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Drug War: Covert Money, Power & Policy: Rave Reviews

    "The subtitle of Dan Russell’s epic dissertation, Drug War: Covert Money, Power & Policy, says it all. Make no mistake, this is not a book about the so-called "War on Drugs" we hear about in the newspapers, the one being fought on our streets between cops and druggies or border guards and drug smugglers.... No, this book is something else entirely, nothing less than a scathing expose of the corrupt power structures which have emerged under the policy of US global drug prohibition, and a detailed look at all the brutalities, genocidal wars, and seedy covert operations that have been financed by the inflated value of prohibited drugs since day one."
     "While Drug War is without a doubt one of the most illuminating books I’ve ever read, I must warn you that it is by no means an easy book to read. Each paragraph is dense with information that just keeps coming and coming, and just about every other sentence is cross referenced to another major source."
     "Rarely do I read a book and have the urge to tell everyone I know that they must stop what they are doing read it immediately, but with Drug War that urge came over me again and again. It is truly a very shocking and astounding book, the reading of which marked a big turning point in my own understanding of prohibition and 20th century covert geopolitics. I thought I knew a few things about the War on Drugs, but I didn’t know the half of it before Dan Russell pulled all the pieces together for me. He had the guts to tell the whole story like it really is, and engrave the grim history of our country’s dirtiest secret on the record forever. I highly recommend you check it out today should you dare know the truth." James Kent, Publisher, Tripzine.com

    "Dan Russell is a paradigm shifter of the first order. This is a book that gives the world a whole new way to understand the cosmology of drugs, intelligence, shamanism, spirituality, assassination and war. If I had to pick five books to keep as the best understanding of the insanity, profit motive, Wall Street-driving, prison-industry-sustaining, intelligence-agency-protected system this would be one of them. An absolute must read for anyone coming from a legal, law enforcement or academic background. More than 1300 footnotes leave no stone unturned and a new dimension opened. Anyone who wants to understand the real issues raised by drugs and the drug war cannot afford to bypass this seminal work." Michael C. Ruppert, former LAPD narcotics investigator; anti-CIA activist; publisher/editor - From The Wilderness @ www.copvcia.com

    "I just finished Drug War. Wow! I have learned so much and enjoyed this read tremendously. Your book was a watershed event for me. It helped me 'see the world whole' and understand the drug business and the war on drugs in an important new way. We are all pressed for time, but reading your book was the ultimate time saver for me. There is nothing more powerful than understanding the chaos when you are in it....Your book is a monumental achievement....for goodness sakes this needs to get out asap. Excellent is excellent!" Catherine Austin Fitts, Federal Housing Commissioner, 1989-90; President, Solari, Inc.; www.solari.com

    "Dan Russell's Drug War goes to the heart of the so-called 'drug-problem', really a 'prohibition-problem': extra-curricular drug- and gun-running by numerous governments, with that of the United States at the head of the list, its cynical and duplicitous 'war on drugs' notwithstanding - nought but a racist war on the poor and disenfranchised, both nationally and internationally, and withal a 'war on the drug competition'; nor ought we to forget who invented modern money laundering shell-games, nor who profits the most from them. I urge you to read Dan Russell's shocking exposé - may it serve as a much-needed wake-up call!" Jonathan Ott, author/co-author of Pharmacophilia Or The Natural Paradises, Pharmacotheon, Persephone's Quest, The Road To Eleusis, Hallucinogenic Plants of North America, The Age of Entheogens, etc. (All Ott books are available thru: Jonathan Ott Books, PO Box 1251, Occidental, CA 95465)

    "The best book I ever read on the Drug War." Celerino Castillo III, lead DEA agent in Guatemala and El Salvador, 1985-90, who developed much of the Contra cocaine evidence; author of Powderburns; powderburns@prodigy.net

