[.ca] Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the ... (ISBN 0618334661)

From Amazon.com:
As much as 10% of the American economy, and perhaps more, is comprised of illegal "underground" enterprises, according to author and Atlantic Monthly correspondent Eric Schlosser. And while this segment is never discussed in the newspaper business pages, Schlosser tackles it with the same in-depth analysis and compulsive readability that made his Fast Food Nation a best seller. Reefer Madness spotlights marijuana, migrant labor, and pornography, three of the most thriving black market industries, and analyzes the often-tenuous place each holds in society as a whole. While each of the three could be the subject of its own book, Schlosser keeps his scope narrow by concentrating on the lives of the participants in the underground economy, especially Mark Young, an Indiana man given a life sentence for participating in a marijuana sale, and Ohio porn magnate Reuben Sturman. At just 21 pages, the treatment of migrant laborers in the California strawberry fields is dealt with more briefly but is just as compelling thanks to the first-person narrative of Schlosser's investigation. In telling these stories, which are both personal and universal, Schlosser deftly explores the manner in which his subjects are treated (and punished) compared to others in more above-ground ventures. Along the way, he asks hard questions as to what that treatment says about America. Schlosser writing is passionately opinionated, but this is no mere opinion piece: his perspective is amply supported by extensive research and clearly reasoned interpretation of data. His direct and forceful writing style makes the impact greater still. After reading Reefer Madness, readers are likely to be shocked, appalled, and flat-out bewildered by what's happening in the cracks and crevices of American business. --John Moe

more, please:
I now know more about drug and obscenity laws than I ever imagined I'd need the brain cell storage to accommodate ... and that's a peculiarly good thing. I came out of this book with a new set of unlikely personal heroes - men and women who first challenged the absurdly restrictive obscenity laws in order to make health and birth control information legal to ship through the US mail ... and even folks like the irrepressibly obnoxious Larry Flynt, who is in some respects our nation's last defense against enforced, legislated morality. Read about the bizarre, inconsistent and patently ridiculous drug laws that keep marijuana users under a heavier legal boot than convicted child rapists. Find out why I will never again, so long as I live, spend money at a Taco Bell. If this seems like a broad spread to cover in one book, that's because part of the beauty of Schlosser is his ability to ferret out the very real connections between legitimate business and the black markets that we (as the blindly consuming public) may never suspect. In our present culture of conspicuous censorship and our lamely moral-high-ground-napping political climate, this is a highly instructive read. GO AND GET IT. Consider it your civic duty to educate yourself on what your government and its corporate cohorts are really up to while you're not watching.

Very good but should actually be 3 books:
A very good collection of 3 essays that each probably deserve a book of their own by this writer. The Strawberry Fields on Agriculture chapter in particular was the most interesting and insightful to me. It is discouraging and disappointing that people can go to jail for multi-year sentences for marijuana possesion and have longer terms than people convicted of assult Strikes me that the easiest way to take on the undeground economy is to eliminate cash - make all transactions either stored value cards, credit cards, debit cards or cheque cards....

Changed my perspective!:
Eric has done it again. I read his last book Fast Food Nation, and was impressed with his depth and skill at writing. This book was even better. Eric sets up the book with a discussion on the U.S. Drug war on Marijuana. He unpacks several cases where the government has spent millions of dollars to stop something that has never proven to be lethal or dangerous to ones health. Then, he steps into the world of the migrant worker, especially those in the strawberry fields of California. Eric raises the question: Why does the government do so little for these people who are being used and abused for their cheap labor? Schlosser ends with a discussion on the pornography industry. He again refers to how the government spends billions of dollars attempting to limit something that is a freedom this country was fought to defend. I am an evangelical pastor with a conservative, republican upbringing. This book raises major questions for some of the verbal stances I take against things such as Marijuana and pornography - which I believe are both wrong - and do and say nothing about the plight of the migrant workers and the injustice they receive every day. I don't see the justification of spending so much money trying to eliminate products of capitalism and a free nation. Even though I think that getting high and the obscene are horrible for ones life...so are cigarettes, eating too much fast food, being lazy - but those are choices that individuals have to make, not be forced upon by a large government. Especially when women and children cannot eat because the same government will not protect the rights of these workers. As you can see this book grabbed me. It will grab and challenge you to!

