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Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs

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A California Superior Court judge attacks the War on Drugs, describing the harm it has caused and laying out the other options--ranging from education and drug treatment to different strategies for taking the profit out of drug-dealing--in a book that includes testimonies by 40 other judges. Simultaneous. Hardcover available.

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2001

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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
Profile Image for Evan.
1,089 reviews914 followers
May 26, 2010
Our War on Drugs has turned a disease into a plague.

In this, the best-argued and most plainly stated critique of its kind I've ever read, a Libertarian-Conservative judge lays out, point by point with impeccable logic and in an amenable, sometimes folksy tone, a devastating assessment of the bogus precepts and execution that underlie our utterly failed and long-lost War on Drugs.

Judge Gray looks at the history, rationale and the fears that drive our current failed policies and cites examples that indicate better approaches that would take away the illegal profits, violence, and enormous health and financial costs that our current policy breeds.

Even though the book is 10 years old, the headlines from yesterday (Obama ramping up Mexican-US border security, partly to stem in the inflow of drugs), show that nothing has changed in the time that Judge Gray's book was published. More money being squandered futilely.

This is a great book; an important one that everyone must read.
Profile Image for Rose.
461 reviews
February 23, 2012
I think this book is an excellent read and would recommend it to any American citizen. I think the issues contained within are of the utmost importance and that many of the problems caused by prohibition account for the majority of the problems that are typically associated with drugs and their use.

Judge Gray presents a compilation of testimony from other officials within law enforcement and the justice department and a massive body of evidence from scientific medical and social studies to support his argument. He also presents possible solutions that could address these problems, many of which are currently being used successfully in other countries.

The writing in this book is very to the point and makes sure to hit most of the major issues associated with drug prohibition. The writing is clear and easy to understand, and leaves very little room to defend or justify the current policy.

I have three main criticisms of this book. The first is that I feel Judge Gray could have gone more into depth about the harms of prohibition associated with the defunding of scientific and medical efforts toward understanding these substances. While it was admitted that marijuana has a medical use, there was no talk of the various medical uses of other substances for any reason, other than perhaps a small nod to the potential of ibogaine in addiction treatment. Even substances like cocaine and herion have legitimate medical use, while empathogens (which I don't believe were even mentioned) and psychedelics have a ton of potential for psychological benefit. All in all, I feel that this field was skimmed over and could have provided a great deal of well-roundedness to an already excellent book. It would be beneficial for Gray to read more about this subject area and perhaps include it in future revisions to this book. Not only could further research help us to reduce the harms associated with addiction, but could also turn up surprising medical benefits, such as using a modified form of MDMA to treat leukemia.

My second main criticism is dealt with a bit more caution. I recognize the usefulness of having some people against prohibition that have never tried any illicit substances and think that they are far and away something that should be avoided, but I think Judge Gray may have gone a bit over the top with this. He does make the distinction between use and misuse, but I think he paid too much lip service to pounding into the reader that drugs are dangerous. Certainly some of them are, specifically the cocaine and heroin that he focused most of his text on, but many of the dangers could be eliminated under a system of regulation and education. I think it is important to address the dangers of use, but I feel as if it was weighted just slightly too heavily in this book and may uphold any reader bias against "drugs" having any legitimate, positive uses.

Along with this was the statement that people could be moved away from "synthetic" drugs like LSD if more "organic" drugs are available. No organic alternatives to LSD, such as psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, or San Pedro cactus were even mentioned. Never mind the fact that LSD is probably the most widely studied of the drugs in the psychedelic class. With as much information as we have on it relative to the organic versions, I am surprised he would speak out against its use, especially with its high level of biological safety and relatively low incidence of use compared to substances like heroin and cocaine. Also under his umbrella of "synthetic" drugs would probably fall most of the empathogen class (MDMA, MDA, MDE, etc.), which was not even addressed at all. As of right now, I am not aware of an organic empathogen, and these substances are becoming increasingly popular and also have legitimate psychological use. Since there is no organic substitue for these substances, I do not think it would be reasonable to expect those who use them to discontinue in favor of a completely different class of substances, just so they can go "organic." I think that the statement against "synthetic" drugs as a whole was not one that was well thought out or researched, which is surprising considering the high level of integrity of the rest of the book.

