The Dope, Benjamin T. Smith
The Dope, Benjamin T. Smith
2 Rating(s)
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
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The Dope
The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade

Author: Benjamin T. Smith

Narrator: John Curless

Unabridged: 17 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 08/10/2021


Synopsis

The Mexican drug trade has inspired prejudiced narratives of a war between north and south, white and brown; between noble cops and vicious kingpins, corrupt politicians and powerful cartels. In this first comprehensive history of the trade, scholar Benjamin T. Smith
tells the real story of how and why this once-peaceful industry turned violent. He uncovers its origins and explains how this illicit business essentially built modern Mexico, affecting everything from agriculture to medicine to economics—and the country’s all-important relationship with the United States.

Drawing on unprecedented archival research; leaked DEA, Mexican law enforcement, and cartel documents; and dozens of harrowing interviews, Smith tells a thrilling story brimming with vivid characters—from Ignacia “La Nacha Jasso, “queen pin” of Ciudad
Juárez, to Dr. Leopoldo Salazar Viniegra, the crusading physician who argued that marijuana was harmless and tried to decriminalize morphine, to Harry Anslinger, the Machiavellian founder of the American Federal Bureau of Narcotics, who drummed up
racist drug panics to increase his budget. Smith also profiles everyday agricultural workers, whose stories reveal both the economic benefits and the human cost of the trade.

The Dope contains many surprising conclusions about drug use and the failure of drug enforcement, all backed by new research and data. Smith explains the complicated dynamics that drive the current drug war violence, probes the U.S.-backed policies that
have inflamed the carnage, and explores corruption on both sides of the border. A dark morality tale about the American hunger for intoxication and the necessities of human survival, The Dope is essential fo understanding the violence in the drug war and how decades-old myths shape Mexico in the American imagination today.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Brandon on February 13, 2022

Another book that occasionally suffers from trying to tackle a huge, complicated story in a comprehensive way. Smith has a lot of fascinating insight and unbelievable stories packed into this book, and I do feel like I’m walking away with new insight into how we got to the current situation in “the......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on September 27, 2021

On the subject of Mexico’s narcos, The Dope really is the dope. Popular convention and recent TV series claim that Mexico’s drug trade got going in the 1980s, when ramped-up vigilance by the US Coast Guard forced Colombians to switch from the Caribbean to Mexico when shipping up their cocaine … Ente......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on April 29, 2022

A history of the Mexican drug trade is probably something more people should know about since it influences the world and the US more specifically far more than most want to think about and this does an excellent job of giving you this history. It is equal parts horror, history and politics and expl......more

Goodreads review by Pablo on December 17, 2023

Un retrato de los factores que crearon a la delincuencia organizada mexicana. Más de 100 años de las razones, formas y estructuras del narcotráfico. Puedo decir que es de los mejores libros del tema que he leído.......more

Goodreads review by Austin on October 29, 2023

Dense, but very well sourced and written. Not for the faint of heart. Be mentally prepared for a long and tumultuous ride through the last 100 years of Narcohistory.......more