An Informative Potpouri of Topics:
Having read the author's previous book, and holding the same reservations that anyone would have about follow-ups (that it won't be nearly as good as the first outing), I picked up this book and set it aside for a quiet time. When I finally got around to reading Reefer Madness, I found I could not put it down. Time literally stopped, and some passages merited second and third readings. On his second try, Schlosser delivered big-time, and while more of an academic essay and an ad populum appeal to values than hard-hitting investigative journalism, it still manages to uphold the tradition of excellence in muckraking journalism. The book consists of three extended essays on such diverse but inter-linked topics as pornography, marijuana and migrant, specifically illegal agricultural, labor. The subjects are inter-linked because first they are part of a vibrant, free-wheeling and dynamic underground economy in America, and second there have been some rather unusual linkages between the two. One colorful example of such linkages is the fact that many enterprising drug producers have on occasion used illegal migrant labor to tend to marijuana crops in out of the way places. Another very colorful (or disturbing, depending on your point of view) example is the prolific use of marijuana and other illegal drugs as inducements to get participants to perform certain acts in the pornography industry or as a means of obtaining such drugs (which for some reason, the author fails to mention, even though numerous anecdotal affirmations of this are available). Nonetheless, each activity represents Big Business in America. One of the three, pornography, has made the transition from the fringe to mainstream business, and because of this, does not really count as a true underground activity, at least in my mind. The problem of illegal migrant labor has been knowingly overlooked as a result of a gentlemen's agreement between corporations (which would not be nearly as profitable without it) and the government (which would prefer to use as little of its resources as possible policing this problem). On the other hand, the marijuana trade has been and is patently illegal, and the author suspects that this state of affairs will change, moving towards that of pornography, or that of illegal migrant labor. The situation for each of these industries, beginning with their history, the extent of activity currently in each sphere, and the impact each has had, particularly on those who participate in each sphere, is covered in a fair amount of detail. The book exposes how We The People really get what we want, and reveals an undisclosed truth as to how our economic and social order really maintains itself. For example, food has become cheaper over time in no small part because of our government's stance on migrant labor. Of course, there are the occasional crackdowns and sensational raids, but that merely goes through the motions and panders to the Press and flag-waving conservatives. As such, more than a few adherents of the Back to the Land Movement and Ecological Farming ideologies should take note. It also reveals the gross double standard we apply to those who are governed and those who do the governing. American Express, I believe, once advertised its credit with the phrase 'Membership has its Priviledges'. Something similar can be said about our ruling elite, who overturn drug (and other) convictions on their relatives and cronies, but throw the book at the average wage earning schmuck. Granted, the second chapter, In the Strawberry Fields, covers not only illegal farm labor but also the California agricultural industry. However, the industry as a whole is totally dependent on either illegal migrant labor or laborers who receive neither a living wage nor health benefits. The third chapter, An Empire of the Obscene, intertwines the growth of pornography with the exploits of perhaps the most famous elder statesman of smut, Reuben Sturman. Mr. Sturman was the most successful entrepreneur of porn, whose marketing skills and innovative insights literally formed the modern day adult industry. He also proved himself to be a very interesting character study, being an unusual blend of savvy salesman, entrepreneur, flag-waving patriot and conservative family-man. Mr. Sturman also took on the formidable federal government by becoming a most unlikely champion of first amendent rights, and won while simultaneously dodging his taxes and thumbing his nose at the IRS. This colorful character alone would make for very interesting reading in a separate book. As a whole, the book takes a Progressive stance towards each of these activities, focusing on the effects each has on the people directly involved in the particular activity. While there exists some grousing about the free market and capitalism, particularly in the preface, The Underground, and the epilogue, Out of the Underground, the content, I believe, will provide positive reinforcement for many that are for social justice (and Pro-Pot and Pro-Porn) and will spark some heated debates. Reefer Madness definitely makes for good, fascinating reading, and I bet that if one were to lend his or her copy to a friend, he or she would never see the book again.