    "Drug War epitomizes such books as Alexander Cockburn’s Whiteout, Alfred McCoy’s The Politics of Heroin, and Gary Webb’s Dark Alliance all together, with riveting photography throughout. Written in an easy to read, flowing style that is entertaining while at the same time amazingly detailed, concise, and to the point, Drug War covers one hell of a lot of ground. With a sixteen page bibliography, and a copious amount of footnotes, this is a very in-depth look at the current state of affairs, the whys and wherefores of the Drug War." Preston Peet, High Times Magazine

    "Dan Russell's sequel Drug War is on par with Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States. This historical account needs to be in every educational institution, beginning with high school, to tell the other side of the story of our loss of earth-based ecstasy. Drug War brilliantly shows how our healing relationship with plant allies came to be replaced with the prevailing political agenda of drug propaganda. I recommend this great book, which I personally couldn't put down as it engages like a historical / political novel, for all schools of free thinkers. It is the central text in our homeschool for my teenagers this year!" Jeannine Parvati Baker, author of Hygieia:A Woman's Herbal; Conscious Conception:Elemental Journey Through the Labyrinth of Sexuality; Prenatal Yoga & Natural Birth: Freestone Innerprizes: Optimal Personal & Family Health

    "In Drug War, author Dan Russell convincingly demonstrates that the current CIA-Drugs debate is part of a larger societal struggle between the forces of freedom and those of repression, and that the phony 'drug war' is really just a 'trojan horse' in the creation of what has been called 'friendly fascism.' Drug War is an amazingly entertaining read, and the most comprehensive look yet at the biggest mystery of our culture: why drugs are illegal, who profits, and who benefits... a tour de force of intellectual courage and honesty on a subject which encourages neither." Daniel Hopsicker, The Drug Money Times, author of the upcoming Barry and the Boys

    "An important, strenuously argued contribution to the case against our nation's scandalous narcotics policies and laws. Particularly valuable are the the encyclopaedic historical and anthropological perspectives which the author brings to bear on our cultural crisis. His scathing review of today's unjust confiscation and sentencing statutes is balanced by encouraging and badly-needed statistics about the successes of alternatives, such as the Dutch decriminalization program." Peter Dale Scott, English Department, University of California, Berkeley, author of Cocaine Politics, Deep Politics, Crime & Cover-Up, Coming To Jakarta, etc.

    "Russell provides a vibrant, detailed history of drug use and drug policy. This book should be studied by anyone working to develop a policy that works. It is obvious that we are currently repeating mistakes we have made in the past -- hopefully this book will be widely read and more sensible approaches can be pursued."
     "Russell's review of history shows that drug prohibition enforced by a war on drugs will not only fail, it will make health, crime and other drug-related policies worse. By learning from history we can break the spiraling cycle of extremist policies and enact more cost-effective approaches that create a safer and healthier America." Kevin Zeese, Esq.,President, Common Sense For Drug Policy

     "A very impressive piece of work! You have given the reader a detailed description of prohibition and criminalization, and a chronicle of the early U.S. legal issues and bureaucratic decisions. Further, you have sketched out the economic, social, and political reasons for those decisions. Your anecdotes are enjoyable, your breadth is magnificent, and the data are well-supported... This is a hard-hitting account that will disturb many of its readers, but may also expand their perspective by offering alternative options to what has become a no-win situation." Stanley Krippner, PH.D., co-author of The Mythic Path, co-editor of Broken Images, Broken Selves

    Journal of Cognitive Liberties: "a penetrating examination of the host of forces currently supporting the modern Drug War...sure to become an essential addition to the Drug War library." Richard Glen Boire, Esq., Executive Director, The Alchemind Society

