Richard Miller (author)

Last updated

Richard Lawrence Miller (born 1949 [1] ) is an American historian and author from the state of Missouri. He has written a multi-volume biography of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, [2] and in Journal of American History , another scholar said of the work "an independent scholar, Miller does not offer bold reinterpretations, but he is an indefatigable researcher". [3]

Contents

Miller has also written drug reference works including The Encyclopedia of Addictive Drugs, "a remarkably clear and informative work intended for a wide audience" including law enforcement users, [4] and criticism of U.S. drug policy and treatment methods. He has advocated for the complete legalization of all drugs, stating in The Case for Legalizing Drugs (1991) that drug users lived "quite happily" in America prior to the passage of the Harrison Act in 1914. [5] Miller appeared in the 2012 documentary The House I Live In about the U.S. War on Drugs. [6]

His criticism of the medical ethics of Straight, Incorporated was reviewed by the Alcohol and Drugs History Society. [7]

Drug Warriors and Their Prey

This book analyzes the drug war in the United States by considering physiological, social, and economic effects of drug use and constitutional dimensions and the effectiveness of drug law enforcement efforts. The book uses a case study approach to examine the effects of drug use on society. Examples are provided of how drug law enforcement efforts have gotten out of control because such efforts sometimes violate constitutional rights and generate undue fear among citizens. The author contends an "imaginary" drug crisis has been manufactured, one that sacrifices constitutional rights under the guise of drug control. Showing how the drug war fits into a socially destructive process, the author calls for an end to the drug war before it destroys society further. He describes a chain of destruction in terms of five links – identification, ostracism, confiscation, concentration, and annihilation. In this chain of destruction, drug users are portrayed as victims and scapegoats at the hands of authoritarians. [8]

A review in The Booklist stated:

Using chain-of-destruction analysis based on Raul Hilberg's The Destruction of the European Jews (1961), Miller argues that the drug war has moved from identification through ostracism and confiscation and that concentration and annihilation are currently "in 'prototype' stage." Before readers conclude that Miller's belief that "the war on drug users masks a war on democracy" is extreme, they may wish to consider the disturbing evidence he amasses. A powerful, passionate argument that the war on drugs serves only authoritarians' interests.

— Mary Carroll, Booklist [9]

A review in Library Journal stated:

[Miller] continues the argument he began in The Case for Legalizing Drugs. Drawing on his latest book, Nazi Justiz, he makes an extended analogy between Germany repressing the Jews and America repressing drug users. In chapters on identification, ostracism, confiscation, concentration, and annihilation, he shows that democracy, privacy, and family life can be lost in our society just as they were when these policies were applied to the Jews. Because of "bureaucratic thrust," the criminalization aimed at one group consumes the entire society.

— Janice Dunham, Library Journal [10]

Another review published by the Drug Reform Coordination Network stated:

[The book is] a point by point comparison of the reality of Drug Prohibition in the United States today with exactly analogous situations leading up to Hitler's Third Reich and the attempted destruction of the Jewish people ... certain to repulse the very readers who need most to understand that, indeed, it can happen again ... there really is no alternative but the kind of stark simplicity of theme which Drug Warriors epitomizes.

— Peter Webster [11]

Bibliography

Books
Other works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victimless crime</span> Concept in criminology

A victimless crime is an illegal act that typically either directly involves only the perpetrator or occurs between consenting adults. Because it is consensual in nature, whether there involves a victim is a matter of debate. Definitions of victimless crimes vary in different parts of the world and different law systems, but usually include possession of any illegal contraband, recreational drug use, prostitution and prohibited sexual behavior between consenting adults, assisted suicide, and smuggling among other similar infractions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drug prohibition</span> History, effects and enforcement of the prohibition of drugs

The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Department of Justice</span> U.S. federal executive department

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States. It is equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries. The department is headed by the U.S. attorney general, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. The current attorney general is Merrick Garland, who has served since March 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War on drugs</span> Global anti-drug campaign led by the United States

The war on drugs is the policy of a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States. The initiative includes a set of drug policies that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of psychoactive drugs that the participating governments, through United Nations treaties, have made illegal.

Commonly-cited arguments for and against the prohibition of drugs include the following:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethan Nadelmann</span> American writer and campaigner for marijuanas legalization

Ethan A. Nadelmann is the founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, a New York City-based non-profit organization working to end the War on Drugs. He is a supporter of the legalization of marijuana in America.

The Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), formerly Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization group of current and former police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals who use their expertise to advance drug policy and criminal justice solutions that enhance public safety. The organization is modeled after Vietnam Veterans Against the War. As of April 2017, they have more than 180 representatives around the world who speak on behalf of over 5,000 law enforcement members and 100,000 supporters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States</span> Legalization of marijuana in the United States

In the United States, the non-medical use of cannabis is legalized in 24 states and decriminalized in 7 states, as of November 2023. Decriminalization refers to a policy of reduced penalties for cannabis offenses, typically involving a civil penalty for possessing small amounts, instead of criminal prosecution or the threat of arrest. In jurisdictions without penalty the policy is referred to as legalization, although the term decriminalization is sometimes used for this purpose as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal history of cannabis in the United States</span>

In the United States, increased restrictions and labeling of cannabis as a poison began in many states from 1906 onward, and outright prohibitions began in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s cannabis was regulated as a drug in every state, including 35 states that adopted the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act. The first national regulation was the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drug liberalization</span> Process of reducing drug prohibition laws

Drug liberalization is a drug policy process of decriminalizing or legalizing the use or sale of prohibited drugs. Variations of drug liberalization include drug legalization, drug relegalization, and drug decriminalization. Proponents of drug liberalization may favor a regulatory regime for the production, marketing, and distribution of some or all currently illegal drugs in a manner analogous to that for alcohol, caffeine and tobacco.

Peter Moskos is an American professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the Department of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration and the CUNY Graduate Center in the Department of Sociology. He is a former Baltimore Police Department officer. The son of military and Greek American sociologist Charles Moskos, he specializes in policing, crime, and punishment. Moskos was listed by The Atlantic as one of their "Brave Thinkers of 2011" for his book In Defense of Flogging. In Defense of Flogging proposes giving individuals convicted of a crime a choice between incarceration and corporal punishment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gil Kerlikowske</span> American government official (born 1949)

Richard Gil Kerlikowske is a former Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He assumed office on March 6, 2014 and retired January 20, 2017. He also served as the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy between 2009 and 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drug policy of Canada</span> Overview of the drug policy of Canada

Canada's drug regulations are measures of the Food and Drug Act and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. In relation to controlled and restricted drug products, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act establishes eight schedules of drugs and new penalties for the possession, trafficking, exportation and production of controlled substances as defined by the Governor-in-Council. Drug policy of Canada has traditionally favoured punishment for the smallest of offences, but this convention was partially broken in 1996 with the passing of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

The War on Drugs is a term for the actions taken and legislation enacted by the US federal government, intended to reduce or eliminate the production, distribution, and use of illicit drugs. The War on Drugs began during the Nixon administration with the goal of reducing the supply of and demand for illegal drugs, but an ulterior racial motivation has been proposed. The War on Drugs has led to controversial legislation and policies, including mandatory minimum penalties and stop-and-frisk searches, which have been suggested to be carried out disproportionately against minorities. The effects of the War on Drugs are contentious, with some suggesting that it has created racial disparities in arrests, prosecutions, imprisonment, and rehabilitation. Others have criticized the methodology and the conclusions of such studies. In addition to disparities in enforcement, some claim that the collateral effects of the War on Drugs have established forms of structural violence, especially for minority communities.

Geoffrey P. Megargee was an American historian and author who specialized in World War II military history and the history of the Holocaust. He served as the project director and editor-in-chief for the Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945 produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Megargee's work on the German High Command won the 2001 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for Military History.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal history of cannabis in Canada</span>

The Cannabis Act (C-45) of June, 2018 paved the way for the legalization of cannabis in Canada on 17 October 2018. Police and prosecution services in all Canadian jurisdictions are currently capable of pursuing criminal charges for cannabis marketing without a licence issued by Health Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada has held that the federal Parliament has the power to criminalize the possession of cannabis and that doing so does not infringe upon the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Ontario Court of Appeal and the Superior Court of Ontario have, however, held that the absence of a statutory provision for medical marijuana is unconstitutional, and to that extent the federal law is of no force and/or effect if a prescription is obtained. The recreational use of cannabis has been legalized by the federal government, and took effect on 17 October 2018.

