Matters of Substance: Drugs--And Why Everyone's a User

Matters of Substance is the most insightful book I've ever read on drugs. Edwards never inflames, and never understates. He looks far and wide at many cultures and countries, and never lets popular myths or received attitudes dictate his opinions. On cannabis, for instance, he stands resolutely against the libertarian stream and points out hypocrisy on the left between nicotine and cannabis attitudes. With cocaine, on the other hand, he lays much of the blame for the epidemic of the 1980s on the medical community, who over-prescribed the drug in powder form in the 50s, creating an environment ready for a designer drug.