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38th out of 54 books
—
25 voters
This Is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America
by
Ryan Grim
Everything we know about drugs-from acid to epidemics to DARE and salvia-turns out to be wrongStock up on munchies and line up your water bottles: journalist Ryan Grim will take you on a cross-country tour of illicit drug use in the U.S.-from the agony (the huge DEA bust of an acid lab in an abandoned missile silo in Kansas) to the ecstasy (hallucinogens at raves and music...more
Hardcover, 272 pages
Published
June 1st 2009
by Wiley
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This is an important, sweeping history and condemnation of the War on Drugs, full of real-world anecdotes and statistics to back up the premise that every time the government or prohibition movements manage to crack down on one substance, Americans shift to using another, making "progress" in prohibition impossible. The chapters on the hypocrisy of U.S. global policy vis-à-vis U.S. drug policy to be especially thought provoking--(e.g., evidence the CIA aided and abetted opium/heroin traffickers...more
This Is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America by Ryan Grim
"This Is Your Country on Drugs..." is the interesting history of getting high in America. "Gonzo" journalist Ryan Grim takes us on a first person tour through many interesting topics covering the impact of policies on the drug use of Americans and why it has been an utter failure. The book is composed of following fourteen chapters: 1. The Acid Casualty, 2. A Pharmacopoeia Utopia, 3. Prohibition, Inc., 4. A...more
"This Is Your Country on Drugs..." is the interesting history of getting high in America. "Gonzo" journalist Ryan Grim takes us on a first person tour through many interesting topics covering the impact of policies on the drug use of Americans and why it has been an utter failure. The book is composed of following fourteen chapters: 1. The Acid Casualty, 2. A Pharmacopoeia Utopia, 3. Prohibition, Inc., 4. A...more
People like to get f'd up...and Americans even more so. (I read a book once, a long time ago, that asserted that the Inuit (?) were the only people who didn't have a native intoxicant/psychotropic tradition, and that's only because there's nothing to make anything from.) Only touches on the early years very lightly: the now well-known (to me) fact of the early settlers' amazing drunkenness, and all that, spending much more time with the late 19th and 20th centuries.
His basic premise is that if o...more
His basic premise is that if o...more
This is Your Country on Drugs by Ryan Grim, is an informative overview of a variety of drugs used throughout the American history beggining with the use of LSD. Grim is not at all secrative with his drug experiences and shares several anecdotes from his life in the book. Grim uses an exorbent amount of evidence in his overview of Americas drug use and what brought each drug into tipping into being used mainstream. Grim's writing however is bouncy and at times difficult to follow. There is a lack...more
This was very informative and interesting, but something was lacking. I'm not sure exactly what. The trivia was stellar, but I find myself thinking it was missing a central thesis. Except I know this isn't true - it had a central thesis: that americans like to get high, and whenever the government tries to do something about it, unexpected consequences occur. I guess the obviousness of that thesis jarrs slightly with the wonderful research into the various stories - like the bust that made LSD i...more
Just before Christmas my mother sent me a website filled with extremely cheap books and asked me to send her a list of the ones I thought were interesting.
When I added this one to the list I thought for sure that my mother would ignore it and buy me something like "101 Ways to Be a Better Christian" instead. Nope, she went ahead and ordered this one. And as interesting as "101 Ways to Be a Better Christian" might be, this was far better. Yes, I know, I haven't read "101 Ways to Be a Better Chris...more
When I added this one to the list I thought for sure that my mother would ignore it and buy me something like "101 Ways to Be a Better Christian" instead. Nope, she went ahead and ordered this one. And as interesting as "101 Ways to Be a Better Christian" might be, this was far better. Yes, I know, I haven't read "101 Ways to Be a Better Chris...more
Everything we know about drugs-from acid to epidemics to DARE and salvia-turns out to be wrongStock up on munchies and line up your water bottles: journalist Ryan Grim will take you on a cross-country tour of illicit drug use in the U.S.-from the agony (the huge DEA bust of an acid lab in an abandoned missile silo in Kansas) to the ecstasy (hallucinogens at raves and music festivals). Along the way, Grim discovers some surprising truths. Did anti-drug campaigns actually encourage more drug use?...more
An extraordinarily informative, and entertaining, account of drug use and interdiction which neither glorifies or vilifies its subject matter. This Is Your Country On Drugs focuses on the latter half of the 20th through the first decade of the 21st centuries, and is told in a straight forward journalistic manner without repeating the hoary old myths and conspiracy theories so often associated with books on this topic. I especially appreciated the chapter which sought to cut through the conspirac...more
If this subject interests you at all, you must read this book. I have read reams on the subject and this is by far the most well written and accessible I have encountered. Whereas many drug policy books are written in a scholarly, heavily footnoted format that may turn a casual reader off, Grim blends personal anecdote, interviews, and research seamlessly to create a comprehensive work that is both engaging and educational. While it took me weeks to get through Jacob Sullum's "Saying Yes" I coul...more
Ryan Grim weaves a compelling narrative of America's relationship with drugs by connecting aggressive reporting with personal anecdotes. While many books about drug history and drug culture are hard to take completely seriously, Grim's background as a solid political reporter lends credibility to his telling of the facts. Neither anti-drug screed nor a pro-drug polemic, This Is Your Country On Drugs is an easy-to-read primer on American drug policy.
