So I was hoping for something along the Botany of Desire meets Freakamonics. But I have to say this guy is just not a good writer. I couldn't finish his Fast Food Nation. (This book I did finish but I'm not sure if it counts since 50% of the book was acknowlegements......) Anyway, the 3 stories are very interesting topics - the underground economies around marijuana, pornography and migrant labor. And since I read the book I have really thought a lot on the topics. If this guy wrote like Michael Pollan this would have been fabulous. But he doesn't. He goes off on rants and tangents (in my opinion) and he offers way too much anecdotal evidence in a seemingly random chronology. Bleh. That's why I gave up on FFN and this book follows suit. Too bad, because the statistics and the stories are really just mind-blowing. The people in jail on marijuana charges with longer sentences than rapists and murderers for example. WTF??? and the economic study of migrant workers was really eye-opening to me. It is an interesting book, even a very interesting book, but not a well-written one.

Reefer madness is a look at the underground economy. Schlosser uses three aspects of the underground economy as a lens; the cultivation of marijuana, the hiring of illegal migrant workers (specifically California agriculture), and the production and distribution of pornography.

Scholosser is very much sympathetic towards the participants in these industries. He paints marijuana growers as small time farmers who are trying to make ends meet, and who are caught in the war on drugs by outsiders who do not have the will to go after dealers of more sophisticated drugs and their lawyers. Migrant workers as those who are hoping for a better life who are caught in hypocracy of an American agricultural market that can only survive because of cheap, exploited labor (although he identifies a few companies as treating their migrant workers well). And those who produce and distribute porn as people trying to make a living who are attacked by hypocritical politicians and conservative activists who want to draw attention away from their own moral failings. And in all cases, he advocates legalization to enable regulation. Marijuana as something without the culture of violence of harder drugs, and fewer effects than alcohol. Migrant workers so they can come and work the fields without the moral hazards. Pornography so it can be regulated and the participants protected under labor laws.

His use of stories has the big danger of lack of balance. You should be skeptical that he is cherry picking examples, and should be hesitant to generalize what he says. But you walk away thinking a couple of things.

1. There are at minimum, specific examples where the U.S. legal system should back away from, and the current system does more harm than good.

2. That the U.S. legal system is messed up in its priorities, its sense of proportion, and in the case of its morality/sin aspects, focused on the sins that are held by those without money and power.

Reefer Madness is a collection of 3 extended essays about the underground market in America for marijuana, migrant workers, and pornography. The author has focused primarily on the economic aspects of the underground. The topics themselves are quite interesting. Reading about the strict laws against marijuana use are both frightening and mind-boggling. How can consuming something as harmless as a joint warrant a harsher sentence than what is often handed out to murderers or other violent criminals? How is the US contributing to the influx of illegal immigrants in the US by failing to regulate agricultural growers who employ migrant laborers from Mexico for little to nothing? What does the overwhelming consumption of porn in the US reveal about how out of touch mainstream thought and criticism regarding porn are from what many people feel about it privately? The point being there is never an absence of food for thought. Schlosser feels that few laws albeit strictly enforced ones and government regulation of certain areas like business and worker's rights are necessary to produce the kind of equal and fair economy and country that most people espouse. Few would disagree with him there. Ultimately though, this book is somewhat stilted and doesn't form a very cohesive whole. While some of the essays seem to hold great promise they aren't developed enough and seem to be a little helter-skelter. As if the author gathered up his information from previous papers and interviews and decided to just throw it together to form a book. You understand his position but not convincingly. I am sure the author was riding a high after his previous success with Fast Food Nation but this book fizzles and eventually becomes less than hoped for. Once again, interesting food for thought but to feel sufficiently informed about these subjects you'll have to turn elsewhere for more detailed and channeled knowledge.

I loved Fast Food Nation so I picked this up. I had no real interest in the topic but wanted a change of pace from my usual books. The cheap labor in Americas farm systems was the weakest part of the book. The marijuana part was interesting to see the evolution of the laws and attitudes surrounding the drug. The part that made the book was the section about the porn industry. It was amazing. I have told people to just read that section of the book. It was an amazing story about one man and how he basically created the porn industry. It was this part alone that makes the book great. The other parts kept the book from the 5 star rating. The other parts were good just not great. For someone who was not interested, it really shocked me and drew me in.

This book proves how bloody hypocritical the American government is (as if anyone doubted it already). An in-depth look at three of the US's most productive underground industries (pornography, illegal immigrant labor, and the marijuana trade), "Reefer Madness" details the ridiculousness with which the US government approaches the processes that make up ten percent of the country's total business. Judging by sales, Americans love pot and porn, but live in a country that has law about them that are more strict than most any other developed nation. Americans support laws that say what they're doing is wrong and then go out and buy exactly what they're not supposed to buy. The discrepancy between law and consumption is alarming and Schlosser points this out through primary accounts and excellent research. Also alarming is the extent to which the government has mounted a witch hunt against these industries and "crimes" that arise from them, while ignoring other and more dangerous ones. When a person can spend more time in prison for minor marijuana possession than rape, there's something that's all screwed up. Schlosser raises some interesting points that are well supported by fact. The marijuana section alone is worth reading.