My third main criticism is the failure to address any First Amendment issues raised by the current policy of prohibition, particularly for substances such as peyote (mescaline), San Pedro cactus (mescaline), psychedelic mushrooms (psilocybin), ayahuasca (DMT), ibogaine, and various methods of using 5-MeO-DMT such as the Sonoran Desert Toad. All of these substances and more are used for spiritual and religious practice. People who partake in these religions or spiritual paths have to fight tooth and nail for the right to practice. As a judge, I would think Judge Gray would focus on this Constitutional issue a bit more. I do not recall if it was mentioned at all. It probably doesn't need to be addressed in too much depth, but at least having some attention paid to the fact that some of our First Amendment rights are in danger from these laws would be appreciated, especially since these particular substances were not addressed or included in most of the rest of the book, most alarmingly in the section about government regulation and distribution. Under Gray's system, it seems like the only things available would be marijuana, heroin, and cocaine, which only represent a small subset of prohibited substances that people would like to use for various reasons. While most illicit drug use involves these three, there are many more out there that probably won't go away just because of the regulation of marijuana, heroin, and cocaine.

Another small thing that I would like to see added is Judge Gray's opinion or thoughts on people growing their own psychoactive plants under governmental regulation, similarly to how people can grow their own tobacco or brew their own liquor in small amounts under governmental regulations of those substances today.

Despite my criticisms, I think this book is an excellent read. It is a great introduction to the issues for a layperson who might not even be aware of the controversy over the War On Drugs. It shares a great number of shocking and alarming facts, statistics, and studies, and really brings into perspective the harm we have been causing under prohibition. It is information that the general public needs to know. Every person should be reading this book. The reason my criticisms are so harsh is that I think that this subject material is important, and that any text that is this good should strive for the utmost level of information dissemination and should hit all the major points of its debate. The book is at an easily readable length now. I don't think the addition of a chapter or two in a future edition would harm its readability in any major way and would contribute to a much more well-rounded argument against the drug war.
Profile Image for Brent.
137 reviews45 followers
January 16, 2009
No matter what you think about the "War on Drugs", I urge you to read this book.

Judge James Gray's position is that the U.S. is not just losing the war, it's creating thousands of casualties at the same time.

Despite relying a little too heavily, for my taste, on anecdotal evidence here and there, Judge Gray explains why this country's drug policy is so pathetically abysmal. He alludes to the racist history of drug prohibition, explains how illegal drugs directly support terrorism, shows how our civil liberties are trampled by the federal government, and how futile our efforts are in stemming the flow of drugs into the US. On every measure, we are losing the war on drugs.

However bleak the outlook may be, Judge Gray uses examples, statistics and precedent to show us what we can do to solve the drug epidemic once and for all. He focuses on narcotics regulation, similar to what we use to govern alcohol and tobacco, education about the effects of drugs, addiction treatment, decriminalization and others. His reasoning is impeccable and sustains the principles of a free society. His resolutions are also humane, and they treat addiction as an illness, not a crime. Nevertheless, Judge Gray stresses the need to punish criminals who harm others in their pursuit to support their drug habit.

It's a great book; again, one I strongly encourage all who love liberty to read and contemplate.
Profile Image for Dave Darb.
35 reviews
June 21, 2024
The 1998 Higher Education Act disqualified young people from receiving federal aid for college if they had ever been convicted of marijuana possession, even though no such disqualification applies to convictions for offenses like robbery, rape, or manslaughter 😳 This is just one facet regarding the larger war on drugs, which particularly as deployed in the United States, has been a colossal failure. This is due to many reasons, including the huge profit to be made from black markets and gangs due to prohibition (hence corruption), increased violence/disease/crime, a wasteful prison industrial complex which disproportionately targets minorities, and the recession of civil rights.
The judge made his case well, and I'd wager that this is one of the most relevant policy issues today.
Profile Image for Lauryn.
41 reviews
November 17, 2025
Stigmatizing language throughout the whole book and some very stigmatizing thoughts on substance use disorders/people who use drugs (although keep in mind this was published in 2001), but respect the judge who wrote this book. He went against the common views at the time (and even now), called out the failures of the criminal justice system and the “war on drugs”, and proposed multiple suggestions for improvements—all of which are backed by studies to support his proposals.

