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I'm in the process of reading this book, and am well past the excerpted part. I think this headline is very misleading. Rothstein didn't start anything -- he
by _cudgel 12y ago
I'm in the process of reading this book, and am well past the excerpted part. I think this headline is very misleading.
Rothstein didn't start anything -- he responded to a situation created by Harry Anslinger. Anslinger created the situation out of a need to secure funding for his operation, and what appears, to my reading, to be a healthy dose of both racism and religious fervor.
- dang 12y agoSince you've read more of the material, can you please suggest an accurate and neutral title?
- _cudgel 12y agoA shortened version of the title at Salon would be, to me, more accurate and neutral: "America's First Drug Dealer: Arnold Rothstein" I don't particularly care for Salon's subtitle, though. It paints a picture of the drug war as being started by the drug dealers, as does the headline on HN. It was certainly not: It took the US Congress to outlaw narcotics in the first place, and Anslinger's involvement to scare the public to the point that a war was truly begun. The criminal element that moved into this newly created environment were clearly opportunists who seemingly didn't realize there was a war at all. Truly, it's a tragic story. If addiction has touched your life in any way, this book is a worthwhile read.