Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

While not nearly as in depth as his first book "Fast Food Nation," Schlosser does more muckraking on topics that not only interest readers who know little about these underground economies, but can also keep the readers attention with experiences and biographies of participants in the underground economies.

I truly think that Schlosser went far more in depth to exhume scarce facts in "Fast Food Nation," while only briefly over-viewing these three topics in "Reefer Madness." To get to the point... it would have been better if "Reefer Madness" was Schlosser's first work instead of "Fast Food Nation - He obviously set the standard for himself too high with his first work.

Schlosser does an excellent job not only presenting these three essays, one leading into the other through prose vignette, but offers a preface of ideas to help set up the reader before the presentation of the three essays. Referencing points from Adam Smith's "On the Wealth of Nations" for the current reigning market system, Schlosser sees what many others refuse to see... Everyone has his or her vice and there is money to be made from this market!

Schlosser finishes "Reefer Madness" with personal points of view and his own ideas on these three portions of the underground American economy and how things about them can be progressively dealt with, and even legalized!?!?!

Eric Schlosser is currently working on another investigative report unfolding the secrets of the American prison system - I am not sure when this work will be released.

The first section is dedicated to illegal drugs. Mr. Schlosser does a very good job savaging the contradictions of legal and illegal drug policies in this country. In only 64 pages, the author provides background, statistics and case studies that make for very compelling reading. His conclusions are consistent with what most reformers have been arguing for some time. The draconian laws and failed policies of the so-called 'War on Drugs' are so out of step with mainstream American thought and practice that Mr. Schlosser's sly rewrite of a John Lennon anthem resonates with power: "this war is over, if you want it." This devastating critique was my favorite of the three essays, by far.

The second section on illegal labor is a scant 34 pages long. It is focused on the plight of strawberry pickers in California. Mr. Schlosser's keen powers of observation and solid research methodology combine to produce a scathing critique of the inhumane conditions that many migrant farmworkers endure. But by focusing on such a thin slice of the American labor market, it may be difficult to judge the validity of the author's generalized recommendations about rectifying labor abuses nationwide.

Personally, I was disappointed that the third section on the porn industry was as lengthy as the other two combined. The story was mostly a history lesson and biography centered around Reuben Sturman, who the author shows was primarily responsible for growing the porn industry through most of the post World War II era and who tirelessly defended it against its enemies. But while Mr. Schlosser's article makes it clear that porn was officially repressed for many years in the U.S., today that no longer seems to be the case. Consequently it doesn't seem to provide much support for the author's theme of the contemporary state of the underground economy, although the story was certainly interesting and extremely well-written.

In the end, one wishes that Mr. Schlosser had been able to fully develop these stories into three separate books. The stature that the author has gained as a result of "Fast Food Nation" guarantees that his views have power, but I'm afraid that diluting the subject matter probably takes away some of the punch. That's too bad, because in my view the drug laws and the labor laws, in particular, badly need reform.

Here's hoping that Mr. Schlosser's publisher gives this talented writer the opportunity to produce another gem on par with "Fast Food Nation" the next time around. But in the meantime, Mr. Schlosser's fans can get a quick fix by reading this entertaining but slighly disappointing book.