Scarlett Savage, a California-based author and playwright, announces a compelling new novel set in present-day America. However, unlike today’s drug underworld, all narcotics have been legalized for over fifteen years. When drugs meet the crunch, will society decide it was worth it?

Santa Monica, CA -- (SBWire) -- 12/04/2012 --For decades drug activists have grappled with governments and their citizens over the fierce debate of drug legalization. Many remain undecided due to the unpredictable nature of opening narcotics’ floodgates; but a gripping new novel by Scarlett Savage could provide a literary insight into this controversial dilemma.

‘Narcotic Nation’ provides an enlightening and engrossing journey into what life could be like if America decides to legalize many currently-banned substances.

Synopsis:

“It’s the present-day America, but in which all narcotics were legalized fifteen years ago with the advent of the Freedman Bill (called the Legalization). While there is finally plenty of money to pay the police, teachers, and other public workers, and no one in the country is without insurance or food and shelter, the government now utilizes many methods designed to keep drug use to keep it within a “safe” parameter…violating many of the Constitutional rights in the process.

The country is torn by this decision; there are the “Realists”, who feel firmly that since drug abuse isn't going away, that they should tax it, make it available, and put these trillions toward improving our country. The “Idealists” are convinced we are allowing our baser instincts to be used for the good of the politicians, and fiercely fight to overturn.

In this midst of all this, rock band Deus Ex Machina (Latin for "God From the Machine"), having won an American Idol-type competition, executes its first tour. Roped into participating by his lead singer girlfriend, Raven Lashua, bassist and aspiring politician Ashe Brecken is dismayed when his band wins.

Hoping to turn his instant celebrity toward a purpose, he begins working with Stay Straight, an organization dedicated to overturning the Legalization. What he doesn’t know is that Raven has reasons for supporting the Freedman Bill…and is willing to secretly sabotage his life’s work to protect it.

After a public humiliation spurs his desire to overturn the Bill, Ashe employs deadly designs to make the statement that the Bill Equals Death. Turning to someone he’s long despised to assist him in this dangerous efforts, this long-time band of musicians and friends are now in the midst of changing not only the nation, but the whole world…but at what cost?

As the author explains, her book’s premise isn’t a million miles from reality.

“The use of narcotics has been around since biblical times; making them illegal, which consumes trillions of taxpayer dollars and does nothing to halt the making, distributing, or usage has only been around for the past hundred years,” says Savage, who boasts an impressive bibliography of books and plays.

She continues, “Eighty years ago, heroin kits were sold for young moms in pharmacies to combat post natal depression; dock workers were given a daily dose of cocaine so they could work faster. Is either method right?”

With the country’s past throwing up similar situations to her book’s plot, Savage believes her book provides a balanced, if fictional account of the arguments for and against legalization.

“This tale explores the good and bad of a reality in which America decided to profit from the Legalization, creating thousands of jobs, food for hungry children, and insurance for everyone. But has either method truly worked?” she asks.

Since its release, Narcotic Nation has garnered a consistent string of rave reviews.

“This story of a rock band's launch--and its political bassist, who wants the Legalization overturned at all costs--is thrilling, smart, edgy and...I can't wait to see the movie!!” says Laurie, who reviewed the book on Amazon.

Another reader, username Love2read29, was equally as impressed. They wrote that it is a “Great book from the beginning. Cool cool world this author created & i can't put it down! Usually I only like reading classic books but this author is one of the great ones of our time.”

With so much success on her hands, critics praise Scarlett for using compelling literature to re-open a real-world debate. Could her book be the actual middle ground that could please everyone?

Time will only tell. In the meantime ‘Narcotic Nation’, published by Amazon Digital services, can be purchased from: http://amzn.to/SkHsGG

For more information, please visit the author’s official website: http://www.scarlettsavage.com

About Scarlett Savage
Scarlett Savage began writing at the tender age of six after reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House in the Big Woods." Realizing that the words made pictures inside her mind, she resolved to start writing immediately. It took a few decades before she was any good at it, but by age twenty she won several awards in college that had only been given to graduate students (and male students) with "Jimmie Was Here," "The Centerfieldsman," and "Numbers," the play that would go on to become "Not This Girl, Not This Day." After leaving the University of Maine at Orono (the alma mater of her hero, Stephen King) she took a few years off, "because I realized all I ever wrote about was being in college, and being in theater; I needed to experience life to write about it all."

Shortly after, she married and had her first child, Daphne Juliet Ellis, a ballet dancer, actress, and straight A student. Ms. Savage began concentrating more heavily on writing for the stage, and it was during this period that "Dear Daddy, Love Cassie" and "Chase a Killer, Catch a Killer, Run, Run, Run..." were written, as well as her first novel, Narcotic Nation.

Her second novel, “The Madman's Clay” soon followed. She moved to the art-rich area of Portsmouth, NH, where she had her second child, artist Jessica Juliet Savage (father, actor Chris Savage), and spent a decade honing her craft for the stage; during this time, she raised over a hundred thousand dollars with private donations for various sexual assault agencies with runs of "Dear Daddy, Love Cassie" and a number of donations for the Ronald MacDonald House with "My Sister Jake is Dying"; A sometime actress, she performed three tours of the comedy "Sylvia" and her own "Dear Daddy, Love Cassie" as well as leads in the films "Golyadkin" and "Tempers Cool."

In 2005, she was the most produced original playwright from Boston to Bangor. 2008 saw the Girl Scouts hire her to write their dramatic presentation, and "I AM A GIRL!!" a play celebrating girls and their determination to change the world, was born. During this period, awards, grants and fellowships from all over the country were bestowed upon the writer. When Richard Rose, the head of NYC Shakespeare Society, caught her play, "Numbers" and determined to bring it to NYC, where it was a sell-out hit, outselling all of Theater Row during its run.

A chance meeting with a college crush lead her to move to LA, where she focused on transposing her plays "She F-ing Hates Me: A Love Story" and "Numbers" to the page. After a brief period of rest, Zombie Joe's Underground Theater picked up three of her plays, as she transposed two of her plays for the screen. She currently plans to turn "I AM A GIRL!!" into an inspirational web series, and to continue to write plays that entertain and inspire for the stage.