Dan Baum, a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal, starts his history of the Drug War with the Nixon administration, which, in 1968 declared marijuana public enemy #1. That same year, more people died from falling down stairs than from drug overdoses.

From a strictly political point of view, this was a sensible move. It created a threatening enemy out of whole cloth, and this phantom menace allowed Nixon to run a strong "Law and Order" campaign and push the race buttons of white voters. Nothing galvanizes support like the specter of an invasion, and in this case, the invasion would be of middle class, white, America by anti-establishment youth and black culture. The Drug War behemoth was empowered and allowed to run completely out of control when federal and local law enforcement agencies gained the power to seize the property and assets of drug "suspects" without those suspects ever being charged with, much less convicted of, any crime.

Dan Baum's book is thoroughly researched and documented, and he doesn't hide behind smoke screen of feigned objectivity.

Without bombast, without hysteria, without sensationalizing the facts of the matter, Dan Baum has soberly analyzed the greatest law enforcement failure in the history of the human race. This book is as powerful and sweeping an indictment of the War of Drugs as Sinclair's "The Jungle" was of the turn of the twentieth century meat industry.

Baum doesn't use a single anonymous source. He makes literally zero undemonstrated assertions. Despite the fanatical claims of Baum's critics, this book is as objective an account of the Drug War as you are likely to find. This book literally changed my mind. I used to think that the only War on Marijuana was evil and unnecessary. This book and Mike Gray's excellent "Drug Crazy" showed me that the entire concept of prohibition is wrong. More than wrong, it is un-American.

There are three reasons why I did not give this book 5 stars:

1. In the 1997 paperback reprint, there should have been an addendum which specifically impugned Bill Clinton's record on the Drug War, instead of just pointing the finger at him in the final pages of the book. Clinton literally DOUBLED the War on Drugs. Twice as many people were incarcerated for drug offenses under Clinton/Gore than under Reagan/Bush/Quayle and Clinton spent more money on drug enforcement at the federal level than any president in history. Between the years 1992 and 2000 nationwide (including state and local governments), an absurd amount was spent on the Drug War --please forgive me, I read this once in a government generated document, but I do not have the exact number handy-- but it was more than $200,000 every 3 minutes. I think it was something like 275K or maybe 300K EVERY THREE MINUTES! Indeed, the author should have dedicated 50 or 100 pages to Clinton (who didn't inhale) and Gore (who did).

2. Key behind the scenes players were roughed up a bit, but not slammed, as they should have been. I think that Coast Guard Adm. Yost would be the best example of this that I can provide Baum should have taken him to task instead of merely giving him the once over. Yost was the worst Commandant in Coast Guard history. USCG personnel took to calling it the "Yost Guard" during his reign of terror. He very effectively used fear in the form of Drug War hysteria to twist arms behind the scenes and to frighten Congress into giving him more money. Had he used his ill-gotten blood money to increase SAR (search and rescue) and environmental law enforcement (LE) capabilities of the CG, I might turn a blind eye to his diabolical tactics, but no. He used money to put Harpoon Missiles and the MK 15 Phalanx (CIWS) on Coast Guard ships (this makes as much sense as putting a 50mm machine gun on the hood of a fire truck). By doing so he directly diminished the search and rescue capabilities of the vessels fitted with these systems and indirectly diminished the SAR and environmental LE capabilities of the entire Coast Guard by funneling much needed money into these lame-brained projects that had no detectable objective.

In the end, increased US Coast Guard patrols in the Caribbean merely made the drugs more scarce driving the price of illegal drugs in the US up, which made the gangs more ruthless, which caused more bloodshed. Yost has as much blood on his hands as Clinton, or Nixon or Bennett.

3. Conservatives against the drug war: Baum did not cover this new movement among conservative thinkers well enough. There is a groundswell of anti-drug war sentiment among conservatives these days. It is not due to some insipient enthusiasm for drug use among conservatives, rather it is from the realization that the Drug War itself has done more harm than have the drugs.

Another reason for this conservative backlash against the drug war is the realization that the War on Drugs EPITOMIZES big, intrusive, oppressive government: the enemy of conservatives. As Dan Baum himself said in a speech a few years ago "Conservatives don't like seatbelt laws". How much less do they like a lumbering, money-gobbling bureaucratic juggernaut like the Drug War that has gutted our constitution, eroded our freedom, disenfranchised and dehumanized a large minority of Americans and brought near martial law to the rest? There are conservatives who openly oppose the Drug War and conservatives who ardently support it. I feel (and I might be wrong, but I don't think I am) that these two camps are the minority. From talking to conservative friends and listening to conservative pundits and politicians I have come to the conclusion that the majority of conservatives in America these days know the Drug War is a failure and that it is the worst case scenario of big government gone bad, but they are too stubborn and dogmatic to admit that the liberals were right all along.

Another reason why there are conservatives still opposed to the Drug War is that they probably think that legalizing drugs is tantamount to putting "Crack and Smack candy machines" in Elementary Schools as President Clinton's Drug Czar, Gen Barry McCaffrey suggested once. McCaffery wants to pretends that it a choice between one, or the other. It is no surprise that he thinks (or pretends to think) that there are no other choices. McCaffery is a purveyor of lies and has no more morals than the drug pushers in the illegal, bloody 500 billion dollar a year (TAX FREE) industry he and his fellows helped maintain.