    "Mr. Russell has produced a work of careful scholarship that will interest not only the participants in the drug wars, but the drug-gang victims as well. This piece of contextually multidimentional history is academic in the finest tradition, and, realistically, should be required reading for junior high, high school, and college students as a rational substitute for the "Just Say No" ditty. Teachers, by reading and discussing this volume with their students, might derive an attitude adjustment. The rationale is to drive home the point that while not all illegal substances are harmful as officially alleged, uninformed substance abuse is not innocuous."
    "A fascinating tapestry of nineteenth and twentieth century history weaves highly informative pictures of medicine, racism, security agencies, and popular political movements such as neocolonialism. Some of the materials are usually excluded from current history books, and the author pulls no punches. And gives names, dates, and places accurately. Many of our best youth will recognize Drug War, the book, as the product of a writer who is shining a light on the subject of substances rather than shining them on in the customary way of often-uninformed society."
    "Drug War is heady, irreverent stuff because the reader is confronted with a huge succession of inescapable facts that challenge one’s views of the use and abuse of substances, both natural and synthetic. As in many other arenas of life, attitude is everything. "Pharmaco-shamanism" as laid out in great detail in Russell’s previous book, Shamanism and the Drug Propaganda, is reified in Drug War as one meaningful and sensible path between the extremes of a "fixation on sobriety" and some cultural acceptances of constant, purposeless intoxication. Legitimate medical information and roadmaps and systems of consciousness such as meditative practices help the potential substance abuser to steer a clear path between the extremes of drug abuse and drug-phobic sobriety to a healthy spiritual life facilitated in part by culturally-defined sacraments. The politico-historical element of substance use/abuse is partly summarized by Russell when he says, "since it prefers to finance physicians rather than drug-gangs, Holland has virtually eliminated drug-related crime." Marshall F. Gilula, M.D., EEG/Epilepsy Fellow, Department of Neurology, University of Miami School of Medicine; www.mindspring.com/~mgilula

    "But if there were a single book that covered the subject well enough to stand alone, it would definitely be Drug War by Dan Russell. If you are just starting out in your study of prohibition, Drug War is the book to start out with. If you are already well versed, it's the best single reference book on the market. Its most important feature is that it is well bound, and designed for years of use. It is sewn into signatures, like the finest quality hardcover books, not glued. The binding opens flat for easy reference, and will not crack or split. This matters greatly because the book is more than merely the fascinating story of one of history's most shameful episodes. It is first and foremost a reference book. You will not put it away on the shelf when you are done with it. In all likelihood, you will never be done with it. I, personally, expect to be looking stuff up in it for the rest of my life. If it were bound like a normal paperback, I'd have broken its spine already. It's that kind of book. It contains literally just about everything you'll ever need to know about the WO(S)D and pointers to everything else."
    "This book's breadth, scope, and depth is nothing short of awesome. Any competent historian does his homework, but Dan Russell has done ours too. How he possibly could have accumulated and cross-referenced such a motherload of pertinent data, and still found time to live his life, is nothing short of amazing. I eat, sleep, and breath secret history. Trust me, it's extremely time consuming. My books reach literally to the ceiling. My filing cabinets are so packed to overflowing with clippings that I've had to add an entire closet full of cardboard boxes. I am not easily impressed or often surprised. Yet Drug War had me flabbergasted. I could scarcely read for ten minutes in a row without learning something new. This guy has read everything, and I do mean everything, even remotely related to the subject. Even Mae Brussell would have been impressed."
     "The man is totally amazing. His book is an absolute must for anyone who wants to understand how deeply the WO(S)D has come to influence world culture and political economics, and why. Buy it. Read it. Refer to it. Recommend it to others. It's a must. But don't take my word for it. Visit Dan's Web site and read some excerpts from the book." Nessie, San Francisco Bay Guardian, 4/16/01

    "What do the slave laws of the Roman Empire, the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, the extermination of Native American culture, and the modern War on Drugs have in common? Surprisingly enough, these castastrophic events - which destroyed the lives of so many millions of people - emanate from a quest for control over spiritual reality, much of which depends on severing connections to sacramental plants.
    "The dots along this path have never been connected until the release of Drug War: Covert Money, Power & Policy by Dan Russell, a vast compendium of the historic forces that shaped the Drug War. On page 52 of this issue we are proud to present an excerpt from this remarkable book, a chapter examing the campaign against midwives - who were demonized as witches." Steven Hager, Editor-in-Chief, High Times Magazine, November, 2001

