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Opium’s Orphans

The 200-Year History of the War on Drugs

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Opium’s Orphans

By: P.E. Caquet
Narrated by: Julian Elfer
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Upending all we know about the war on drugs, a history of the anti-narcotics movement's origins, evolution, and questionable effectiveness.

Opium's Orphans is the first full history of drug prohibition and the "war on drugs." A no-holds-barred but balanced account, it shows that drug suppression was born of historical accident, not rational design. The war on drugs did not originate in Europe or the United States, and even less with President Nixon, but in China. Two Opium Wars followed by Western attempts to atone for them gave birth to an anti-narcotics order that has come to span the globe. But has the war on drugs succeeded? 

As opioid deaths and cartel violence run rampant, contestation becomes more vocal, and marijuana is slated for legalization, Opium's Orphans proposes that it is time to go back to the drawing board.

©2022 P. E. Caquet (P)2022 Tantor History & Commentary Law Medicine & Health Care Industry Social Sciences War Crime
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A very thorough yet entertaining book. Very well written and researched. Caquet presents an excellent analysis encompassing the political, diplomatic, medical and economic dimensions of the war on drugs. Also an account of how prejudice, pre conceived ideas or number illiteracy can lead to bad decision making...

Rigorous, engaging and topical

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