Villains and Victims - Blaine Rick

Government drug policies and medical treatments for addiction, pain, and mental health issues intertwine in a way that disproportionately harms the world's most vulnerable people. Villains and Victims: The Global Drug, Terrorism, and Organized Crime Conundrum, and Solution reveals how these seemingly unrelated policies form a destructive symbiosis-fuelling addiction, organized crime, radicalization, and terrorism. What began as an unintended consequence now appears, in many cases, to be deliberate. The public must be made aware of the widespread damage these policies inflict.

For over a century, the ripple effects of ineffective drug laws and flawed substitution treatments have contributed to millions of deaths. Unless these systems are reformed, governments will continue to mislead the public, pharmaceutical companies will profit unethically, and medical professionals will fail to provide the best care for addiction and alcoholism. As a result, countless men, women, and children will keep suffering and dying-not only from substance abuse but also from the violence of terrorism and organized crime.