    "I have just been reading a book called Drug War: Covert Money, Power, and Policy by Dan Russell. Drug War is a massive 675 page expose on the drug war. It names names, gives places and dates, and is well footnoted. But before you dive into this book, be warned that the writer is very much a hard leftist, and it shows in the adjectives used and the tone of the writing....The book is about power and mind control—the power of one civilization or culture to dominate and then extinguish another. When William Bennett says America is in a culture war against drugs, he isn’t kidding. And this war did not start with Richard Nixon or the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914. It began 500 years ago when the Spanish brought military power and the Catholic Inquisition to the Americas. The Catholics were very insistent to the point of torture and murder that no thoughts outside those allowed by the church were permitted. Worship done under the influence of mind-altering chemicals obtained from plants was to receive special attention. The dogmatic absolutists of 500 hundred years ago have morphed into the moral absolutists of today....Finally, I’d like to quote a paragraph from the book: “Fascism is always maudlin. Industrial fascists need a scapegoat to coalesce. Without the pharmakos, the Nigger, the Judas, the Witch, the Dealer, the Fiend, the Hippie who inflicts such great hurt on Our Salvation, there is no rationale for an ongoing Inquisito, without which the structure of industrial fascism would be left standing naked. It ain’t so much what they’re for, it’s what they’re against.” You can find out about all these subjects and more by reading Drug War: Covert Money, Power, and Policy, which I would give a 3.2 out of 4.0." M. L. Simon, The Rock River Times

    "Drug War is a sometimes glittering tale of how corrupted drug control and global politics are soul mates. As long as this war lasts, Russell's book is an encyclopedic weapon for drug policy reform intellectuals and soldiers." Peter D.A. Cohen Ph.D, Director, The Centre for Drug Research, University of Amsterdam

    "Dan Russel's Drug War is one of the more comprehensive studies on the real life truth about the real drug war and the lies that have been told to the American public. I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand how American 'politics' plays an important role in this political lie called the 'Drug War'. The American public should be informed and make immediate changes to the American political structure before it is too late. Otherwise, we will become like our own worst enemies. I am afraid that it is a current reality." John Carman, former Senior U.S. Customs Agent, and whistle-blower: www.carmaninvestigations.com   amerikanexpose.com/customs

    "Drug War’s sickening hypothesis unfortunately makes intuitive sense once articulated, and has the broad power not only to tie together a vast array of seemingly unrelated geopolitical events, but explain the otherwise unexplainable drug war. This book should be required reading for anyone who is puzzled by the seeming irrationality of current drug policy, concerned with the steady erosion of civil liberties...or simply seeks to understand the history of the 20th century from a new angle. I highly recommend it." R. Andrew Sewell, M.D., University of Massachusetts/Memorial Health Care

    "Russell’s Drug War is an excellent antidote to the drumbeat for ever increasing incarceration and punitive drug policies. We can learn a great deal from Drug War about how our society got into the self-destructive mess we are in, and how we can work our way out." Rick Doblin, founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association For Psychedelic Studies: www.maps.org

    "Although I am not an expert in many of the areas covered, I find this general history to be well written, easy to read, and fascinating. I believe it will be one more nail in the coffin of the Drug War." Lester Grinspoon, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

    "A frightening but fascinating book - An in-depth, accurate and very detailed story covering more than a century of disastrous US policies on drugs and public health. Every American should read it." Alain Pire, founder de huy! : groupe pop/psyché originaire de la ville susnommée: http://members.xoom.com/al_pire; BS, communications, Liège University; MS, computer science, Namur University; Ph.D. on creativity and entheogens in the sixties in prep; French translator of Drug War.

