Condemned

LAWYER MAKES CASE FOR LEGALIZATION OF DRUGS

The ringleader of one of the nations most notorious drug cartels is a media celebrity as he stands trial for his crimes - unaware theres a contract out on his head

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A junkie, suspected of aiding in the rape and murder of her own daughter, all in exchange for a fix, is despised and ridiculed in the media

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A Senator risks his political career fighting for a bill that would legalize all drugs, believing that the key to winning the drug war is the elimination of illegal trafficking

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These stories are presented as fiction in John Nicholas Iannuzzis Condemned, but the issues they represent are a daily reality in the war against drugs. Iannuzzis ripped-from-the-headlines style comes from his experience as one of New York Citys most prominent criminal attorneys. With unflinching candor, Iannuzzi exposes the rampant corruption and unscrupulous behavior at every level of the drug trade - from street junkies to DEA agents - and reveals to readers the tangled web of interdependence illegal drug trafficking creates.

We are repeating what Franklin Roosevelt called the Stupendous Blunder of Prohibition, says Iannuzzi. Laws that were intended to regulate and eliminate allegedly evil substances have actually created an industry of corruption and violence.

In Condemned, Iannuzzi asserts that by failing to legalize drugs, our government is following the same mistaken path it did with alcohol Prohibition. In fact, he took the title of the book from a well-known quote from Santayana: Those who fail to remember the past are condemned to repeat it. By legalizing and regulating drugs in the same way that alcohol has been controlled, Iannuzzi contends that society will have a three-fold benefit: eliminating trafficking and its cohorts violence and corruption, bringing in billions of legitimate tax dollars into the public coffers to better serve society, and eradicating the incalculable cost of fighting the ineffective war on drugs. Once trafficking is eliminated, addiction can be dealt with as the medical and psychological problem that it is.

Iannuzzis novel weaves together stories of Colombian drug lords, Russian thugs, Mafia soldiers, street junkies, law enforcement, courtroom intrigue, jail cells, luxury cars, and billions of dollars to shine a high-intensity light upon the dark, dangerous corners of international drug trafficking.

Not only a great read, CONDEMNED also offers a great ride. Iannuzzis dazzlingly exciting double plot of 1990s drug world counter pointed with 1920s bootlegging and speakeasy chicanery, undoes the noble war on drugs as brilliantly as Marc Anthony undid noble Brutus in his speech at Caesars funeral.

-New York Law Journal

Long regarded by the denizens of the New York Criminal Courts as the Dean of the Defense Bar, John Nicholas Iannuzzi has penned a gripping, thought-provoking, controversial and highly topical read. Iannuzzis CONDEMNED is certain to provoke an important debate about the nature, purpose, methodology and enforcement of our drug laws.

-Robert K. Tanenbaum, lawyer, former N.Y. Asst. D.A., author of Fury and many other best selling novels

Iannuzzi, a brilliant criminal trial lawyer, reflects a masters incisive eye for the sound and feel of the heartbeat of the criminal courts and law enforcement. CONDEMNEDS theme about drugs and the drug laws is confrontational and challenging. An altogether excellent read.

-Hon. Edwin Torres, Justice of the New York Supreme Court, author of best-sellers and major motion pictures Carlitos Way and Q. and A.; former N.