Notable quotes:
-“The war on drugs is about a lot of things, but only rarely is it really about drugs”
-“The war on drugs now causes more harm than drug use itself”
-“Addiction is created by a number of conditions, but availability of drugs is not one of them”
Profile Image for EB.
30 reviews1 follower
March 29, 2018
For anybody who has perused the arguments for drug decriminalization/legalization for any extensive amount of time, Judge Gray's thesis will sound more than familiar. However, he offers a pretty exhaustive explication of these arguments in a coherent and comprehensive way. Definitely a good reference book to keep on hand if you are ever trying to get your thoughts in order on the subject; open the minds of people who object to drug decriminalization/legalization; or brush up for a debate on drug policy, the war on drugs, and its consequences.
Profile Image for julia.
49 reviews2 followers
July 27, 2022
in-depth look at drugs in america. very good. what i didn't like: i wish one of the solutions he provided was that we need to make societal conditions better in order to end more addiction (make a livable world honestly), dislike that he's pro-cop and justifies raids and drug seizures and says it's not the police's fault but the war on drugs' fault?
Profile Image for Benjamin.
20 reviews12 followers
January 14, 2020
James P. Gray's novel is merely a reiteration of a redundant, and downright juvenile argument, which is missing a vital link - the actual premise for a viable reconsideration of the current state of the drug war. Not that there's anything wrong with making a few notable changes to administrative policies regarding illicit drug use, and harm reduction in this country - but, after reading over four-hundred pages of this book, I have not found any legitimate explanation for the blatant LEGALiZATION of currently illegal substances in this country, which have long been known to be harmful and extremely dangerous to our society. Remember, this is not a book about the basic alleviation of detriment to people's lives, and nor is it a minor argument in favor of the decriminalization of non-harmful substances, like marijuana - though, it is falsely presented as such. Rather, it is a blatant and LAZY expression, not only of what appears to be a mere irresponsible fetish, on the author's part - but also, an unjust excuse for the retraction of multiple, paramount legalisms, and the outright LEGALIZATION of drugs without consequence. I'm sorry to say, but if this is the basis for our government's idea of a harm reductionist state, then we are facing an ABOMINABLE, CORRUPT GIANT - one that may very well have been DELIBERATELY intent on destroying our national fiber, and integrity at the time of this novel's conception. Not to mention, the brainwashing, and dismantling of our youth, and the sacrifice of our collective and proprietary reservations, regarding such a sensitive matter as the complete insanity, and entropic dysphoria of a world without legislation related to dangerous drugs.
1 review
July 28, 2018
Mr. Gray was a judge (in Orange County, California) for about 20 years, and thus on the front row of the "tough" laws on drugs in California and the US, and according to him it has been a disaster for all involved. Well, except for entities like organized crime (which can command extremely high prices for their merchandise), the prison-industrial complex (hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug offenders are currently incarcerated), some institutions like the CIA and DEA who get billions annually to fight the War on Drugs, and many politicians who want to appear "tough on crime". Everyone else loses, in particular minorities that are incarcerated for (sometimes very) minor drug offenses at a disproportionate rate, as well as addicts (and their families) who are put in prison instead of in a addiction recovery program, but really everyone because our (yes, our) system ruins millions of lives and (if nothing else) it costs billions and billions to maintain the War on Drugs.

Besides his expertise of the legal and criminal system, Mr. Gray enriches his account with many other sources and angles, as he has been advocating against the War on Drugs for several decades.

I have read a number of other books and articles, and watched a number of documentaries, on the War on Drugs. This is a must-read for anyone interested in this issue (one of the most important of our times, I would say).
Profile Image for M.
163 reviews25 followers
January 4, 2012
I always knew the war on drugs was flimflam. And this book has the data to back up that supposition! Incredibly well researched with footnotes on nearly every page. Fearful this would be a dull read, I was quite surprised at just how readable this compendium of knowledge can be. Gray is passionate in his appeal to common sense that it is time to end the war on drugs and start using a smarter policy. Time and again he shows that this system is broke and it is time to fix it. His appeal to treat drugs like tobacco and alcohol (substances more dangerous than reefer) is founded on facts, not folly. Each chapter and section is littered with epigraphs from judges all to the same tune, the drug war is a failure. The best quote from a judge may be when said judge points out of all the drug dealers we catch, we catch the stupid ones.

Frankly, I want to start growing hemp for paper, pulp, and other such items. He makes a clever argument for that as well. Occasionally Judge Gray adds anecdotal evidence, which is never convincing for an argument. But his statements made on policy are backed up by studies and research, so the reader knows Gray isn't speaking out of his robes. In the end, if you can read this book in its entirety.
Profile Image for Kelly Wong.
13 reviews
July 21, 2010
Even though this was a book mandatory to our course, I found that I actually rather enjoyed it. Judge Gray illustrates just how the current "War on Drugs" has failed society and offers opinions on what other countries have done that have been successful and how we can employ these measures in the U.S.

