Edward M. Brecher and the Editors of Consumer Reports, Licit and Illicit Drugs. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1972.
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This book has been like a bible to me and I suspect to millions of other people. It was written by the late, wonderful Ed Brecher, a journalist who combined knowledge of science and history with the ability to write with stunning clarity. He became a dear friend and was one of those who provided great encouragement when I was in the early stages of launching the Drug Policy Foundation. The book covers virtually all of the legal and illegal drugs in readable and compelling prose, raising questions about hoary myths, irrational laws, and destructive policies. As such, it provides a compelling basis for rational opposition to current policies regarding many drugs.

If you have not read it, you have no damn business working or writing or doing anything in the field of drug policy on any side of the issue. If you are an addict or if you have family or friends in trouble with drugs of any kind, and you want to get real insight into the broader world of drugs of all kinds, start out by reading this book. It is long - 623 pages with footnotes - and it dates from the early Seventies, like so many of the books I read that hooked me, but it is vital, even though some of the data are not current. The basic ideas are timeless. You do not have to read all of it but do read a lot of it.

It is out of print and you will have to rely on Amazon.com's out-of-print service to get it but do your best to get a copy, from whatever source. Most libraries will have a copy.

As with all of the books I have read and used extensively in class, I disagree with some sections, but that is par for the course. (I now disagree with sections of my own published books.) Get it and read it or you will flunk this cyberspace course!