijuana; and the impact of prohibition on public health, civil liberties, and the right to bear arms. The last five essays discuss various strategies for reform.
In his foreword, Ventura writes, "My mother lived through Prohibition, and she told me that there are obvious similarities between alcohol then and drugs today..." Masters describes how he evolved from a drug warrior to an advocate of reform, a story he continues from his previous book, Drug War Addiction: Notes from the Front Lines of America's #1 Policy Disaster (2001).
The New Prohibition addresses one of the most problematic political issues of our day. As David Borden of the Drug Reform Coordination Network describes in his essay, "Whether the concern is health, safety, criminal justice, foreign policy, pain control, agriculture, civil liberties, housing, education, medical research, the environment, property rights, militarized policing of the borders and in our towns, or the corruption of our police forces and financial institutions, there are few aspects of policy -- or of life --that the drug war doesn't touch in some way." The New Prohibition is relevant to a wide audience, and it has particular relevance to a couple of large constituencies:
Business Leaders: "[D]rug prohibition hurts the business climate, profits, and investor returns," argues Eric E. Sterling in his essay, "A Businessperson's Guide to the Drug Problem." Sterling, a former Congressional lawyer and President of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, explains how America's drug policies damage consumer spending, foster violence and crime, waste investment capital, and create regulatory burdens that increase the cost and risk of business. The iconoclastic, best-selling financial writer Doug Casey also contributes an essay to the book.
Gun Owners: "As long as we continue redoubling our efforts in the drug war, it will be used as the law-enforcement template for other prohibitions. Guns are at the top of the list," warns John Ross in his essay, "How Drug Laws Hurt Gunowners." Ross, whose novel Unintended Consequences has sold around 60,000 copies, is a certified personal protection instructor and an investment broker in St. Louis. Masters also addressed this topic in his previous book, Drug War Addiction, in his chapter about "Drug Wars and Gun Wars."
* In memory of Esequiel Hernandez, a young goatherder from Texas who, on May 20, 1997, was mistaken by U.S. Marines for a drug runner, shot, and killed.
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