Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It

James P. Gray is Judge of the Superior Court in Orange County in Southern California. He has served as former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and as a criminal defense attorney as a member of the JAG Corps in the Navy. In 1998 he made an unsuccessful run for Congress as a Republican against Bob Dornan. Judge Gray has discussed issues of drug policy on more than one hundred radio and TV shows and numerous drug forums around the country.

"As provocative and topical as the film Traffic, here's a scathing jeremiad against the war on drugs, notable both for the author's position and for the sustained anger of its argument." -Publishers Weekly (starred review) "However harmful the ingestion of drugs are to their users, the attempt to prohibit drugs has made matters far worse, threatening our basic rights to life, liberty and property. That is Judge Gray's thesis in this important book and he cites overwhelming evidence to support it. His proposals to improve the situation do not go as far as I would like, but they are all feasible and in the right direction. If adopted, they would produce a major improvement." "The war on drugs cannot be a war on discussion of this problem. We can fight drug use and abuse and still explore viable options. Judge Gray illuminates options and in the process will promote necessary discussion of them." -George P. Shultz "It's all here! A stinging indictment of today's drug strategies and a rallying cry around new strategies for tomorrow." -Gary E. Johnson, Governor of New Mexico "It has been said that in public policy development we must distinguish between ideas that sound good and good ideas that are sound. In this book, Judge Gray provides sound ideas for a more effective national drug control policy. He recognizes that the War on Drugs needs new thinking for this new century." -Kurt L. Schmoke, Former Mayor of the City of Baltimore "Judge Gray's thorough and scholarly work, based as it is on his personal experience, should help considerably to improve our impossible drug laws. [His] book drives a stake through the heart of the failed War on Drugs and gives us options to hope for in the battles to come" -Walter Cronkite "...as engrossing and highly readable as its title is obvious. An encyclopedia of facts and figures underscoring our failed policies, together with a visionary path out of this mess. Gray's book catalogs the scandalous waste of resources that we continue to throw at the criminalization of a problem that a strong majority of Californians now understand is fundamentally a social and public health issue. Gray also makes good on his guarantee set forth in the Introduction: No one who reads the book will favor a continuation of our present drug policy, unless that person has a vested interest in the continuation of the policy. ...Gray's fine contribution to the subject provide[s] [an] important addition to the growing library of works that make the irrefutably strong case for the decriminalization of drugs. [The book] will hopefully become required reading for all policy-makers." -Christopher Mears, Orange County Metro "James P. Gray, a California Superior Court judge and a former Republican congressional candidate, has written perhaps the most convincing indictment ever that the war on drugs can never be won. ...Gray's careful, sobering book provides grounds for taking a fresh look at our national drug policies." -Philadelphia Inquirer

• Preface to Second Edition PART I: Introduction PART II: Our Drug Laws Have Failed 1 Past and Present A Historical Perspective Emergence of the Prison-Industrial Complex 2 Increased Harm to Communities Communities Awash in Illicit Drugs Violence and Corruption Domestic Foreign 3 Erosion of Protections of the Bill of Rights: Where's Paul Revere? 4 Increased Harm to Drug Users Demonization Deterioration of Health 5 Increased Harm for the Future Conspiracy Theories Government Policy: Don't Discuss It! PART III: Options 6 Increased Zero Tolerance 7 Education 8 Drug Treatment Rehabilitation Medicalization Needle Exchange Programs Drug Substitution Programs Drug Maintenance Programs 9 Deprofitization of Drugs Legalization Decriminalization Regulated Distribution 10 Federalism, Not Federalization PART IV: What We Can Do About It Appendix A: Resolution Appendix B: Government Commission Reports and Other Public Inquiries Index