Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "On Chillicothe Road in Kirtland, Ohio, under a big white sign that says "N.K. Whitney & Co.," is a restored nineteenth-century general store..." (more)
Key Phrases: voodoo pharmacology, illegal intoxicants, typical drinker, United States, Hebrew Bible, National Institute (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Opponents of the "war on drugs" have long focused on the distinction between drug use and drug abuse; that distinction is at the heart of Sullum's provocative and impeccably reasoned new title. Our expensive and ineffectual drug war, Sullum says, is predicated on a fundamental misconception that drugs are inherently "bad." Politicians and the media perpetuate the stereotype of the desperate, violent druggie, while the average user looks nothing like that, Sullum says-just as the typical drinker bears little resemblance to a wino passed out in the gutter. "We see the drug users who get hauled away by police, who nod off in doorways and on park benches, who beg on the street or break into cars," Sullum writes. "We do not see the drug users who hold down a job, pay the rent or the mortgage, and support a family." He describes the billionaire insurance executive who's also a "functioning pothead," the neuroscientist who enjoys MDMA at social events and the woman who likes a bit of heroin before cleaning house. Most people understand that alcohol can be dangerous if used to excess, but alcohol in and of itself does not "compel immoral behavior." Why, Sullum asks, is that not the case for marijuana, cocaine and heroin? He labels the vilification of certain drugs over others (like alcohol, nicotine and caffeine) "voodoo pharmacology." A senior editor at the libertarian journal Reason, Sullum rejects the frequent moralizing that clouds the drug debate, and frames much of his case as part of the greater argument against so-called "consensual" crime, which asks why an act by consenting adults that doesn't hurt anyone should be illegal. As with his last title, For Your Own Good: The Anti-Smoking Crusade and the Tyranny of Public Health, Sullum proves he's not afraid to take on entrenched public policies that he sees as fundamentally wrongheaded. Never preachy, his volume presents its heavily annotated arguments in clear, conversational tone that's refreshing for a book of this kind.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Saying Yes is a powerful refutation of the pharmacological prejudices underlying the war on drugs. -- Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union; professor of law, New York Law School

Jacob Sullum has produced a thoughtful, sane, and logical analysis of our drug laws. Is that even LEGAL? -- Dave Barry, syndicated columnist and author of Tricky Business and Big Trouble

Sullum pits the truth against the lies of the drug prohibitionists. -- Thomas Szasz, professor emeritus of psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (May 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585422274
• ISBN-13: 978-1585422272
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #667,250 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a must-read., October 14, 2003

By	Anthony Berno (San Jose, Ca USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What an interesting book.

I read it faster than I've read almost any other book - cover to cover in two days. (I'm normally a really slow reader.) Although the middle kind of drags on, with the same thesis repeated in several different forms, it's quite an enlightening read.

I've always considered myself well informed and quite liberal on drug issues, but it turns out that I was much more influenced by anti-drug propaganda than I had realized. My mind has been filled with stories that are true, personal experiences, or second-hand accounts of people I trusted, but I was seeing them in the wrong light. I thought of my father performing autopsies on cocaine users whose hearts had stopped with no warning. Someone who tried to kill his roommate with an axe while tweaking on crystal. Lots of perfectly real scare stories, which had caused me to feel chills just thinking about these "hard" drugs.

But these were still viewed through the lens of prohibition. Conveniently forgotten in these tales were the many, many more cases my father had seen of alcohol poisoning, a common cause of death among young people in the town where I grew up. Drunken rages in which people were killed - one that killed one of my best friend's bosses just two months ago. Somehow, because of the legality and familarity of alcohol, these were not "scare stories" about drugs. They were, instead, stories about people, and their foolishness; the blame was not transferred to the chemical.

The best part of the book is his historical review of alcohol prohibition, and the hype over the evil powers of alcohol at a time when opium and cocaine were not only legal, but popular and commonly used in "patent medicines". He illustrates how prohibition didn't cut down on drinking for more than a few years, but instead shifted drinking towards hard liquor, a more dangerous substance that was simply easier to smuggle and conceal. Similarly, when cocaine and opium were legal, they weren't consumed in their most severe forms, but in much milder preparations such as beverages and tinctures. Prohibition, in retrospect, doesn't reduce use so much as make that use more severe, and probably more harmful.

Sullum doesn't argue that drugs are always good. He seriously considers the argument that drug prohibition is justified by the harm it prevents. But he does put all drugs onto a level playing field. There is an abundance of statistics indicating the rates at which drug problems actually occur, and these reveal a huge, invisible majority of drug users - even of "hard" drugs like heroin and crack - who are not addicted, do not suffer severe problems, and most often stop using the drug when it no longer suits their needs. Just as with alcohol.

