cover image The Making of a Drug-Free Amer

The Making of a Drug-Free Amer

Mathea Falco, Thea Falco. Crown Publishers, $23 (254pp) ISBN 978-0-8129-1957-8

An assistant secretary of State during the Carter administration, attorney Falco rightly emphasizes that reducing demand for drugs is a more viable goal than trying to cut the supply. Believing that both legalization of drugs and a draconian crackdown are unwise, she surveys a broad range of programs, including those that teach prevention in the schools; that test for drugs in the workplace and offer confidential assistance to users; and that operate therapeutic communities to treat addicts. Her brief snapshots, however, are more anecdotal than comprehensive; how much can citizen groups really do to drive out inner-city dealers? More importantly, Falco fails to address the issues of financing and organizing such programs. ``What we need is not more money but an entirely new strategy,'' she concludes, a somewhat insufficient response to the crisis she so capably describes. Author tour. (Nov.)