The Candidate
Ben Landers
An independent presidential candidate who wins. His plan: legalize and regulate all drugs, treat addiction as a disease, tax the market, and move non-violent offenders into addiction help.
A novel by Jeremy Grove
Legalized
A new president’s first act: legalize and regulate every drug in America. One year later, nothing — and no one — is the same.
The Premise
The War on Drugs ends on day one.
When Ben Landers wins the 2024 presidential election, his first act is legalizing and regulating all drugs. Legalized follows one year in an America reshaped by that single decision — told across class lines, from prison TV rooms and police cruisers to suburban kitchens and the corners where the old market used to rule.
Cocaine is for sale at the local market. Restaurants pair a meal with a wine — or a cannabis strain. And in dark alleys and vacant houses, those aligned with the cartels try to find their footing in a world that just made their business legal. Delight and danger arrive together.
What the novel wrestles with
- The War on Drugs
- Addiction as disease
- Systemic racism in the courts
- Class in America
- Cartels vs. the legal market
- A post-pandemic economy
One policy. Every side of the line.
The Characters
Everyone has a stake.
Presidents and prisoners, dealers and agents, mothers and cops — each watching the same debate, each with something to win or lose.
The Agent
Special Agent Robert Randolph
Fifteen years with the DEA. Cynical, with a German shepherd named Rico at his side — and nothing but contempt for Landers’ plan.
The Mother
Cynthia
A single mom who owns a cleaning service. Raised on the Texas–Mexico border, raising two sons — Raul, the popular baseball player, and José, who dreams of the Ivy League.
The Cop
Officer Hawk
A young Black inner-city officer about two years on the job. Idealistic, and torn about the methods he’s seen used in narcotics work.
The Kingpin
Ronnie “Big” Carmichael
A heroin dealer with gang and cartel power behind him — and the fear that legalization will wipe out his market overnight.
The Addicted
Sandra
Living with a heroin addiction, she’s nodding out while the debate that could change her life plays on.
The Inmate
Jerry David
Serving time for cannabis, he watches the debate from the prison TV room — where a candidate’s promise is anything but abstract.
The Skeptic
Peeples
A fellow inmate, locked up for meth, who isn’t buying anything Landers is selling.
More of the cast will be revealed closer to launch.
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ISBN 978-1-960815-86-6