From Mr. Sin to Mr. Big

Download or read book From Mr. Sin to Mr. Big written by Desmond Manderson and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1993 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this compelling legal and social history of the origins and development of drug laws in Australia, Desmond Manderson traces, in a lively and irreverent style, the gradual politicization of the drug law debate. He argues that the selective enactment of drug laws has been driven by fear, racism, powerful international pressures, and the vested interests of the medical profession, bureaucrats, and politicians, rather than by genuine concerns about the welfare of users. Behind the controversy that surrounds illegal drug use lie previously unexamined assumptions about how and why certain substances, such as opium, heroin, and cannibis, have been prohibited, while others, namely tobacco and alcohol, have not. Manderson boldly challenges these assumptions, while evaluating the power and efficacy of law as a means of achieving social change.