Tom Feiling traces cocaine's progress from legal "pick-me-up" to luxury product to global commodity, looks at legalization programs in countries such as Switzerland, and shows how America's anti-drugs crusade is actually increasing demand.

Originally published as: The candy machine : how cocaine took over the world. London : Penguin, 2009.

pt. 1. How did we get here? -- From soft drink to hard drug -- Building a hard drug economy -- A rush to punish -- Cutting off the lizard's tail -- pt. 2. Supply and the Third World -- Smugglers -- The Mexican supply chain -- 'Cocaine is the atomic bomb of Latin America' -- Globalization -- pt 3. Where do we go from here? -- The demand for cocaine -- Legalization -- Prospects.