In my mind, as is the case for many people, I had formed a hierarchy of harm. Tobacco and alcohol are not so great, but not so terribly harmful. Pot is maybe a little better, a little worse, but other things, such as crystal and PCP, are scary and dangerous. Common sense, right? Well, maybe not. When you look at actual patterns of use, these "hard" drugs don't look so hard anymore. It is the lack of direct experience with these things that makes us so suceptible to scare stories - the "voodo pharmacology" he describes, wherein these substances have the mysterious power to turn people into zombies. But, if Sullum is right, these scare stories, despite their kernel of truth, are mostly just mass hysteria. Psychologically, prohibition is hardly different from witch-burning.

Sullum is saying, in effect, that drugs don't cause addiction, but rather, addicts cause addiction. That drugs don't cause criminals, but that people are criminals to begin with; that drug use and crime have a common cause, and do not cause each other except through the mechanisms of prohibition itself. That addiction adheres not to the drug, but to the user, and the availability (or not) of any particular drug is not the most relevant factor. This is a not a new idea, but it is rare to have it explained and supported so clearly and convincingly.

In reading this, I find an almost existential relief. This book affirms the power of the individual to control their lives, and casts aside the superstitious, magical thinking that ascribes such amazing powers to mere chemicals. Sullum's argument becomes most interesting when he argues that drug use by teenagers is perfectly appropriate, so long as it is done with the guidance of caring role models. He points out how unreasonable it is to expect someone with no experience with alcohol to suddenly become "responsible" on their 21st birthday, and somehow just know how to use it appropriately. Or worse, that they should consume it furtively, with no guidance, at secret parties. Instead, he suggests that teenagers should be introduced to alcohol, among other drugs (he specifically cites marijuana) in controlled environments, preferably in the company of their parents. With a chorus of "what about the children" seemingly right around the corner, this is a brave statement to make. Perfectly sensible, of course, but it's always the most sensible ideas that are the most dangerous to say out loud.

Is this book biased? Such questions are very hard to answer. In reading it, I was reminded of the furor over The Skeptical Environmentalist, a book full of references to scientific literature that were later criticized as being tangential, incorrect, or at best, highly selective. I was frustrated by that controversy, but didn't have the motivation to track down all the references and evaluate them for myself. In contrast, with Saying Yes, I am eagerly awaiting its challengers. Because I want to know the truth; is this guy giving us a realistic portrayal of what drugs really do, or is he, well, "smokin' crack?"

My guess is that Sullum is right on the money. Reading this book has turned me from a lukewarm anti-prohibitionist to a true drug libertarian. If he's even approximately correct, it is clear that all drugs, even the "hard" ones, should be made legal for anyone over 21, and that we must reject this "voodoo" that is granting drugs much more power than they deserve. Only then will we find balance.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Well Done, July 19, 2003

By	Mark K. Mcdonough "Mark McDonough" (Reston, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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There is nothing not to like about Jacob Sullum's "Saying Yes." It's gracefully written, scientifically accurate and completely sensible. I guess I'm a little more pessimistic that other reviewers about the affect it will have on the drug policy debate -- as Sullum points out only too well, truth, common sense, and pragmatism have never had much to do with drug policy in the United States. If nothing else, this book will at least re-assure future generations that not everyone in our era was nuts.

Readers who have read a great deal on this subject will find much here that's familiar, but it's nice to have it all in one place and footnoted. And while I have quite a library of books on alcohol and other drugs, I did find a considerable amount of new info and thought-provoking angles. A very nice job.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Voodoo pharmacology, June 22, 2003

By	Eugene Tinelli "Gene Tinelli" (Jamesville, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Voodoo pharmacology. That is the term that Jacob Sullum uses for our irrational fears and phobic behaviors toward psychoactive drugs. In a plea for common sense and sanity, he confronts the stereotypes that sustain our current drugs policy. He destroys the myths that these substances have magical and/or supernatural powers to enslave those who use them and places the power and responsibility for drug use back in the hands of the individual.

In example after example, he compiles a wealth of data on how the vast majority of people learn to use alcohol and other drugs in responsible manners, balancing their use with the rest of their priorities in life. While not ignoring the harms that can come from misuse and abuse of drugs, he places them in perspective with other behaviors in people's lives.

Rather than erecting legal edifices that prohibit these substances, increase the harms associated with their use, and forever give up the chance to sensibly regulate them, he goes back to the original roots of the temperance movement to show that we have always had extensive historical precedents for moderation and effective social norms in this area.

This is a profoundly uplifting book that elegantly restates the philosophy that human beings have an inherent drive for balance and health and psychoactive substance use is no exception.
Since America's War on Drugs has pernicious effects in every area of our society, this is a book that should be read by all.