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Freedom Book of the Month for November, 2003:
"A Drug War Carol"
by Susan W Wells and Scott Bieser
BigHead, 2003, paper, 80 pp.
Graphic novellas generally don't do much for me. Even if the story is good, like in V for Vendetta, I often find the heavy reliance on illustrations over text ineffective -- I'd rather imagine the people and settings, and get more details that typical short stories and novels provide. A Drug War Carol may have cured me of this bias, because a large part of what made the book work so well for me is Scott Bieser's amazing artwork.
Yes, I know ... this book isn't really new. It's been around online for quite some time. But it is new in print format (published in September, 2003), which makes its important message more widely available, and more credible to those who believe the internet is nothing but one big conspiracy theory after another.
The premise of A Drug War Carol is straightforward: borrowing from Dickens' Christmas Carol, Wells and Bieser have a semi-fictitious drug war czar visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, showing how the war on drugs began and how it will end for their main character, whose appearance reminds me a bit of Barry McCaffrey. That, and the appearance -- both in name and cartoon depiction -- of Vin Suprynowicz in the book are among the several subtle treats in the book. Bieser (and those who assisted him) have created a wonderfully rich visual tale, but which is understated enough to make the book accessible to those normally close-minded to drug legalization issues. I found myself enjoying the artwork equally with the text, something that has not happened with a graphic novella before.
That isn't to suggest the text is somehow flawed. The ghost of Christmas Past dominates the tale, as the origins of the drug war are extensively detailed (with footnotes, no less!), but that history is very important to understanding how thoroughly flawed this war is. For those who've long wondered if the story about one of Johns Hopkins' founders being a drug addict is apocryphal, it's unambiguously addressed. Page after page, the bogus case for drug regulation is documented beyond any reasonable person's ability to discount.
That's really what matters most, because once an individual can see that the war on all drugs has destroyed thousands of lives, cost fortunes, and created the regulatory burden of so-called pharmaceutical medications, it's an easy step to understand that these regulations must be abolished. How to do that isn't specifically addressed in the book, and its conclusion is perhaps a bit anticlimactic after the careful, thorough presentation of the building of this beast. Even so, A Drug War Carol is a powerful tool for helping individuals understand the necessarily evil nature of turning private choices into crimes. A Drug War Carol, coupled with a good discussion of Rush Limbaugh's recent revelations regarding his substance use, should open many conservatives' eyes to the harm these policies -- largely pushed by the right -- have caused.
A Drug War Carol is still available online. The print version doesn't have the convenience of hyperlinked footnotes, but that's really the only advantage the online edition has over the physical book. The Christmas season is upon us, and the drug issue is not going away -- indeed, the Medicare "reform" boondoggle will result in even more money being stolen to finance seniors' prescription medications. These facts make the $5.95 Amazon price for this compact, information-dense gem an easy, worthwhile investment to make into supporting an independent, libertarian publisher and its creative authors. Individuals across the political spectrum, law enforcement officers, judges, drug rehab counselors, and physicians who support the status quo view of drug use and abuse can benefit from A Drug War Carol.
For those who are interested in obtaining multiple copies of the book, see the book's web site for multiple-copy discounts, or procurement for nonprofit drug law reform organizations (for reselling, premiums, etc.). Price will vary with quantity.
, $5.95
More book information for November 2003
edited by Sunni Maravillosa
October 2003: Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression by Mary J Ruwart
September 2003: Hecate's Glory by Karen Michalson
August 2003: The Bias Against Guns by John R Lott Jr
July 2003: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
June 2003: Eco-nomics by Richard L. Stroup
May 2003: The Worm in the Apple by Peter Brimelow
April 2003: Shattered Dreams by NCPPR staff
March 2003: The Rule of Lawyers by Walter K. Olson
February 2003: Global Warming and Other Eco-Myths, edited by Ronald Bailey
Freedom Book of the Year 2002: The Ballad of Carl Drega by Vin Suprynowicz
December 2002: Blood of the Roses, by Alex Gabbard
November 2002: The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science, by Ludwig von Mises
October 2002: The Haunted Air, by F. Paul Wilson
September 2002: Lead Astray and Out of Bounds, Out of Control by Peter Samuel and James V. DeLong respectively
August 2002: Boston's Gun Bible II by Boston T. Party
July 2002: Economics for Real People by Gene Callahan
June 2002: Net Assets by Carl Bussjaeger
May 2002: The Ballad of Carl Drega by Vin Suprynowicz
April 2002: Toward Liberty: The Idea that is Changing the World edited by David Boaz
March 2002: Liberty for Women edited by Wendy McElroy
February 2002: The State vs. the People by Aaron Zelman and Claire Wolfe
Freedom Book of the Year, 2001: Hope by Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith
January 2002: Death by Gun Control by Aaron Zelman and Richard W. Stevens
December 2001: The American Zone by L. Neil Smith
November 2001: Ayn Rand and Business by Donna Greiner and Theodore Kinni
October 2001: Junk Science Judo by Steven J. Milloy
September 2001: Jonathan Gullible by Ken Schoolland
August 2001: Hope by L. Neil Smith and Aaron Zelman
July 2001: Dissenting Electorate edited by Wendy McElroy and Carl Watner
June 2001: Tethered Citizens by Sheldon Richman
May 2001: Lever Action by L. Neil Smith
April 2001: The Cato Handbook for Congress from the Cato Institute
March 2001: The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand by David Kelley
February 2001: Crypto by Steven Levy
January 2001: Total Freedom by Chris Matthew Sciabarra
Freedom Book of the Year 2000: Forge of the Elders by L. Neil Smith
December 2000: The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto
November 2000: Escape from Leviathan by J.C. Lester
October 2000: The Art of Political War by David Horowitz
September 2000: An Enemy of the State by Justin Raimondo
August 2000: The Triumph of Liberty by Jim Powell
July 2000: A Generation Divided by Rebecca Klatch
June 2000: Law's Order by David Friedman
May 2000: Forge of the Elders by L. Neil Smith
April 2000: Reciprocia by Richard G. Rieben
March 2000: The Art of Fiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers by Ayn Rand
February 2000: Addiction is a Choice by Jeffrey A. Schaler
January 2000: Revolutionary Language by David C. Calderwood
Special December 1999 Feature: The Freedom Book of the Year: Send in the Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998 by Vin Suprynowicz
November 1999: Conquests and Cultures by Thomas Sowell
October 1999: A Way To Be Free by Robert LeFevre, edited by Wendy McElroy
September 1999: Assassins (Left Behind) by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
August 1999: Don't Shoot the Bastards (Yet): 101 More Ways to Salvage Freedom by Claire Wolfe
July 1999: The Mitzvah by L. Neil Smith and Aaron Zelman
June 1999: The Incredible Bread Machine by R.W. Grant
May 1999: Send in the Waco Killers by Vin Suprynowicz
April 1999: It Still Begins with Ayn Rand by Jerome Tuccille
March 1999: The Dictionary of Free-Market Economics by Fred Foldvary
February 1999: Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand edited by Mimi Reisel Gladstein and Chris Matthew Sciabarra
In December 2004 this page was modified significantly from its original form for archiving purposes.
, founded in 1995, is now a part of ISIL.
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