The Pursuit of Oblivion: A Global History of Narcotics

Rating:
Summary: Factual problems
Review: Davenport-Hines may be one of England's most highly regarded historians, but he should have hired one of England's most highly regarded fact-checkers. The book is riddled with petty errors (singer Marc Almond becomes "Mark Almond", the German of "Knight of the Spirit" is translated to "Night of the Spirit") that make me doubt the overall quality of the author's scholarship.

The author has a strong point of view, namely that drugs and intoxication are a persistent part of the human experience, and abuse should be seen as a medical problem, not a criminal one. He undercuts this with descriptions of the horrific effects of both legal and illegal drugs - "anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations and psychotic behaviour" is the result of one common preparation.

I came to this book without any particular prejudices, and in fact live next door to a thriving and relatively peaceful open hashish market in Copenhagen, Denmark. But after reading several hundred pages about lives ruined by a rainbow of substances, I felt like banning the lot.

Rating:
Summary: A good book overall
Review: I expected a more thorough evisceration of the idealogies behind the war on drugs from this book. Davenport-Hines doesn't really get down to attacking what is really our modern inquisition until near the end.

Too much of the book is a litany of statistics and dry accounts of the spread of drug abuse and the subsequent escalation of authoritarian measures to counter it. Although he adequately demonstrates how prohibition created the global black market in drugs he does not hammer home enough how criminalisation is responsible for most of the ills associated with drug abuse, including violent crime, overdoses and the spread of diseases like HIV.

Although this is a history and not a polemic if there is one thing the history of drug abuse amply demonstrates is that prohibition has been a collosal failure if not a profound evil. Davenport-Hines could have emphasized this theme more throughout the book to unify the disparate elements. And while I would not expect a romanticization of drug use I would think that a complete history of narcotics would give at least some attention to the perspective of the user. Davenport-Hines seems too preoccupied with maintaining an air of compassionate but stern disapproval. I got the feeling that this guy has never had a drink let alone smoked a joint.

Rating:
Summary: A Dismal History, Authoritatively Told
Review: In the midst of the War on Terror, we can only hope that it is going to be more winnable than the War on Drugs. The War on Drugs has been going on by name (and being lost), only for a few decades, but this represents merely a parochial view of the problem of drugs and societies. It might be better to take the long view, and this is what Richard Davenport-Hines has done in _The Pursuit of Oblivion: A Global History of Narcotics_ (W. W. Norton), a weighty volume that demonstrates that such wars have never been won in free societies, and have been waged at larger harm to their societies than the drugs themselves. A telling theme throughout Davenport-Hines's book is that just about anyone has wished for some sort of chemical aid towards taking the edge off life, towards making pleasure a little easier to get, and most people do indeed go for such chemistry of pleasure in some form. His contention that "absolute sobriety is not a natural or primary human state" is surprising and is inarguable, given the huge range of legal and illegal and temporarily legal drugs that humans have come up with. This will conflict with those who favor prohibition, and particularly with Americans whose brand of puritanism has always distrusted hedonism.

The distrust of drug use _by others_ seems universal, but _Pursuit_ gives, in its monumental length, remarkable stories of use in specific instances. Such details as these make reading _Pursuit_, with all its bulk, a hugely entertaining and enjoyable activity (recommended to all hedonists). It is good to see that the use of drugs crosses all times and all cultures. Davenport-Hines also makes the reading easy because, although there is a definite point of view to the book, it is much more a history rather than a polemic. But he does demonstrate that virtually every attempt to enforce particular prohibitions has increased drug profits and drug use. A president of Columbia explained, "The only law the narcoterrorists don't break is the law of supply and demand." Prohibitionists can't break that one, either. Some of the specific tactics of the current war on drugs are shown to be silly and short-sighted. It would be different if these actions were making drugs unattractive, decreasing jail populations, and increasing the overall general health, but we do not see that happening.

Davenport-Hines shows the advantages of the Dutch system. Making marijuana and hashish available in coffee shops, for instance, lowered use of the drug, and separated cannabis and heroin suppliers. Intravenous drug use is treated as a chronic, relapsing condition, and social and medical services are made available, such as needle-exchange programs and sale of syringes without a prescription. By such means, the heroin addict population is simply growing older and new recruits are not joining their ranks. It is, of course, not certain that such steps would work in the American atmosphere, and it is even less certain that American puritanism would allow anything like them. But _The Pursuit of Oblivion_, comprehensive and well-referenced, makes clear that anti-drug policy now is little different than what has been tried for hundreds of years, and is just as unsuccessful. This is the sort of book that anyone involved in making drug policy, including those who vote for policy-makers, ought to be reading.

Rating:
Summary: Takes an historical approach to considering
Review: Pursuit Of Oblivion takes an historical approach to considering the traditional and changing use of illicit drugs around the world, pursuing a survey of five centuries of drug trade and showing how narcotics changed from untested medicine to pleasure tools. Social, political and cultural history blend in a treatment suitable for high school on up.

Rating:
Summary: Rambles through the land of narcotics like a lost tourist...
Review: The author leads us to believe that prohibition of drugs in any form is a terrible idea and is the reason why so many people are getting rich off of the drug trade. His theory has many holes and though I understand what he is trying to say, I didn't like his Marxist-style commentary. He rambles through the first 5 chapters like a lost tourist and has some very foolish ideas on how to treat the drug epidemic. Not one of the better books on the subject of drug use and abuse.

Rating:
Summary: Provocative, Educational and Entertaining
Review: THE PURSUIT OF OBLIVION is a well-written, deeply researched history of drugs, their use, the emotional extremes drug use has created in individuals and cultures over the past 500 years, and the ineffective efforts to control it.

Using drugs to induce euphoria, reduce anxiety, control pain, increase physical and mental energy, and alter perceptions are, according to the author, natural activities in human experience. Richard Davenport-Hines, a highly regarded historian claims prohibition of illicit substances is a bad idea. He argues that craving the drug is what drives users to criminal behavior and if the illegal supply of drugs was legalized and made available there would be no need for the expensive and ineffective strategies of enforced abstinence and the punitive treatment of users.

Whether you agree with legalization or not, the history of drug-taking over the last 500 years is fascinating. His presentation of the material and the provocative argument against prohibition will create a variety of reactions. It will anger those who believe drug use is a moral plague attacking and destroying society. It will please those who require rationalization for legalization and are exhausted by the futility of the ineffective strategies in the War on Drugs and "Just Say No" campaign.

Regardless of how you feel about legalization, if you wonder about drug use, its origins, its effects on individuals and societies, its manufacture, marketing, and distribution, you will be enthralled with THE PURSUIT OF OBLIVION. It is Highly Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Academically excellent, a little dry
Review: This book traces the fascination, profits and uses of various drugs and mind altering substances throughout history. It is especially good with quotations, use of the substances during various time periods, and the social views of useage during those periods.

It is well documented and gives us a real view of the politics and economics of government manipulation of drug use and trafficking, throughout history. I wondered if some of the large drug companies, who are presented as the chemical inventors of some of our most dreadful drugs, should have some responsibility for the state of drug useage today -- this author names names.

I found the early chapters to really be history and sometimes lacking in read-appeal. Later chapters reveal something of the author's personal views on solutions, the War on Drugs, which he calls a "war on drug users" and his disgust with the failed policies of this nation and Britain. Altogether a good book, but it took me a while to read.