Dopeworld: Adventures in the Global Drug Trade

by Niko Vorobyov

Overview

In this irreverent ode to gonzo journalism, one writer travels the globe to explore the use of recreational drugs in cultures around the world.

After I got out of jail, I was determined to find out more about how the issue of drugs not only landed me there, but has shaped the entire world: wars, scandals, coups, revolutions. I read every book, watched every documentary. I saved up to buy plane tickets. I went to Colombia, Mexico, Russia, Italy, Japan and the Afghan border—all in all, fifteen countries across five continents.

Call me Narco Polo.

Just as Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations did for the world of food, Dopeworld is an intoxicating journey into the world of drugs. From the cocaine farms in South America to the streets of Manila, Dopeworld traces the emergence of psychoactive substances and our intimate relationship with them. As a former drug dealer turned subversive scholar, with unparalleled access to drug lords, cartel leaders, street dealers and government officials, journalist Niko Vorobyov attempts to shine a light on the dark underbelly of the drug world.

At once a bold piece of journalism and a hugely entertaining travelogue, Dopeworld is a brilliant and enlightening journey across the world, revealing how drug use is at the heart of our history, our lives, and our future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250618696
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	12/07/2021
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	625,234
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

NIKO VOROBYOV was born in Leningrad, Russia, before moving to Great Britain. From 2013-2014 he served a two-and-a-half year sentence for Possession with Intent to Supply. Upon his release, he graduated from University College London and began working at a Russian news outlet, Russia Today, before putting together his media, academic, and under-the-counter expertise to write a book. Dopeworld is his first book.

Table of Contents

Prelude xv

Part 1 Rise and Fall

1 From Russia with Drugs 3

2 A Brief History of Molly 6

3 LDN 14

4 Busted 29

5 CrIsis 33

6 I Cannot Self-Terminate 45

Part 2 Everything Gets Banned

7 A Trip Through the Ages 51

8 Shanghai'd 60

9 Dry Season 69

10 Keep Off the Grass 81

11 Chemical Warfare 88

12 Hail Satan 99

Part 3 Cosa Nostra

13 Havana Nights 111

14 The Pizza Connection 115

15 Corleone 122

16 New Blood 130

Part 4 Land of the Free

17 The Three Musketeers 137

18 Ready Rock 145

19 Incarceration Nation 159

20 #BlackLivesMatter 166

21 Interlude: Planes, Chains and Automobiles 177

Part 5 Gangster's Paradise

22 Plata o plomo 187

23 The Boys from Sinaloa 204

24 The Wall 216

25 Dinner at El Chapo's 223

26 Interlude: Shottingham 236

Part 6 Freaks and Fiends?

27 Nisha 245

28 Jack and Torin 253

29 Treasure Hunting 259

Part 7 The New Guard

30 Just Say Nyet! 275

31 The Golden Crescent 294

32 Killers and Karaoke 310

33 Cocaine Cariocas 330

Part 8 A Better Tomorrow

34 Old World, New Rules 345

35 Free the Weed! 356

36 The Panic in Needle Park 369

Epilogue 387

End Credits 393

Sources 395

Editorial Reviews

★ 06/29/2020

At the start of this terrific debut, former drug dealer Vorobyov writes of the London prison where he served time in 2013–2014 for possession with intent to supply, “With its uninspired menu, rude staff, slow room service and guests unable to leave their rooms twenty-three hours a day, suffice it to say that this place wouldn’t get a good rating on TripAdvisor.” That same wit marks his account of his misspent youth in England as the son of Russian émigrés, and his post-prison travels around the world meeting with those involved in the illegal drug trade and those trying to combat it. Along the way, Vorobyov provides much fascinating history, from the ancient Incas’ use of coca to late-20th-century America’s war on drugs, which he argues originated largely as a way to criminalize black Americans following the civil rights movement. He ends on a hopeful note, citing the socialist government of Portugal’s decision in 2001 to decriminalize all drugs, which led to a drastic drop in the number of addicts, overdoses, and new HIV cases. Vorobyov makes a persuasive case for the legalization of drugs in what he aptly calls “a true crime, gonzo, social, historical-memoir meets fucked-up travel book.” It could well become a classic. Agents: John Ash and Patrick Walsh, PEW Literary (U.K.). (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Dopeworld:

"[A] terrific debut…Vorobyov makes a persuasive case for the legalization of drugs...It could well become a classic.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)

“An entertaining excursion into the narcotics trade by a one-time practitioner…A revealing treatise that provides ample ammunition for the legalize-it crowd.” —Kirkus Reviews

"Fast-paced, in-your-face, sprawling...Equal parts criminal memoir, history lesson, and travelog, [Dopeworld] will appeal to readers seeking an immersive and intimate look at the drug trade." –Library Journal

"Dopeworld hooked me from page one on out—as engrossing and informative as it is fun to read. A winner!" - Bruce Porter, bestselling author of Blow: How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All and Snatched: From Drug Queen to Informer to Hostage

"A free-rolling and frank depiction of the global narcotics scene. Fascinating." —The Spectator (UK)

"An obsessive, immersive account of all aspects of the drug culture—its ways, its rules, its rituals, its rhythms, its language." —Irish Examiner (UK)

From the Publisher

05/01/2020

Journalist Vorobyov (Russia Today) traveled the globe to explore the drug trade, raising intriguing questions along the way. "How come a gram of coke can land you in handcuffs, but you can buy beer and cigs at any corner shop? Why are so many kids dying, and why are our prisons filling up?" Vorobyov, who served two and a half years in prison for possession with intent to supply, bounces between personal stories and visits to a dozen countries. This fast-paced, in-your-face, sprawling book is bolstered by snippets of the history of Prohibition, the Sicilian Mafia, Mexican drug cartels, and American drug dealers. The author makes brief stops in the Philippines, Iran, Russia, Mexico, Colombia, Italy, and Los Angeles to interview mid-level or retired drug trade players. A highlight is his meeting with former drug lord "Freeway" Rick Ross, who explains how he profited from crack cocaine sales. Given the author's background, there are few references to law enforcement or drug abuse prevention and rehabilitation. Readers seeking a more focused take will prefer Ben Westhoff's Fentanyl, Inc., or Evan Ratliff's The Mastermind. VERDICT Equal parts criminal memoir, history lesson, and travelog, this will appeal to readers seeking an immersive and intimate look at the drug trade.—Harry Charles, St. Louis

Library Journal

2020-06-26
An entertaining excursion into the narcotics trade by a one-time practitioner.

Born in the former Soviet Union, Vorobyov landed as a child in “a small boring town in the British countryside that doubles as a film set whenever the BBC want to do a costume drama.” Bored out of his skull, he dabbled in various penny-ante criminal enterprises such as selling pirated DVDs “until everyone discovered the Internet,” which led him to his next gig: selling cocaine and other drugs to his fellow college students, who proved a willing, lucrative market. “Drugs are an easy, low-risk source of tax-free profit,” he writes. “You can scream how it’s wrong all you want, but name another business where you can quadruple your investment over a weekend.” The drug trade in Britain came under the control of various ethnic groups, most notably—and violently—Albanian gangsters. As for the author, he got caught and did a little time but remains defiant in his defense of the enterprise: “I hate it when people say drug dealers don’t work for a living,” he writes. “Your baggies don’t just weigh themselves and fly over to your people’s houses.” Still, weighing the odds and considering how people behind bars turn into their own worst enemies and have a terrible habit of killing themselves, Vorobyov decided to try a different tack: “While I was in jail, I’d figured that I might as well become one of those prison intellectual types: the subversive scholar.” That scholarship meant reading, traveling the globe (“call me Narco Polo”), and chronicling such diverse matters as a drug’s effects on the brain’s dopamine levels, the trade’s contribution to the international economy, and a “war on drugs” that is really a genocide of ethnic minorities in slow motion. His conclusion: One day, that war will end, whereupon he’ll open a cannabis shop named for the judge who sentenced him.

A revealing treatise that provides ample ammunition for the legalize-it crowd.

Kirkus Reviews