Must Read For Lovers of Free Markets:
Free markets are a myth. Well functioning markets depend on a complex alignment of public and private values, culture and laws. When these causes are not aligned, the model breaks down. One measure of market malaise, if not social malaise, is the size of black markets in the economy. In Reefer Madness, Eric Schlosser estimates that black markets in the U.S.A. are about 5% to 10% of the total economy. In less developed economies or transitional economies such as Russia, black markets represent 40% or more of the total economy. Why is this of concern? According to Schlosser, black markets undermine government and democracy, both in respect and revenue, creates criminals of both producers and consumers of black market products and services, and creates unnecessary spending on litigation, the courts and prisons. Almost all Americans are guilty using black markets, even if it is paying the plumber or other trade in cash to evade taxes. Schlosser explains his thesis with three cases studies: marijuana, illegal immigrants, and the porn industry. With the marijuana black market, he effectively argues there is limited evidence that marijuana consumption is harmful, and that many people consume it. Indeed, it is difficult to make a case that it is any worse, and possibly better, for people than alcohol, which is legal. The greater harm has come from overzealous prosecution of dealers and users, filling prisons in record numbers. However, armed robbery and murder often carry lesser sentences. Current laws and prosecution of marijuana use are an abject failure. Both consumption and production have increased over the decades. Marijuana is arguably the largest cash crop in the United State. Given the disconnect between public and private values, would not an alternative policy, such as decriminalizing the use of marijuana, regulating its use in the same manner as alcohol make some sense. Schlosser makes a clear case that it would produce a social net benefit, increasing tax revenues, reducing court cases, and start emptying prisons. There would also be less tangible benefits such as greater respect for the governing authority. Illegal immigration is the second case study, focusing on the black market for Mexican labor in the California agricultural community. Schlosser shows how cheap illegal Mexican labor has distorted producing strawberries, ostensibly to California's advantage in the short term. But in the long term the effect will be painful, because the farming community is so far behind now in adopting new technology, because of the cheap labor. As well, cheap foreign labor has reduced the local standard of living and increased black markets, which some experts estimate to be as high as 30 percent in the LA area. The long term effect if continued will be to create a homegrown peasant economy. The solution does not lie in building fences or other restraints to immigration. The most effective policy choice according to Schlosser is developing and ensuring fair labor practices, including a decent minimum wage for all workers, whether they are immigrants or not. The porn industry over the past century is the subject of the third case study. Indeed, Schlosser provides a thumbnail history back to Comstock's antiporn crusades in the 19th century. The major focus is on the last 50 years and the remarkable cultural shift in American attitudes toward porn during that period. Schlosser focuses on the story of Reuben Sturman, the dark genius of the modern porn industry, and his battles with the government. While Sturman eventually goes to jail for tax evasion, his victories in the courts in fighting charges of porn pave the way for the modern porn industry. Sturman's story also highlights the role of the courts in reflecting cultural change in community standards over the decades, a role well suited to judicial interpretation rather than legislative or administrative law. Arguably, the black market in porn is much less than it otherwise would have been without these decisions. While Schlosser suggests that reason will win the day, his three case studies are less than reassuring. It seems irrationality, ignorance, and inertia play a powerful role, especially for marijuana and immigration. Problems that can extend for decades and generations eventually undermine the integrity if not the foundation of a society founded on the principles of free market democracy. Schlosser's book is a must read for anyone interested in the health of their democracy and market system.