“Blunts have made it fashionable to smoke pot again. Just about no­body in hip hop circles smokes crack or cocaine anymore.”

“Owing to the success of the Rea­gan-Bush crackdown, marijuana prices in New York City have doubled and tripled in recent years, with top-end product selling routinely for $500 an ounce, and up.”

“It’s no accident that many kids start taking drugs at about the same age when children in traditional societies are tossed into a terrifying rite of passage, often involving some freaked-out combination of blood, darkness, self-sufficiency, and secrets.”