The book is well written and his surveys of three underground markets contain interesting, but not mind blowing information. Think of it as three long magazine articles, informative and intriguing enough to make the book a constructive idle distraction. The porn section is best, but I really wish the author had done more to explore the basic idea of what function the black market fills in American life. His discussion of the internet contains the most intriguing ideas in that regard, and he really only touches on it in his epilogue.

Another well documented book from Schlosser. This one shines light on three taboos in the American culture: marijuana, pornography, and illegal labor. Who is keeping marijuana out of the marketplace and why? Where did pornography get it's start and who profits from it? Would our agriculture industry and economy collapse without illegal immigrants breaking their backs in the fields? Schlosser uncovers the answers to all of the madness in... Reefer Madness.

although by this point, a lot of the statistics are pretty old & some stuff is surely outdated, this is still a very good introductory examination of not only the concept of the black market, but some of the ways society feels its impact. i'm not quite done yet, but there seems to be a dearth of focus on the internet in the porn section, considering that this was written in like 01 or 02...

update: okay, so he did talk more about the internet in the final chapters. the whole thing still just felt a little old, though. but if anything, i'm sure every situation is worse than what is represented in the book. all in all, this book was monstrously depressing. i found myself frequently laughing out loud, because laughing is what you always do in the face of something huge & horrible & gruesome & inescapable. which is what our culture has become. a ruthlessly efficient machine that churns out billions upon billions of dollars & is fueled by thoughtless exploitation & worldwide human suffering. we have crafted the instrument of our own destruction & there is nowhere to hide from it. reading this book makes me feel/sound like sarah connor.

Eric Schlosser has made a name for himself by probing behind the scenes of popular American phenomena. He became famous for Fast Food Nation, which was later turned into a film.

Schlosser's subject matter may trend towards the pop world, but his cross of investigative journalism and postmodernist sociology is both fresh and informative. It is obvious that he takes his material as seriously as any professional observer, and the reader reaps the reward of his work in the form of a much clearer understanding of the ways that American culture impacts the lives of real individuals.

In this book, Schlosser explores the American black market trade, as it has developed around three much different parts of society - the world of marijuana cultivation and sale, the immigrant labor market in California's fruit fields, and the nearly legitimized pornography industry.

Although there is a bit of a disconnect from section to section (which makes the book read almost like three), each is explored in detail, from multiple angles. He uses many reliable sources, interviews, histories, and his own observation to bring the reader into these rarely seen realms that nevertheless constitute indispensable columns of the American industrial/economic empire.

This book was written in 2002, hence the data on marijuana, migrant labor, and porn seem outdated. Schlosser's other book, Fast Food Nation, is better written and provides the reader the political economy of the fast food industry.

While not as amazing as Fast Food Nation, Schlosser does a pretty good job of giving the reader some interesting information. One of my main problems with this book, which I believe that I share with many of the other reviewers, is that the section on illegal immigration is uncomfortably short. This may be due in part to the fact that Schlosser bit off a bit more than he could chew in one book; it may also be due to the fact that the issue of immigration has been such a hot one as of late. In either case, I was left wanting more. But a page-turner nonetheless!

This book is fun in the way that 'Freakonomics' is fun, discussing business practices that more conservative economists will completely stay away from despite the obvious fact that they help drive the economy in a big way. If you think libertarians are right on for inciting a radically de-regulated take on capitalism, you will love this book. The drugs section is probably the saddest, documenting the story of a down and out midwesterner sentenced to maximum security prison for his limited involvement in a large marijuana deal. Although it is nowhere officially documented, marijuana is estimated to be as high as the third biggest cash crop for small time midwestern farmers. I found that out from this book. The pornography section is pretty fascinating too, since it looks at 30 years of the industry's history through the rise and sort of fall of this guy whose genius at doing illegal business without getting prosecuted for it is truly amazing. It all starts with him hand delivering dirty photos at the corner store, moves on to a covert warehouse operation in Cleveland, and expands to become a network of production and distribution companies all owned by phantom businesses whose money is laundered through international banks and filtered back to the kingpin through yet other holdings without his name appearing on a single document. In other words, it's the American dream story retold in a way that no-one claimed to approve of but still helped support. I'm sure the movie will come out about this guy someday. Anyway, this book is well written and much more naughty than Fast Food Nation (which is also really good). Libertarians dig in!