Reviews

Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari

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bart_gunn's review against another edition

5.0

Great historical overview on numerous global government's immature, ignorant, uneducated, murderous and corrupt approach to dealing with the drug trade and its users. The necessary research has been done and the answers for how to legalise drugs and humanely manage users is all here. Please don't continue to simply ignore this information...

lngerst's review

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dark emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

rachelalbrecht's review against another edition

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4.0

4.2

maryquitecontrary_22's review against another edition

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5.0

Have you listened to Johann Hari's TED Talk "Everything You Know about Addiction is Wrong"? If not, go listen to it-- and if you listened at rapt attention for 14 minutes, I bet you'll find Chasing the Scream even better.

This incredible piece of journalism is full of strong writing and compelling narratives that will sway your beliefs about addiction and the War on Drugs. You will find yourself absolutely heartbroken when you realize the real costs of drug prohibition: the lives of broken people. Hari, a gay socialist, and I may not have a lot in common, but he makes some damn compelling arguments that put my Christian conservative self on the same side of the aisle as he is when it comes to drug policy. I also really respect the way he addresses pro-prohibitionists-- he gives credit to the opposing viewpoints, acknowledging that they just want to keep society and children safe. This book should be "required reading" for anyone who is involved in policy making or who has a loved one in the throes of addiction. I am looking forward to buying and reading his book coming out in January 2018 on the science of depression.

(Yes, I know Hari is controversial because of his past mistakes. However, I am reviewing this book in and of itself as a piece of investigative journalism. I think his overly detailed notes and bibliography show how transparent he is trying to be and prove that this is honest journalism.)