     "This new book is comprehensive and detailed. It is the best expose of the real motives behind the Drug War. Entheogenists, Dan speaks truth about pharmacoshamanism (a term which Ott pointed out is redundant). He's been working with Ott. Drug War is miles ahead of the other books and gives the full cultural and psychological and historical background to the Drug War. It details the power and lies behind the drug war and provides an alternative to speaking the propaganda expressions provided by the prohibitionist agencies."
    "The book accurately portrays what's really driving the old witch hunt. Covers midwivery, racism, the Inquisition, and all sorts of interesting topics. I keep thinking that the reformers would be better off if they halted reform activism until reading this book -- then regroup and address the real enemies, the real situation. This book pulls you far outside the authorized worldview. Dan jumps right to the heart of the matters and doesn't spend time writing introductions, conclusions, and structural roadmaps and transition passages. I hope to write a summary of this detailed, comprehensive book along with his previous excellent book about entheogens in Western history, Shamanism and Drug Propaganda. He has a great blend of coverage of all the sacraments with an enlightened respect for the entheogens. That makes his works, like those of Ott, especially relevant drug-war books for philosophers." Michael Hoffman is indeed a philosopher. His erudite site is www.egodeath.com

Shamanism and the Drug Propaganda:

    "A magnificent production. I find it not only brilliant, but beautifully organized and, of course, something that needs to be. It is a tremendous work and, by nature, a tremendous volume." Professor Richard Evans Schultes, Director Emeritus, Botanical Museum of Harvard University

    "I had to write in appreciation of the invaluable contribution you’ve made to realizing the possible human. Immediately, I was impressed with the multi-perspectives through which you see the classics. I find your book a major ally in delivering truth today." Jeannine Parvati, author of Hygieia: A Woman’s Herbal, freestone@hubwest.com

     "Dan Russell's book, Shamanism and the Drug Propaganda starts with questions of basic importance to ethnobotany. Anyone working in this discipline is aware of the profond and ancient relationship between man and plant....  Using studies such as my own among the Maku in the northwest Amazon, ethnobotany can demonstrate the relationship between psychoactive plants and the tribal roots of human religion."
     "But if the psychoative plants are so deeply rooted in our evolved sense of the sacred, why are they so viciously banned in contemporary industrial cultures?  Dan Russell's book answers this question. This important volume show clearly and easily how the cultural evolution of the occident has created the present situation.  Starting in the 'golden age' when humankind had free access to the "mysterium tremendum," Russell shows with competence how little by little the state and the church have coopted and banned direct access to traditional sacred states."
    "Shamanism and the Drug Propaganda traces the cultural evolution of our species from shamanism to the mass media religions. It is an important book, very well written, a must for anyone interested in psychoative plants and the cultural evolution of humankind.  It is also a very pleasing volume to read, the kind of book that will keep you holding your breath until the end. I strongly recommend this heavily illustrated, original, yet rigorously empirical historical vision."  Anthropologist and Ethnobotanist Pedro Fernandes Leite da Luz, M.A.: pedroluz@rio.com.br

     "Dan Russell is an independent scholar whose recent book Shamanism and Drug Propaganda, traces the roots of the modern Drug War back to their ancient unconscious origins. Beginning with the evolution of Paleolithic proto-hominids, Russell presents one example after another in support of his thesis that the Drug War is a psychological inheritance from ancient times, one which is now deeply embedded in and, in some cases, the driving force of our culture of power and profits. Russell draws extensively from archeological evidence, presenting object after object engraved with archetypal symbols of shamanic travels, and he deconstructs countless ancient stories and myths to show that many of them alluded to visionary states elicited by the ingestion of psychoactive plants and potions. Russell, building upon the seemingly impenetrable work of John Allegro, even presents evidence that the Bible is riddled with cryptic stories and word-play bestowing the importance of shamanic inebriation.
     "Shamanism and Drug Propaganda is so detail rich that a summary does it an injustice. In essence, however, Russell argues that over time, the stories told by ancient people (culminating in the New Testament), have been co-opted, corrupted, and manipulated by forces bent on producing a conformist culture. Modern industrial culture, argues Russell, is dependent upon the active eradication of the conscious knowledge of entheogens."Richard Glen Boire, Esq., Executive Director, The Alchemind Society, Journal of Cognitive Liberties, Vol.1, Issue 1, Winter 1999/2000