Decent overview of Drugs in America. The guy did a lot of drugs in his research. He points a mocking finger at our drug policy. He ends the book with a comment about how the drug scene is infested with liars. I get the feeling that anyone who didn't agree with this guy wouldn't have a hard time discrediting him, but I like what he's saying.
Very well written and engaging journey into the history of drugs and alcohol in America, taking into full account all of the anecdotal influences the subject has had along its way to its present state.
Really interesting, but I had a lot of trouble with the organization of the information. Sort of chronological, sort of thematic, and really hard to keep track of in spots.
Nov 11, 2009
Lizzie
added it
i thought this would be an obvious pedestal book and it wasn't.... it actually explained where LSD went and why and what the hell is really happening in our drug loving country
The information presented was really interesting and related a lot of effects that foreign policy and even the so-called drug war has done to drug use and perceptions. The biggest flaws I found were that some of the information, particularly in the first half of the book, wasn't organized in a very coherent way and there was a lot of overlap.
That LSD is dead. With the death of the Dead and Phish tours the methods of distro are gone and the one guy that can really make it is in jail.
Pretty good book about drug abuse in the USA.
Pretty good book about drug abuse in the USA.
LSD has no known lethal dose. Why didn't DARE teach me that? Oh wait, now that I've read this book, I know the answer!
A bit too overtly political for me, but full of fun facts. Some of which didn't quite hold up after a little research, though.
Interesting study of the history of drug/alcohol use in America with a strong legalization bias... which becomes painfully evident when the author begins writing about his various acid trips & pot buys. It's hard to take him seriously at that point.
I did give up on the book - but only the last couple of chapters.
I did give up on the book - but only the last couple of chapters.
Decent, though biased, account of the history of drug use in the US.
Nice non-fiction history of drugs in American and drug policy.
A fun read. A little unfocused, tries to cover a lot of ground. One of the most illuminating parts of the book: when mainstream journalists defend the establishment media's treatment of Gary Webb and downplay the things he got right when he wrote about CIA-cocaine connections in the '90s.
Really liked this book...
This book is a tad outdated at this point (pre-2008 election), but still has a good deal of information about the past, present, and future of drug use in America. It is written from the perspective of someone who has used and enjoyed drugs, so I do think it takes a more accepting view of their use. On the other hand, it is interesting to see how accepting America used to be of drug use and how seemingly insignificant moments can turn the national opinion to create a "war on drugs."
This was an interesting book the whole way through. I like how it started out with acid at Burning Man and ended with acid at Burning Man, while giving you the whole history on the drug war, national policy, and why California is the way it is. One of my favorite lines is, "if the system eventually encompassed all of California's pot smokers, the tax revenue would be in the range of around $2 billion". To that I say fully legalize weed, Cali needs the money!
A very illuminating look at America's failed drug war.
The best books force you to re-examine your preconceptions, and Grim's treatment of a controversial topic did that in spades. The best sections were the history of prohibition and legalization, and the reasons why certain drugs fell where they did (almost always for political or economic reasons).
Book club pick.
3.5/5 - Pretty interesting. The data is a bit overwhelming at times, but the author does a pretty good job making it work with each chapter. It's a nice overview of drugs in America as a whole, going into the past as well as current politics. I learned quite a few new things from the book, and it's a nice read for anyone interested in the topic.
It took me quite a while to get through this book because it is so incredibly detailed. There are so many misconceptions about the history of drugs as well as our present state. Should be required reading for most high school student and anyone who has a friend or a family member who has a "drug problem."
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