Gleason Public Library (Carlisle)

Containing addiction:, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and the origins of America's global drug war, Matthew R. Pembleton

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 321-380) and index

index present

non fiction

Containing addiction:

bibliography

1014001501

Matthew R. Pembleton

the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and the origins of America's global drug war

The story of America's "War on Drugs" usually begins with Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan. In Containing Addiction, Matthew R. Pembleton argues that its origins instead lie in the years following World War II, when the Federal Bureau of Narcotics - the country's first drug control agency, established in 1930 - began to depict drug control as a paramilitary conflict and sent agents abroad to disrupt the flow of drugs to American shores. U.S. policymakers had long viewed addiction and organized crime as profound domestic and transnational threats. Yet World War II presented new opportunities to implement drug control on a global scale. Skeptical of public health efforts to address demand, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics believed that reducing the global supply of drugs was the only way to contain the spread of addiction. In effect, America applied a foreign policy solution to a domestic social crisis, demonstrating how consistently policymakers have assumed that security at home can only be achieved through hegemony abroad. The result is a drug war that persists into the present day. -- from back cover

Introduction. Toiling in the vineyards -- The discourse of the dope menace -- The world's greatest living authority on dope -- On the street and behind enemy lines -- A red-blooded American boy and true-crime action hero -- Constructing a kingpin -- The drug war goes abroad -- The global drug war -- The wheel turns -- Conclusion. Waging drug wars

Federal Bureau of Narcotics and the origins of America's global drug war