One Nation Under the Influence: America's Drug Habit and How We Can Overcome It

We are in the midst of the worst drug crisis in American history. What are we going to do about it?

Around 100,000 Americans died of a drug overdose last year - nearly double the number who died in Vietnam. More than 1,000,000 have perished since 2000, thanks largely to an explosion of fentanyl and other addictive opioids. But fentanyl, abundant methamphetamine, and other lethal drugs are not the only things that are killing us: our policy is. So far, America has lacked the will to do better. That must change, and this book tells us how.

No one is immune, which is why Kevin Sabet has authored this remarkable book. Sabet, dubbed the "the quarterback of the new anti-drug movement" by Salon, has spent most of his life battling the destructive effects of drugs. In One Nation Under the Influence, he asks hard questions and provides clear answers, taking readers from the streets of San Francisco and New York to the southern border, up to Canada, and across to Europe to show how we can chart a necessary way forward. The solutions are out there, if only we have the will to apply them.

Author: Kevin A. Sabet
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Polity Press
Published: 09/15/2025
Pages: 288
ISBN: 9781509560707

About the Author

Kevin Sabet, dubbed a "prodigy of drug politics" by NBC News, is the only person to have been appointed by both Republicans and Democrats as an advisor at the White House drug policy office. He holds a doctorate from Oxford University and is the president and CEO of the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS) and Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). His previous book, Smokescreen: What the Marijuana Industry Doesn't Want You to Know, won a Next Generation Indie Book Award and was optioned for a documentary. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and numerous other publications. He writes a regular column on drug policy for Newsweek and is a fellow at Yale University.