Then (2015), Chasing the Scream
The Drug War Centenary: 2014 in Retrospect
Hari published Chasing the Scream to coincide with the centenary of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914, the first US drug control legislation. He argued the hundred-year experiment in prohibition had failed by every measure.
contested
The decade following Chasing the Scream has seen significant policy movement: recreational cannabis is now legal in 24 US states; Oregon decriminalized personal possession of all drugs in 2020 (then partly reversed in 2024 due to implementation challenges); multiple jurisdictions have adopted harm reduction frameworks; the Biden administration's October 2022 mass pardon of federal cannabis convictions was the largest drug policy reform action in US history. Yet overdose deaths reached record highs of 107,500 in 2023 (primarily fentanyl). The drug war is changing but not over, and the fentanyl crisis has complicated simple reform narratives.
Sources
- Hari, Chasing the Scream (2015)
- CDC Drug Overdose Deaths (2023)
- DOJ Cannabis Pardon, October 2022