Beware Euphoria

Reviews / Votes

In this polemical work Fisher takes exception to the view that the societal banning of opiates, psychedelics, and other drugs despite the acceptance of alcohol use is rooted in racism against Chinese, Mexican, and Black Americans...this well-written and well-argued book makes a strong case in favor of the author's position. * Choice * Fisher challenges claims that early antidrug laws in the U.S. arose from racialanimus, arguing instead that they trace to early Christian sexual strictures andtraditional moral censure of intoxication and perceived threats to respectablewhite women and youth. He finds that today's drug war's racial dynamic differsgreatly, as harsher penalties swell prisons with mostly non-white dealers. * Law & Social Inquiry * Beware Euphoria^r makes a useful addition to histories of the Drug War, particularly in the attention it pays to moral normativity. Fisher's careful attention to detail also means Beware Euphoria explains some individuals' roles who do not always get close attention (William Boos, Henry Finger, etc.) It makes a provocative argument for why alcohol survived while other intoxicants were banned. Overall this is good work that will benefit scholars interested in the War on Drugs. * Andrew Monteith, Church History *