Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs

Chasing the Scream begins with a brief introduction in which author Johann Hari recalls one of his most formative and traumatizing memories: As a young child, he was alone with a relative whom he was unable to wake from a drug-induced slump. He felt guilty and powerless. Reflecting on this experience and other relationships with drug addicts close to him, Hari states that he has always been drawn to addicts because they “feel like [his] tribe” (1). His experiences led him to personal questions about how addicts should be dealt with and broad questions about the legal framework of drug prohibition known as the war on drugs. He admits to an internal conflict over whether addicts should be shamed or handled with compassion. Hari wonders why some drug users become addicts while others do not—and what really causes addiction. He also wonders when the war on drugs started, why it continues, and if a radically different policy would be more effective. In attempting to get answers to these questions, Hari explains that he traveled 30,000 miles and across nine countries over three years to learn that “our most basic assumptions about this subject are wrong” (3).