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Well, it has FINALLY happened! Our book, "Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug
War Statistics", will published in just days by the State University of
New York Press (please know that SUNY really dragged its feet on this
project ... but it IS now complete!). Here is the web site for the book:

http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61382

Below is a summary of the book, along with comments from reviewers who
saw the original study. Please help us get the word out about the
important study contained within the book! Spread the word! We really
believe this book could help bring about serious change in the drug war,
but only with your help!

Sincerely,
Dr. Matthew Robinson
Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology
Appalachian State University, part of the the University of North
Carolina public university system
Boone, North Carolina

SUMMARY-- Lies, Damned Lies and Drug War Statistics provides a brief yet
complete background on the major issues pertaining to America's war on
drugs. It covers topics such as the role of ideology and claims-making
in drug war policy formation, how to analyze policies such as the drug
war, the history of America's drug war at home and abroad, goals of the
drug war, agencies that fight the drug war, and the drug war budget.

The book also presents a study of seven years (2000-2006) of the Office
of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) National Drug Control Strategy
which "directs the Nation's anti-drug efforts and establishes a program,
a budget, and guidelines for cooperation among Federal, State, and local
entities." The Strategy is the primary mechanism through which the
White House and the federal agencies involved in the war on drugs
communicate with the American people about the drug war.

The authors were interested in how ONDCP uses statistics to make claims
about the nation's drug war, and whether these claims are accurate,
honest, transparent, and justifiable. Since ONDCP regularly presents
graphs and figures to depict important drug war statistics, the authors
critically analyzed how ONDCP chooses to present drug war data visually.

The book offers the methodology and findings of the study, including
claims by ONDCP related to its goals of reducing drug use, healing drug
users and disrupting drug markets, and reducing costs of drug use &
abuse. The authors show the specific ways in which ONDCP
inappropriately uses statistical information and visually presents
graphical information in order to continue to promote a drug war that
consistently has failed to meet its stated policy goals.

The book concludes with a fair assessment of America's drug war,
including both the costs and the benefits. The authors also offer
conclusions from the study and suggest policy implications of it.

The book contains the following chapters:
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: About the Drug War
Chapter 3: Methodology
Chapter 4: Claims of Success in Reducing Drug Use
Chapter 5: Claims of Success in Healing America's Drug Users and
Disrupting Drug Markets
Chapter 6: Costs of the Drug War
Chapter 7: A Fair Assessment of the Drug War
Chapter 8: Conclusions and Policy Recommendations

What the reviewers say:

* "Robinson and Scherlen make a valuable contribution to documenting
how the Office of National Drug Control Policy fails to live up to
basic standards of accountability and consistency." -- Ethan
Nadelmann, author of Psychoactive Drugs and Harm Reduction: From
Faith to Science, and Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance
(http://www.drugpolicyalliance.org/)

* "Dr. Robinson and Dr. Scherlen have performed a valuable service
to our democracy with their meticulous analysis of the White House
ONDCP public statements and reports. They have pulled the sheet
off what appears to be an official policy of deception using
clever and sometimes clumsy attempts at statistical manipulation.
This document, at last, gives us a map to the truth." -- Mike
Gray, Author, Drug Crazy, and Chairman, Common Sense for Drug
Policy (http://www.csdp.org/)

* "'LIES' is a thorough indictment of ONDCP. Much of Robinson and
Scherlen's analysis reads like prose, revealing the indignation of
scientists exposing insidious lies, unaccountable policies and
failed objectives -- all supported by federal tax dollars." --
Nora Callahan, November Coalition (http://www.november.org/)

* "[I]n a word it is magnificent. While the book is quite thorough,
it is also amazingly concise and easy to read ... an excellent job
of completely deconstructing and debunking everything the ONDCP
claims." -- Brian Bennett, Former US Intelligence Analyst and
author of truth: the Anti-Drugwar (http://www.briancbennett.com/)

* "This is an impressive compendium. I think it's especially
effective when you rebuke the ONDCP's claim slide-per-slide.
Also, I'm glad you brought up the fact that the agency has
recently restructured their budget numbers to give the impression
that there is nearly equal funding for treatment vs interdiction."
-- Paul Armentano, NORML | NORML Foundation (http://www.norml.org/)

* "... rather impressive -- very thorough ... I was especially
interested in your use of 'ideology' as a jumping off point for
your critique. As a philosophy student, I appreciate your
pointing to the substance behind ONDCP's madness -- i.e., it is
all political based on the dominant culture's morality." -- Joseph
White, Change the Climate (http://www.changetheclimate.org/)

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later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)

--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cocoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.