Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use by Jacob Sullum

Sullum’s book is a refreshing brace of reality in this climate of fear and overreaction; it contains claims actually supported by facts and scientific evidence.

From Chocolate to Morphine: Everything You need to Know about Mind Altering Drugs by Andrew Weil, M.D & Winifred Rosen

Dr. Weil is a Harvard medical school graduate who has spent his life researching various cultures’ use of drugs. If you want an honest discussion and description of drugs, both the good and bad, this book is an excellent place to start.

Drug War Facts

This little reference book is an excellent source of information on all aspects of the War on Drugs.

Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America- Radley Balko

The knock on your door at 4 AM most likely isn’t your neighbor asking to borrow a cup of sugar. Balko has meticulously traced the rise of SWAT in America and pulls no punches in detailing the terror they perpetrate in the name of the War on Drugs.

Treating Doctors as Drug Dealers: The DEA’s War on Prescription Painkillers- Ronald T. Libby

This paper published by the Cato Institute reveals how the DEA’s second guessing of doctors trying to help their patients has lead to needless suffering by those afflicted with chronic pain.

Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies- Glenn Greenwald

In the early 2000’s, Portugal decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs like heroin and LSD. Since then, there has been a decline in drug use in Portugal. 

 Drug Crazy: How We Got into This Mess and How We Can Get Out- Mike Gray

  Gray’s book reveals how the War on (some) Drugs started almost as accident but has been utilized by political opportunists and zealots. Gray draws a gripping analogy between the violence of prohibition in the 1920’s and the problems faced today and caused by the current prohibition of some drugs.

Marijuana Myths Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence by Lynn Zimmer, Ph.D, John P. Morgan, M.D

Learn the truth about marijuana.

Dealing Death and Drugs:  The Big Business of Dope in the U.S. and Mexico

The War on Drugs doesn’t work. This became obvious to El Paso City Representatives Susie Byrd and Beto O’Rourke when they started to ask questions about why El Paso’s sister city Ciudad Juárez has become the deadliest city in the world—8,000-plus deaths since January 1, 2008. Byrd and O’Rourke soon realized American drug use and United States' failed War on Drugs are at the core of problem. In Dealing Death and Drugs—a book written for the general reader—they explore the costs and consequences of marijuana prohibition. They argue that marijuana prohibition has created a black market so profitable that drug kingpins are billionaires and drug control doesn’t stand a chance. Using Juárez as their focus, they describe the business model of drug trafficking and explain why this illicit system has led to the never-ending slaughter of human beings. Their position: the only rational alternative to the War on Drugs is to end to the current prohibition on marijuana.

A Plague of Prisons: The Epidemiology of Mass Incarceration in America by Ernest Drucker 

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

FIRE’s Guide to Free Speech on Campus

Penn & Teller’s Bullshit!: The War on Drugs  

The two magicians go behind the smoke and mirrors thrown up by those in favor of the war on drugs to expose the real truth about the matter. 

American Violet

Based on a true story, this movie brings a human face to those statistics of people arrested on drug charges and the corruption and violence that supports and drives the War on (some) Drugs..

Busted: The Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Police Encounters

This film demonstrates how to assert your rights when dealing with the police.