Book review of Clayton J. Mosher & Scott M. Akins. Drugs and Drug Policy: The Control of Consciousness Alteration. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007. $54.95 papercover, $99.95 hardcover

Hogan, Sean R.

English

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The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare Volume 35 Issue 3 September - Special Issue: Beyond the Numbers: How the Lived Experiences of Women Challenge the "Success" of Welfare Reform Article 17 2008 Review of Drugs and Drug Policy: The Control of Consciousness Alteration. Clayton J. Mosher and Scott M. Akins. Reviewed by Sean R. Hogan. Sean R. Hogan California State University, Fullerton Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw  Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Hogan, Sean R. (2008) "Review of Drugs and Drug Policy: The Control of Consciousness Alteration. Clayton J. Mosher and Scott M. Akins. Reviewed by Sean R. Hogan.," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 35 : Iss. 3 , Article 17. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol35/iss3/17 This Book Review is brought to you by the Western Michigan University School of Social Work. For more information, please contact wmu-scholarworks@wmich.edu. 208 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfarehe sees as a general silence about gays in the military. Heargues that "the politics of military service are also the politicsof memory." If we are not told of the valor of lesbian and gayveterans, he fears Americans will not see us as having beenthere to defend our nation. Although there are other books onthis subject, this one is different in that it covers over 60 yearsof voices openly talking about their military service.In October 2000, a bipartisan Congress overwhelminglyapproved funds to establish the Veterans History Project at theLibrary of Congress to collect the stories of those who servedtheir country in time of war. Among the questions interview-ers ask is one on the discrimination veterans faced in uniformand out. Although Congress did not intend it, it gave lesbianand gay veterans the opportunity to come out. Steve Estes,working for this project, felt an obligation to "Ask and Tell" sothat these stories will now be part of recorded history.John F. LongresUniversity of WashingtonClayton J. Mosher & Scott M. Akins. Drugs and Drug Policy:The Control of Consciousness Alteration. Thousand Oaks,CA: Sage Publications, 2007. $54.95 papercover, $99.95hardcover.In the field of alcohol and drug studies, many scholars andpolicy analysts have effectively utilized a constructionist orien-tation to help explain and understand substance abuse policyand policymaking. From this perspective, individuals inter-ested in the creation and interpretation of alcohol and drugpolicy can integrate information from multiple disciplines,including history, sociology, economics, and political science.It also allows individuals to take into account the interactionbetween dynamics, such as historical and cultural relativity,political and self-interest, language and discourse (includingrhetoric, propaganda, and mediated information), and powerrelationships, in constructing substance abuse policy. In Drugsand Drug Policy: The Control of Consciousness Alteration, MosherBook Reviewsand Akins examine substance use and drug policy from whatis essentially a constructionist perspective. When utilized inan objective manner, this theoretical framework can be veryhelpful in understanding complex social phenomena.In this text, the authors integrate general substance abuseinformation with drug policy discourse into one comprehen-sive textbook. This is intended to make the text more appeal-ing to a wider audience, particularly students in academe. Thisunique characteristic, not always evident in alcohol and drugpolicy texts, is a strength of the book. The text contains chap-ters on substance abuse theory, epidemiology, prevention, andtreatment, as well as policies regulating illegal and legal drugsin the United States. A discussion on policies regulating thepharmaceutical industry is very well done. The final chapter ofthe text presents a cross-national examination of drug policiesfrom around the world.In this text, the authors openly denounce the "War onDrugs" as a misguided and corrupted campaign of self-in-terested government officials and private entrepreneurs tomislead the public into believing that alcohol and drug use ismore detrimental to American society than evidence wouldindicate. They take a position that current drug policy goalshave not been realized. In fact, the current drug policy agendahas resulted in tremendous social and economic costs and sig-nificant ancillary harm. The authors also feel that drug use,in general, is neither an immoral or unhealthy behavior, andserious consideration should be given to drug policy reforms,including the legalization, decriminalization, and regulationof current illicit and controlled substances.While the authors adamantly advocate against the use ofrhetoric, propaganda, misinformation, and advocacy group"evidence" to inappropriately influence public thinking ondrug problems, it does not stop them from presenting infor-mation and using similar tactics in promoting their own drugpolicy reform agenda. The evidence proffered by the authorsto support their arguments runs the gambit of intellectual pro-priety from interesting and provocative to sensationalistic andabsurd. At times, the litany of both scientific and anecdotal in-formation presented by the authors to "prove" certain pointsdegenerates into nothing more than finger pointing at the210 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfareapparent incompetence of researchers and anti-drug legislators.At some point, given their obsession with presenting counter-factual material relevant to drug use in the United States, thereader must begin to question the credibility of some of theauthors' supporting statements.Rather than a critical examination of the country's drugpolicy, the text is almost exclusively a criticism, minimizingany positive aspects of current anti-drug measures and ampli-fying the negative characteristics associated with these efforts,in some instances to the point of distortion. By the end of thetext, the reader is exhausted by the overriding contempt theauthors display toward the current status quo. This is unfor-tunate, because it is clearly evident that Mosher and Akinspossess the expertise necessary to offer a constructive and ob-jective analysis; they simply choose to promote their own anti-establishment-drug reform agenda. The authors' overwhelm-ing bias compromises the academic integrity of the book. As aresult, I would not recommend this work as an introductorytextbook in a course on substance abuse or alcohol and drugpolicy. Scholars and students familiar with constructionist dis-course on substance abuse policy may find some value in thetext; however, information should be reviewed through a dis-criminating lens.Sean R. HoganCalifornia State University, Fullerton

Review of \u3cem\u3eDrugs and Drug Policy: The Control of Consciousness Alteration.\u3c/em\u3e Clayton J. Mosher and Scott M. Akins. Reviewed by Sean R. Hogan.

https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3369&amp;context=jssw

Review of \u3cem\u3eDrugs and Drug Policy: The Control of Consciousness Alteration.\u3c/em\u3e Clayton J. Mosher and Scott M. Akins. Reviewed by Sean R. Hogan.

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