This book was very interesting in exploring both of these subjects. As someone who does not live in the U.S. and has not had much interest in the past in law, I did not know much about the topic. This book gave me much insight. While I agree with Judge Gray's point of view on the "War on Drugs", some of the statistics given were, in my opinion, somewhat skewed as if to show just how much of a failure the system is.
Profile Image for Charles Stahl.
50 reviews1 follower
September 27, 2011
A must-read for anyone who cares about the tragedy the failed, so-called "war on drugs" has inflicted on our nation. 60% of our prison population is incarcerated as a result of drug crimes. The cost of enforcement, prison housing, courts, and the toll on human lives is a monumental catastrophe. We realized that prohibition of alcohol (also a drug btw) was a failure almost 80 years ago - it's about time we realized the same for other drugs.

The wonderful thing about this book is that the author is a respected California judge, and he presents a sober, fact-based argument that's impossible to ignore.
Profile Image for Laura.
217 reviews21 followers
February 4, 2016
An excellent evaluation of the current War on Drugs. I never considered decriminalizing drugs to be a good idea, I just accepted the War on Drugs policies without question. This book changed that, with unbelievably well-argued opposition to our nation's failing policies. While I don't agree with every solution Gray proposes, I do agree 100% that what we are doing is not working, and is only hurting our communities, our economy, our criminal justice system, and our people.
I read this book for a substance abuse class for my degree, but I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about what our nation is doing to combat drug abuse and how we can do better.
Profile Image for James.
669 reviews78 followers
July 2, 2014
Excellent companion to Dr Carl Hart's High Price. Here you have a Republican judge making a strong and evidence-based case against the War on Drugs. From a civil libertarian perspective, it is also rather interesting (as a snapshot in time and otherwise), that many of the issues presented by the War on Drugs were only exacerbated in the War on Terror. Warrantless wiretapping, the whack-a-mole effect on drug dealers/terrorists and the escalation, of drug prices (supply and demand) and radicalization.
16 reviews1 follower
December 3, 2007
This is a really insightful book on the state of the drug war in the U.S. It's rather fascinating and if you're like me, it will enrage you. Do you have any idea how much our government spends on the "war on drugs"? Do you realize what a farce this "war" is? There are so many better things in this world to use the money for...saving our environment, saving our children, saving our educational system....but it's a good read.
1 review2 followers
April 10, 2009
conservative libertarian perspective on how silly our drug policy is, especially our unwillingness to discuss it. this fella lays out a lots of facts in defense of his perspective, which is that we need to change how we approach drug policy, and if we did, it would not only work better, it would cost way less. Very informative and sober. I agree with his assessment, so of course i like it. He does a great job of laying out the many options of reform, which is cool
6 reviews2 followers
August 12, 2007
Excellent indictment of our war on drugs. Explains why most of the problems associated with drugs is actually caused by our prohibition and not by the use of the drugs themselves. Recommended reading for anyone who is looking for ideas to improve our society and lessen the harm done by our insane crusade against drug use.
Profile Image for Bryan.
Author 1 book69 followers
November 10, 2007
This guy gave a lecture at my school last week. I found it persuasive but then he's preaching to the choir. I'd much rather see him gave the same talk in front of the local PTA. My guess is he'd be run out on rails.

Meanwhile, thousands rot in prison and hundreds of millions of dollars are spent to house non-violent drug offenders.
Profile Image for Kevin Goldsmith.
21 reviews1 follower
April 26, 2013
This was an enlightening read on drug policy by a veteran Judge who has firsthand experience on why drug prohibition (aka the War on Drugs) is a complete failure. It was gratifying to see the author lay out feasible and realistic policy alternatives based on science and success. This is certainly a road map for future policy makers and an educational tool for any and all.
Profile Image for Jeffrey Dhywood.
Author 1 book6 followers
September 5, 2012
A courageous book by a courageous man.
Judge Jim Gray has been a pionneer of drug policy reform in the US for the past 20 years. I highly recommend this book to anybody who sincerely wants to understand the war on drugs failure.
Profile Image for Diane.
11 reviews
March 7, 2009
I actually read this book as research for a interview with the author James P. Gray.
10 reviews1 follower
August 1, 2010
great book - easy read - definitely a mind changer as it gives an entirely different perspective that makes tremendous sense. One begins to realize how tenuous our current drug policies truly are.
Profile Image for Mark Slee.
63 reviews14 followers
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August 8, 2011
This is an important and balanced read. In particular, does a good job of exposing how ridiculous and out of control our prison system is.
23 reviews11 followers
January 31, 2013
Legal point of view on the failed drug war was a very informative read. Interesting to hear what many judges around the country are thinking...
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