cover image Cocaine: An In-Depth Look at the Facts, Science, History, and Future of the World's Most Addictive Drug

Cocaine: An In-Depth Look at the Facts, Science, History, and Future of the World's Most Addictive Drug

John C. Flynn, Jr.. Carol Publishing Corporation, $18.95 (167pp) ISBN 978-1-55972-060-1

America has ineffectively waged the so-called war on drugs because Americans simply don't understand the enemy. So says Flynn, who teaches psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University. In the first place, he points out, we don't fully appreciate the diversity of drugs; different types affect the brain differently, with cocaine and its derivative, crack, the most dangerous, as they stimulate the pleasure centers powerfully. Flynn explains how the brain works and how cocaine casts its addictive spell. But he emphasizes that drug use need not be drug abuse; only a portion of the estimated 5-6 million regular cocaine users are dangerous to society, he claims. The author even predicts that ``designer'' drugs more addictive than crack will be developed. His solution is education based on the acknowledgment that cocaine produces good feelings--with the crucial corollary that it can dominate and destroy human life. An important contribution. (Apr.)