Busted!: Drug War Survival Skills [Paperback]

M. Chris Fabricant (Author), R. Crumb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 2005

Busted! is a funny, smart, subversive worst-case scenario guide for casual drug users and their tolerant friends.It's the Bible on how not to get busted and what to do if you are. Using celebrity busts, outrageous everyman busts, and the author's professional experience, Busted! is everything you need to know about the criminal justice system, Drug War style, before it's too late.

Like a Law & Order episode, the book takes the reader through a typical small-time drug possession case from committing the crime (the buy/recommending a dealer), to handling police encounters like a pro, to getting busted, to spending a night in jail, to fighting your drug bust, to pleading guilty, through trials and appeals, and, finally, punishment - with irreverent humor and expert advice all the way to the bitter end.

Busted! also includes drug possession law for the house party, the rave, your roommate's stash; search and seizure on the street, in your ride, in your apartment, and up your ass. Drug War Driving Lessons covers DUI's and drugged driving; also learn how to make your phone call from jail count, how to ace your bail hearing, and protect your Internet privacy. The Dope Law Index includes possession law for marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and methamphetamine for all 50 states. BUSTED! helps the casual drug user to know his rights, walk the thin grey line between legal and illegal and ultimately stay out of jail.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fabricant knows the law and the lingo...funny, streetwise . . . [includes] amazing incidents and case references." -- The Dallas Morning News

"Vile and evil . . . [a] shameful book." -- The Voice-Tribune, Louisville, Kentucky

"[A] hilarious and informative guide to not getting caught." -- High Times

"[A] straightforward and witty approach to being informed and making good judgment calls - before the intoxication sets in." -- The Source

"[E]ntertaining, irreverent . . . detailed and reliable legal advice for potential victims of America's war on drugs. I highly recommend it." -- Ira Glasser, former executive director of the ACLU

"a damn good read" -- Jordan Smith, The Austin Chronicle

About the Author

M. Chris Fabricant graduated with honors from the George Washington University Law School. After two years as a pro se law clerk in Manhattan's federal district court, he began his career as a criminal defense attorney.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: It Books; First Edition edition (August 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060754591
• ISBN-13: 978-0060754594
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chris Fabricant is a criminal defense attorney and clinical law professor at Pace Law School. Chris also practiced criminal appellate work with Appellate Advocates in New York City. On behalf of his clients he has litigated in nearly every venue in New York, including The Court of Appeals and in federal court.

Chris is a frequent commentator on TruTV (formerly Court TV) and has commented as an expert on criminal justice issues on WNYC (Morning Edition); Air America/The Sundance Channel (The Al Fraken Show); ESPN Radio and NPR affiliates around the county. His writing has appeared in Details magazine; The Village Voice; AustinChronicle.com, and High Times magazine.

For more information about check out www.DrugWarSurvival.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I thought the Police are our friends., September 21, 2005

By 

Christy Smith - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Busted!: Drug War Survival Skills (Paperback)

Wrong! The police no longer care for your well-being. Instead of stopping violent crime, they want to spend their time tracking down your local pothead. If you:
-have ever done any drugs.
-have ever used someone else's prescription.
-have drugs in your house.
-have drugs on your person.
-are friends with anyone who does drugs.
-are ever in the presence of drugs, (yes, just being near a drug or paraphernalia can land you in jail).
-Or you just want to know your rights (or lack-of) get your self this book.

The police go through training to learn to trick you into incriminating yourself and as Fabricant shows, people have gone to jail for years for as little as .0042 grams of meth. Therefore, you need to know how to compose yourself when the cops show up. This is going to tell you what to do. Don't worry Fabricant is a lawyer. One of his main ideas is to get your self good representation.

As a lawyer, his writing is very knowledgable and also very funny. Many times I found myself laughing out loud.

Alls fair in love and war, and as far as the war on drugs goes- the police will do anything in order to get another conviction on their resume'. Don't make yourself an example of how locking up drug-users will never solve anything.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, useful, frightening, August 21, 2005

By 

Claudio C - See all my reviews

This review is from: Busted!: Drug War Survival Skills (Paperback)

More than anything, this book is hilarious. Any page you open to has a great anecdote - like how one cop felt he had probable cause for a search because he HEARD (yes, HEARD) the tell-tale sound of a bail of marijuana hitting the floor in a private house.

The book is also useful, not just for people that use or sell drugs, but for people that are around people that use or sell drugs. PARENTS: This means YOUR KIDS. If they go to an American high school or college, they're going to have friends that use drugs. Think what you want about whether they should be legal or not or whether they are harmful or not, the fact is: YOUR KIDS NEED TO KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH A BUST because they might just be pulled over and one of their 'friends' has his stash in your kid's glove compartment. Then, of course, it might be your kid's stash, but then they need this book more than anything (besides a good lawyer).

Ultimately the book is a little frightening. The anecdotes, while individually funny, add up to one scary picture of the drug war. In this country, we lock up the people with a personal problem (call it a sickness or whatever) with people that are real criminals; we do it using methods that violate civil liberties in scary ways; we punish people differently for similar offenses in a way that smacks of racism (the classic coke vs. crack sentencing issue, not to mention the light sentencing that hard-core-addicts of Mother's (and Rush Limbaugh's) Little Helpers get versus your street-variety smack).

Fabricant knows his stuff. He's passionate. He's funny. He's a really good writer. This does indeed make a great gift, particularly with the great R. Crumb illustrations.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Educating your kids BEFORE they get Busted, September 10, 2005

By 

David K. Porter (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Busted!: Drug War Survival Skills (Paperback)

I've been practicing "storefront" law for more than 25 years,
and have more-or-less successfully raised four kids. Naturally, I've tried to pass on anything useful to my own kids - "useful"
being whatever will keep them out of jail and free of any criminal record.

Since God created kids with ears on the sides of their heads, they tend not to listen to anything their parents say. That which comes from above goes unheard. So the perpetual parental dilemna is "How the heck do I get them to understand they are
making choices that will affect the rest of their lives - when they don't even understand they are making choices?"

That's where "Busted!: Drug War Survival Skills" comes in.
Funny, informative, thorough,innovative, and comprehensive, this book is wonderfully illustrated by that irreverent genius R.Crumb. I have left it on my living room coffee table for the past month, right where my kids can see it, pick it up, laugh at it - and read it. I'm thinking of getting another copy for their
bathroom. I have recommended it to at least four clients with children involved in high-risk behavior (esp. boyfriends who deal drugs).