The suitcase looks like a standard weekend bag. But like the man who carries it, it isn?t what it seems. Lined with tinfoil to mask the smell, it is a smuggler?s bag and will soon be filled to the brim with marijuana bricks. The smuggler is a Harvard student who has come to California to make his fortune. He hopes to score not just with his connection but with his new girlfriend, a Golden State beauty with an appetite for fine weed. When the deal...

The war on drugs has been official American policy since the 1970s. It is at best a failed policy, according to bestselling author Antony Loewenstein. Its direct results have included mass incarceration in the US and extreme violence in different parts of the world. And now the Trump administration is unleashing diplomatic and military forces against any softening of the conflict. Pills, Powder, and Smoke investigates the individuals, officials, activists,...

North Dakota's new oil capital has a serious law and order problem and newly qualified detective Cassie Dewell has just been appointed its deputy sheriff. Twelve-year-old Kyle Westergard is one of Grimstad's paperboys. Kyle has been written off as the 'slow' kid, but he has dreams deeper than anyone can imagine -- he wants to get out of town, take care of his alcoholic mother, and give them a better life. While delivering newspapers, he witnesses...