You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
The American Disease is a classic study of the development of drug laws in the United States. Supporting the theory that Americans' attitudes toward drugs have followed a cyclic pattern of tolerance and restraint, author David F. Musto examines the relationz between public outcry and the creation of prohibitive drug laws from the end of the Civil War up to the present. Originally published in 1973, and then in an expanded edition in 1987, this third edition contains a new chapter and preface that both address the renewed debate on policy and drug legislation from the end of the Reagan administration to the current Clinton administration. Here, Musto thoroughly investigates how our nation has dealt with such issues as the controversies over prevention programs and mandatory minimum sentencing, the catastrophe of the crack epidemic, the fear of a heroin revival, and the continued debate over the legalization of marijuana.
Beer was brought to America on the Mayflower, hemp was once a major, approved cash crop and cocaine, heroin and opium had several waves of popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Drugs and alcohol have been with America from the start.
Between 1960 and 1980 various administrations attempted to deal with a rising tide of illicit drug use that was unprecedented in U.S. history. This valuable book provides a close look at the politics and bureaucracy of drug control policy during those years, showing how they changed during the presidencies of Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter and how much current federal drug-control policies owe to those earlier efforts. David F. Musto, M.D., and Pamela Korsmeyer base their analysis on a unique collection of 5,000 pages of White House documents from the period, all of which are included on a searchable CD-ROM that accompanies the book. These documents reveal the intense debates that took pla...
In 1898 Heroin, the Bayer trademark name for diacetylmorphine, was commercially introduced to every corner of the Earth. Contrary to common assertion, Heroin was not recommended for treatment of morphine or opium habits. Rather, Heroin filled a desperate need for a powerful cough suppressant. The leading causes of death at that time, tuberculosis and pneumonia, were linked to uncontrollable coughing. Heroin performed well in preliminary testing by the manufacturer and upon release was hailed for its effectiveness. Although Heroin is a morphine derivative, for several years it was thought not to be particularly habit forming. Its addictive potential became apparent especially in the United States, where its sale was pretty much unrestricted until 1914. Heroin's prominent use among teen-aged gangs in New York City prompted the city's health commissioner in 1919 to characterize that use as an American disease.
Examines how and why the US government went from regulating illicit drug traffic and consumption to declaring war on both.
A Brief History of Cocaine, Second Edition provides a fascinating historical insight into the reasons why cocaine use is increasing in popularity and why the rise of the cocaine trade is tightly linked with the rise of terrorism The author illustrates the challenges faced by today's governments and explains why current anti-drug efforts have had on
Over recent years the study of addiction has moved from being a fragmented and under-developed area of science to become a forefront subject with its own identity. This book describes that fascinating process of evolution through a series of probing face-to-face interviews with the international scientists and other actors in the field who helped make the process happen. Unique in-depth interviews with 30 influential figures who have shaped modern addiction science. Ten commentaries from leading contemporary experts interpret this material by section. Recent history as base for future research planning and policy development
Heroin was only one drug among many that worried Progressive Era anti-vice reformers, but by the mid-twentieth century, heroin addiction came to symbolize irredeemable deviance. Creating the American Junkie examines how psychiatrists and psychologists produced a construction of opiate addicts as deviants with inherently flawed personalities caught in the grip of a dependency from which few would ever escape. Their portrayal of the tough urban addict helped bolster the federal government's policy of drug prohibition and created a social context that made the life of the American heroin addict, or junkie, more, not less, precarious in the wake of Progressive Era reforms. Weaving together the a...
On the psychological aspects of terrorism and suicide bombing.