White Mischief: A Cultural History of Cocaine

O.K., this book is listed as being a "comprehensive history" of cocaine, however, the author neglects a lot of the negative events which led to cocaine's becoming a prohibited substance. In particular, the fact that drinkers of cola beverages containing cocaine had higher mortality rates and paid higher insurance premiums because of that mortality rate. Instead, Mr. Madge cites the myth of the "Negro Coke Fiend" as being what caused prohibition. While I don't disagree that the drug war needs to be ended, I do disagree that many of these substances, in particular cocaine, are benign and can be compared to something such as caffeine. Cocaine is addictive and can be lethal in small doses (legal cocaine is marked "poison"). Any proper discussion of the topic needs to seriously consider the negative aspects of cocaine use. While mythology both pro- and anti- cocaine exists that mythology needs to be properly addressed and discussed. The most glaring of the pro-cocaine myths being that it need not be lethal and that it is not an addictive substance. The question which Mr. Madge fails to answer is what is the attraction of this dangerous substance? A better book on this topic is "Cocaine : An Unauthorized Biography" by Dominic Streatfeild.