Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market

Reefer Madness, the Brown Scare & Sex Crazed Fascists

In REEFER MADNESS, Eric Schlosser looks at the effects of U.S. policy on the underground or "black market" economy. Specifically, he examines three diverse "commodities" – "recreational" or illegal drugs (specifically, marijuana), cheap labor (provided by undocumented workers or "illegal aliens" from Mexico and South America), and "adult" materials (primarily pornography) – and the American "war" on each. Schlosser narrows the scope of his study by focusing on a few key players in each of these underground economies: Mark Young, a recreational pot smoker and middleman who was given a life sentence for brokering a marijuana deal; California strawberry farmers and the migrant show more workers who pick the finicky fruit; and Reuben Sturman, a "pioneer" of the porn industry (and a jackbooted thug).

REEFER MADNESS is an engaging study of what happens when a supposedly free and democratic government attempts to stomp out vices that it deems morally corrupt. The section on U.S. drug policy is especially enlightening – and quite relevant, given the current upsurge in drug-related violence along the U.S.-Mexico border. Pornography receives the lion's share of attention, seemingly at the expense of immigration, which is a shame; I felt as though Schlosser barely scratched the surface of the latter, while I grew bored of Reuben Sturman's story by the end of the book. Schlosser concludes REEFER MADNESS by tying all three tales together, thus making a larger statement about civil liberties and the strengths and weaknesses of the "free market" in the U.S. Again, though, he probably could have devoted more pages to this synthesis had he not lingered on Sturman and pornography.

Overall, it's a fascinating and engaging read, and vividly demonstrates why all American citizens should be concerned with their government's attempts to regulate individual conduct – even if it's conduct with which you may personally disagree.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2009/03/31/reefer-madness-by-eric-schlosser/ show less

This book could just as easily be subtitled 'and other tales of American hypocrisy'. Schlosser looks at the current hyposcrisy of the American system – where “On top of fines, incarceration, and forefeiture, a convicted marijuana offender may face revocation of more than 460 federal benefits…even if they are disabled, may no longer receive federal welfare payments of food stamps. Convicted murderers, rapist, and child molesters, however, remain eligible for such benefits.�? And the hypocrisy extends to who becomes a convicted marijuana offender – if you are poor, you can be locked up for life. If you are rich, you are probably okay – many of the politicians who advocated the ‘lock ‘em up and throw away the key’ show more approach to anyone having anything to do with marijuana would ask for exceptions when it was their own kids that were busted.

The book also includes an exploration of illegal migration and how the strawberry industry in California has come to depend on it; and a story on the man who built his empire on porn, only to be brought down on tax charges. Schlosser writes in an engaging and thoughtful manner that is easy to read – even though these are all American examples, this Australian reader found them interesting. Schlosser could be described as a more academic and less polemical version of Michael Moore, and whatever your views on drugs, illegal workers or porn, it is worth reading this book. show less

The author analyzes three trades in the black market, or underground economy: illegal drugs (mainly focusing on marijuana), illegal labor, and money laundering in the porn industry. Much of our American money is used for illegal activities. The author states: "Black markets will always be with us. But they will recede in importance with our public morality is consistent with our private one. The underground is a good measure of the progress and the health of nations. When much is wrong, much needs to be hidden."

Or, in my own words, the government is run by puritanical hypocrites that do not practice what they preach. Control is the name of the game in order to bilk the money, vitality, and independence out of the people. Immorality is show more fine as long as it benefits those in power; they are the ones who decide what is punishable, after all. show less

This is a powerful book. Broken into 3 parts, it deals with the history of our approach to marijuana use; our use of illegal immigrants, specifically in the strawberry fields of California; and the development of porn in our country, how it grew, and how our government's attempt to suppress it only continued to spark the flame.

Eric Schlosser's meticulous research is written in an easy to understand form. He states the facts without any bias. For instance, you'll learn that a young man, with no prior record, arrested for marijuana possession can receive a longer prison sentence than a convicted murderer or rapist. And, while our country is in an uproar over illegal immigrants, our government allows these people to be used like slaves show more when convenient. When they are no longer needed, they are rounded up like cattle and sent back to Mexico.

In the end, whether you agree with his conclusions or not, a new light is shed on a world most of us pay no attention to. And perhaps tells us that we need to get more involved. show less

I thought this book was incredbily well-written and interesting. It didn't seem like the type of book I would read but when I read it, I was hooked and couldn't stop. Plus, I picked up a lot of party trivia. For example, did you know that the first law in the United States on marijuana was that every household had to grow it? Of course, they used it to make hemp, which was a huge commodity back then, but that's the level of "Snapple-cap/Jeopardy" facts you can pick up... well, at least my stoner friends thought it was cool! haha ;)

After reading Schlosser's earlier work, Fast Food Nation, I excitedly jumped into his latest work, Reefer Madness. I was disappointed.

This book felt like three other research projects he did - three projects that were on his B list. While he devoted an entire book to the the history and implication of the Fast Food industry in Fast Food Nation, he just cobbled together three subjects.

The first dealt with the views of marijuana by our government. Growing up in the Nancy Regan "Just Say No" world I always figured that government was against marijuana. In fact, the first official American government laws on marijuana asked Americans to GROW marijuana.

There were long biographies of particular marijuana farmers which I found a little long. show more People who were simply growing marijuana or trafficking marijuana spent more time in prisons than many murderers. Judges were given wide berths in the interpretation of trafficking, possession, and the amounts of marijuana. Sadly enough, some of the harshest critics of recreational drugs had their own children just have to attend community service and a nominal fine. Ironically, Charles Keating, Jr., who spent millions of taxpayer money on anti-drug campaigns, would get into jail for billion dollar fraud in the S&L scandals.

The second essay was about immigration workers . This has been talked about ad nauseum and the amount of page devoted hardly give it justice. I learned a lot about strawberries, but perhaps working in a Hispanic newspaper for the past four years makes it harder to give me great new insight

The third essay was about the growth of pornography mostly covering the life of a certain porn mogul (not Larry Flynt). The book lightly touched on some of the hypocrosies on our public view of porn and our private habits. There were a number of fascinating points in this essay but it just lacked focus.

That pretty much sums the book up. I congratulate Eric on a fine job of research and almost thundering together a book that would shake our thinking. show less

Great book, easy to read. At some point in the Porn chapter I got a little bored, but I am unsure why as when I picked the book back up I had it finished in 3 days. The strawberry chapter was infuriating and I haven't eaten them since. The Pot chapter was incredible and frustrating and he did a great job telling stories of people and giving me new information.