The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

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Just Say No campaign The Eighties in America

users rather than focusing solely on drug suppliers.
Soon after Nancy Reagan popularized the phrase, it
became a subject of ridicule in popular culture. To-
day, it stands as a symbol of failed 1980’s “get tough
on crime” policies, which were heavy on rhetoric as
well as tough sentencing.

Further Reading
Bayer, Ronald, ed.Confronting Drug Policy.New York:
Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge,

1993. This volume shows the post-1980’s angst
      among scholars wrestling with how to move for-
      ward with drug policy.
      Hamid, Ansley.Drugs in America.Greensburg, Md.:
      Aspen, 1998. An excellent book that gives the
      reader an overview of the illicit drug situation in
      the United States.
      Inciardi, James A.Handbook of Drug Control in the

United States.New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.

This book provides a solid picture of where drug

policy stood at the end of the decade and

glimpses of where it was poised to go.

Robinson, Matthew B., and Renee G. Scherlen, eds.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics.Albany:

State University of New York Press, 2007. One

need only regularly use reported government

statistics, particularly those related to crime, to

determine their severe limitations. This book is

highly informative to the topic at hand, as well as

being useful to budding social scientists in gen-

eral.

R. Matthew Beverlin

See also Crack epidemic; Crime; Drug Abuse Re-

sistance Education (D.A.R.E.); Reagan, Nancy; Rea-

gan, Ronald; Reagan Revolution; Slang and slogans.