Drugs in the Western Hemisphere

A history of drugs is a study of cultures in competition, argues editor William Walker. Eminently adaptive, drug cultures have competed with proscriptive cultures to create a legitimate place for themselves, although one that the dominant society may recognize only tacitly. Drugs in the Western Hemisphere brings together forty-six essays that examine the complex negotiations and changing rhetoric revolving around issues of drugs and their control between the United States and its Latin American neighbors. Professor Walker offers a chronological overview of the evolution of U.S.-Latin American drug policy from the turn of the century to the Clinton administration. He has collected essays from sociologists, historians, political scientists, and public policy experts, resulting in one of the most approachable readers yet assembled on this important and difficult topic.