Upcoming Lecture: Myths of the Drug War
On Monday, Oct. 3rd, Dr. Benjamin T. Smith will present a lecture in Falvey Library on "The Drug War: The Five Biggest Myths."
According to Dr. Smith, "For over a century, politicians and civil society leaders, journalists and policemen have been waging a war on drugs. Wars need their narratives. And the drug war is no different. It is based on over a century of bad sociology, poor science, and even poorer criminology. In this talk, I pick out the five biggest myths which underpin both mass incarceration in the US and the violence of counter-narcotics campaigns abroad."
Dr. Smith has been writing about the history of Mexico for twenty years. He now specializes on twentieth-century politics, the narcotics trade and crime. But he has also researched and written about indigenous politics, Catholicism, conservatism, newspapers, journalism and censorship. His most recent book, The Dope: The History of the Mexican Drug Trade (WW. Norton/Penguin, 2021) was described by the Financial Times as “magisterial," was nominated for an Edgar True Crime award and was an Amazon History book of the year. At present he is writing a biography of “La Nacha,” the woman who ran the border drug trade for over forty years, and a history of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
According to Dr. Smith, "For over a century, politicians and civil society leaders, journalists and policemen have been waging a war on drugs. Wars need their narratives. And the drug war is no different. It is based on over a century of bad sociology, poor science, and even poorer criminology. In this talk, I pick out the five biggest myths which underpin both mass incarceration in the US and the violence of counter-narcotics campaigns abroad."
Dr. Smith has been writing about the history of Mexico for twenty years. He now specializes on twentieth-century politics, the narcotics trade and crime. But he has also researched and written about indigenous politics, Catholicism, conservatism, newspapers, journalism and censorship. His most recent book, The Dope: The History of the Mexican Drug Trade (WW. Norton/Penguin, 2021) was described by the Financial Times as “magisterial," was nominated for an Edgar True Crime award and was an Amazon History book of the year. At present he is writing a biography of “La Nacha,” the woman who ran the border drug trade for over forty years, and a history of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
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