I highly recommend this book. I hope it is not the end of Baum's contribution to the all too scarce literature on this issue. There is a lot of literature available, but most of it is pretty badly written. This book and Mike Gray's book will help you win any debate with a drug warrior, because you will have a distinct advantage over your opponent: You will be in possession of the truth.

Through over 200 personal interviews with 175 people connected with the "War On Drugs" Dan Baum has created the most informative and correct account of the drug war that is availible to man. Nowhere else will you find how the government has targeted drugs as a cheap way to stay elected. Never has the government caused such a false sense of fear then with drugs.

"Smoke And Mirrors" is one of the best books I have ever read. No matter how you feel about the drug war, it is worth your time to review this text. You will be outraged at how much injustice has been dealt, and how the "War" as been often racially biased.

Even if you see drugs as the ultimate evil that plagues our society and is the root of all our problems, it may be because the true facts have never been given until now. By reading this book, you might discover what has been hidden for so long, and see why the government has been so eager to cover up any positive drug notion (ex. Nixon commissions study to find effects of marijuana. They find no significant health detriments, see medicinal value, and reccommend legalization. Nixon discredits study and brushes it under the rug. Later gets reelected on anti-drug platform. $16 billion spent on the war last year.) Please think, and then read this book. I guarantee that it will be time well spent.

Considering that the author was unable to obtain many direct interviews with the principal family members, "Citizen Coors" is nonethless quite comprehensive. If you read Philip Van Munching's "Beer Blast", which provided a history of the US beer industry since Prohibition, you have an idea of how this book reads (a chronological narrative) . I was struck by how the family stayed by its principles, even knowing they were no longer applicable. When Anheuser-Busch was going through a strike Coors top management ordered its sales force not to exploit the situation, certain that August Busch III would later return the favor. (He didn't). More than the politics involved, their naivete in a world that had changed beyond recognition is striking. If something had worked for their grandfather in the 1800's, why wouldn't it work now? Mr. Baum appeared on the C-SPAN show "Booknotes" and was asked at the end "Is there a moral to the story"? He replied that the changes that they failed to adapt to ultimately ended family control of the company. Hardly the first organization to learn this, yet still a compelling read. If you like a good human interest story, coupled with a look at business in general (and can't resist a good look at the beer industry in particular), "Citizen Coors" is an excellent choice.

...Congratulations to Dan Baum for making Citizen Coors a very enjoyable read. His research is excellent and evident and his story telling is intriguing. ...The Coors family has it all: money, murder, family dissent, recovery. I found it to be much, much more than a "business" read (although it does give some excellent examples of different business philosophies and why they did/did not work.) I highly recommend this fascinating book.

C. Roberts New Jersey

Not all newspaper reporters can write and not all writers are good newspaper reporters. However, every once in a while someone comes along that can do both, sometimes exceptionally well. Such a person is Dan Baum, formerly a reporter for both the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Smoke and Mirrors,an explosive account of the so-called war on drugs, and this marvelous work on a Colorado company that many people love to hate. This book, an historical narrative of the Adolph Coors Company, a family and business legend in America, is destined to be a classic and will be the standard by which all other efforts are judged. It provides a real eye-opening insight into the corporate world of politics, sex, religion, money, drugs, cover-ups and environmental degradation that will stay with you long after you have finished the book. Its all here. The story of Adolph Coors, the immigrant that made a fortune against all odds and left a legacy that some say still haunts the company to this day. Baum notes that "Even though Adolph Coors died in 1929, he was still effectively running the company more than sixty years later." The results of a 1929 business philosophy on a national company in 1999 will leave you astounded. There is a well written overview of the Political Left and the American Labor movements protracted boycott of Coors as well as the rise of the conservative movement and the founding of the Heritage Foundation. The prominent role of the Coors family in the success of the Reagan revolution, and its impact on the company, is riveting and revealing. The Coors family were brilliant engineers that invented the aluminum beverage can; made what many beer connoisseurs believed to be an excellent product; refused to incur debt; and became rich by demanding a quality product, often at the expense of profit. At the same time, the results of their refusal to employ modern marketing techniques and compete with the likes of Miller's Brewing and Budweiser is absolutely amazing. The story of the Coors family and company is complex and at times maddening. Regardless of your political persuasion; liberal, conservative, or independent, this book will give you something to cheer about and will keep you up late at night turning pages. It is highly readable, meticulously researched and a welcome addition to the history of business in America, not to mention the political implications. It is a spellbinding story of a Colorado company with truly national ramifications. That it is written by a writer of the caliber of Dan Baum is a real bonus for the reader.

Discussions on the Business aspects of the Coors saga was what interested me the most. Found the story lines on Joe Coors' politics to be dull. I skipped some of these sub-sections. Was facsinated with all the facts and details regarding the family's story and its focus on engineering and technology.

The book explained how Coors was one of the few breweries which succeeded out of hundreds a century ago. The foundation of its success is a dedication to quality. By using the finest ingredients and products, the drinker enjoys great taste as well as a good buzz. The Coors family made many critical mistakes, their ideals, right or wrong, set many people against them. They were slow to change with the times, for example they didn't promote their fine product effectively. The descrption of the Coors family members was often quite complete.