The "ritual persecution" of drugs and drug users must be seen as similar to the persecution of other scapegoats such as witches and madmen, according to Szasz (emeritus, psychiatry, State U. of New York) in the 1974 text he considers "to be one of my best works." He condemns the "war on drugs," as the U.S. government is still conducting it, as a form of coercion and colonialism based more on ritual than on any real medical or scientific reason. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)