White Mischief - A cultural history of cocaine
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Dr Michael Gossop
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Score: 8/10
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From Amazon - Praised as a wonder drug by doctors throughout Europe and the United States
upon its discovery nearly 150 years ago, perceptions of cocaine have now come full circle. A prime
target of narcotics agencies and governments across the globe, coke has become the crown jewel
of the drug trade. Despite the widespread panic surrounding its effects and highly addictive quality,
as well as massive campaigns by the U.S. government to stop its importation, coke is still readily
available and maintains its street credibility as a champagne drug, associated with high-living, high-
rolling lifestyles. Millions of South Americans have, for centuries, chewed coca leaves (the raw
product from which cocaine is derived), in order to produce a mild high, not unlike caffeine. The
plant was so revered by the Incas that they referred to it as the "food of the gods;" and in modern
societies, the coca plant has long been used in the recipe for popular soft drinks like Coca-Cola.
So what has led to the modern fervor over the plant's by-product cocaine? Tracing a history that
goes back hundreds of years, author Tim Madge examines the long, complicated, and
controversial history of cocaine, and its parent—the coca plant.
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