From the time that President Ronald Reagan "declared war" on drugs in 1982 through today, the United States increased the military's role in interdiction and made illegal drugs a central component of U.S. foreign policy. Despite these actions, international drug trafficking has become the world's largest criminal enterprise and the United States is far and away the number one market for illegal drugs. The United States' so-called war on drugs is a failure that has actually contributed to a growth in the drug trade. An overview of the U.S. antidrug policy is first provided, followed by an in-depth examination of the major criminal organizations that have been involved in trafficking, focusing on how these so-called hard targets got started, their organizational structure, their operations and how law enforcement worldwide has responded to their growth. The social, political and economic effects of drug trafficking are then explored. A concluding section assesses the impact of U.S. policy on the worldwide drug trade and puts forth what has been learned from this failed agenda.
Ron was a university professor before getting the writing bug. Now he is an award-winning author, two-time Fulbright Scholar recipient to Indonesia and Bangladesh, an adjunct instructor in UCLA's Extension Journalism program and a consultant to the History Channel's "Gangland" documentary series. Ron is the author of twenty-four books and more than 4,000 magazine, newspaper and Internet articles on a wide range of topics, from science to entertainment. His celebrity interviews include Yasser Arafat, Jimmy Carter, Abbie Hoffman, Noam Chomsky, Evander Holyfield, Andy McDowall, and many others. He has been interviewed by the History Channel, Biography Channel, Investigative Discovery, Black Entertainment Television and NBC Dateline and other media.
Among other awards, two of his books, Drugs Lords and Gangsters of Harlem, were selected finalists for Foreword magazine's 2007 True Crime Book of the Year. Gangsters Harlem won honorable mention. A third book, Black Gangsters of Chicago won a silver medal in the Independent Book Publishers Association's 2007 True Crime Book of the Year. Black Gangsters of Chicago also won first place in the African American nonfiction category of the U.S. Book News "Best Books 2007" award. Both "Black Gangsters of Chicago and Gangsters of Harlem were finalists for the award in the true crime category and Drug Lords won honorable mention in the general nonfiction category of the 2008 London Book Festival, while Black Gangsters of Chicago won honorable mention in the 2008 New England Book Festival. Black Gangsters of Chicago also won first place in African American nonfiction category of the 2009 National Indie Excellence Award. Gangsters of Harlem won the award in the True Crime category.
A native of Thunder Bay, Canada, Ron resides in South Carolina when not on assignment around the world. He hopes someday to write an award-winning screenplay based on one of his books.