<i>The Hate U Give</i> 2017 young adult novel by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give is a 2017 young adult novel by Angie Thomas. It is Thomas's debut novel, expanded from a short story she wrote in college in reaction to the police shooting of Oscar Grant. The book is narrated by Starr Carter, a 16-year-old African-American girl from a poor neighborhood who attends an elite private school in a predominantly white, affluent part of the city. Starr becomes entangled in a national news story after she witnesses a white police officer shoot and kill her childhood friend, Khalil. She speaks up about the shooting in increasingly public ways, and social tensions culminate in a riot after a grand jury decides not to indict the police officer for the shooting.

<i>Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence</i> 1997 book

Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence is a 1997 book about the medical effects of cannabis, and related U.S. drug control policy, written by Lynn Zimmer and John P. Morgan. As of 1998, Zimmer was a sociology professor at Queens College. Morgan was a professor of pharmacology at City University of New York Medical School when he wrote the book; he was on the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) board of directors from 1996 until 2005 and "published approximately 100 articles, book chapters and books, largely focused on the clinical pharmacology of psychoactive drugs" by the time of his death in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decarceration in the United States</span> Overview article

Decarceration in the United States involves government policies and community campaigns aimed at reducing the number of people held in custody or custodial supervision. Decarceration, the opposite of incarceration, also entails reducing the rate of imprisonment at the federal, state and municipal level. As of 2019, the US was home to 5% of the global population but 25% of its prisoners. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. possessed the world's highest incarceration rate: 655 inmates for every 100,000 people, enough inmates to equal the populations of Philadelphia or Houston. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinvigorated the discussion surrounding decarceration as the spread of the virus poses a threat to the health of those incarcerated in prisons and detention centers where the ability to properly socially distance is limited. As a result of the push for decarceration in the wake of the pandemic, as of 2022, the incarceration rate in the United States declined to 505 per 100,000, resulting in the United States no longer having the highest incarceration rate in the world, but still remaining in the top five.

References

  1. ↑ Writers Directory 2005 Cengage, via encyclopedia.com https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/miller-richard-lawrence
  2. ↑ Bigham, Darrel E. (Winter 2008), "Lincoln and His World: The Early Years, Birth to Illinois Legislature, by Richard Lawrence Miller", Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association , 29 (1): 71–75, hdl:2027/spo.2629860.0029.108
  3. ↑ Pinsker, Matthew (September 2009), "Lincoln Theme 2.0", Journal of American History , Organization of American Historians, 96 (2): 417–40, doi:10.1093/jahist/96.2.417
  4. ↑ "The Encyclopedia of Addictive Drugs by Richard Lawrence Miller", Booklist (review), American Library Association, August 2003, retrieved April 24, 2020
  5. 1 2 Christopher Lehmann-Haupt (February 18, 1991). "Books of The Times; An Advocate of Legalizing Drugs". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Erin Fuchs (August 19, 2013), "HISTORIAN: Anti-Drug Laws Have Always Been About Race", Business Insider
  7. ↑ Marcus Chatfield (March 6, 2013). "Setting the Record Straight, Part 2". Points (official blog). Alcohol and Drugs History Society.
  8. ↑ National Criminal Justice Reference Service
  9. ↑ Carroll, Mary (1996), "Inside drugs – Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure by Dan Baum / Drug Warriors and Their Prey: From Police Power to Police State by Richard Lawrence Miller", The Booklist (book review), American Library Association, 92 (15): 1328
  10. ↑ Dunham, Janice (1996), "Drug warriors and their prey: From police power to police state", Library Journal (book review), 121 (13): 91
  11. ↑ Peter Webster, "Drug Warriors and Their Prey", Schaffer Library of Drug Policy (book review), StoptheDrugWar.org (formerly Drug Reform Coordination Network) (undated)
  12. ↑ Nementh, Charles P. (1993). "Book Review: The Case for Legalizing Drugs". Criminal Justice Review. 18 (1): 97–99. doi:10.1177/073401689301800115. S2CID   145343935.
  13. ↑ Morris, Norval (February 24, 1991). "Just Say Yes". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  14. ↑ Guha, Martin (2003). "The Encyclopedia of Addictive Drugs". Reference Reviews. 17 (7): 50–51. doi:10.1108/09504120310498112.
  15. ↑ Hewitt, Anthony (2004). "Book Review: Methadone, mandrake and mothballs". Addiction Research & Theory. 12 (4): 405–406. doi:10.1080/16066350410001667134. S2CID   144720133.

Sources

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from abstract of Drug Warriors and Their Prey. United States Department of Justice National Criminal Justice Reference Service.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.