
Beware Euphoria
The Moral Roots and Racial Myths of America's War on Drugs
George Fisher(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 22. March 2024
Book
Hardback
504 pages
978-0-19-768848-9 (ISBN)
Description
Beware Euphoria uncovers the roots of America's moral obsession with drug regulation, offering a lively and fascinating history of the nation's racialized fear of intoxication. Challenging the idea that early antidrug laws in the US arose from racial animus, George Fisher instead shows in textured detail how US drug laws were driven by a deep-seated cultural taboo against euphoria and a preoccupation with white moral integrity.
From nineteenth-century opium dens to the war on cocaine and cannabis, and more, Fisher offers a vivid tour of the sites of conflict, along with a convincing case for how the moral discourses and social contexts of the day pit drugs against the law. Bringing this history up to the present, Fisher shows how the racial dynamic has changed dramatically. As harsher penalties swell prisons with mostly nonwhite dealers, antidrug laws have come under renewed scrutiny as a tool of racial oppression. The book closes with an examination of cannabis legalization, driven in part by the movement for racial justice.
From nineteenth-century opium dens to the war on cocaine and cannabis, and more, Fisher offers a vivid tour of the sites of conflict, along with a convincing case for how the moral discourses and social contexts of the day pit drugs against the law. Bringing this history up to the present, Fisher shows how the racial dynamic has changed dramatically. As harsher penalties swell prisons with mostly nonwhite dealers, antidrug laws have come under renewed scrutiny as a tool of racial oppression. The book closes with an examination of cannabis legalization, driven in part by the movement for racial justice.
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 *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
21 figures & 11 maps
Dimensions
Height: 221 mm
Width: 165 mm
Thickness: 46 mm
Weight
839 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-768848-9 (9780197688489)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2024
OUP eBook
€32.99
Available for download

E-Book
01/2024
OUP eBook
€32.99
Available for download
Person
George Fisher is the Judge John Crown Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, where he has been teaching evidence, prosecution practice, and criminal legal history since 1995. He began practice as a Massachusetts prosecutor and later taught at Boston College Law School, Harvard Law School, and Yale Law School.
Author
Judge John Crown Professor of LawJudge John Crown Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
Content
List of Illustrations and Tables
Prologue
Introduction: Monogamy's Paradox
PART I: MORAL ROOTS
Chapter One: Sex, Drunkenness, and the Euphoria Taboo
Chapter Two: The Gin Crisis
Chapter Three: Prohibition's Rise, Its Fall, and the Reign of Social Drinking
Chapter Four: Medical Drug Use Versus Recreational Abuse
PART II: RACIAL MYTHS
Chapter Five: Race in the Dens and Miscegenation Myths
Chapter Six: Crazed Racial Coke Fiends
Chapter Seven: Marijuana: Assassin of Youth
Chapter Eight: Monogamy's Demise?
Prologue
Introduction: Monogamy's Paradox
PART I: MORAL ROOTS
Chapter One: Sex, Drunkenness, and the Euphoria Taboo
Chapter Two: The Gin Crisis
Chapter Three: Prohibition's Rise, Its Fall, and the Reign of Social Drinking
Chapter Four: Medical Drug Use Versus Recreational Abuse
PART II: RACIAL MYTHS
Chapter Five: Race in the Dens and Miscegenation Myths
Chapter Six: Crazed Racial Coke Fiends
Chapter Seven: Marijuana: Assassin of Youth
Chapter Eight: Monogamy's Demise?