Substance Abuse in America

A Documentary and Reference Guide

James A. Swartz

• Publisher: Greenwood
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780313353765
• eBook ISBN: 9780313353772
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politik & Internationale Beziehungen
• Subtopic: Politik

This book provides a comprehensive overview of drug policy in the United States from the early 1900s through the present day, providing historical and social context through the telling of the colorful and often tragic stories of the events and individuals throughout this period. Substance Abuse in America: A Documentary and Reference Guide examines the history of U.S. drug policy chronologically, from the early 1900s through the current day, covering topics such as patent medicines, Prohibition, Reefer Madness, the psychedelic '60s, Nixon's War on Drugs, and the powerful warring Mexican drug cartels that currently threaten political instability in that country. This book provides a comprehensive overview of U.S. drug policy that will fascinate general readers and benefit those in the field of substance abuse treatment or policy. Each chapter includes an analysis of a primary source document that serves to illuminate drug policy in America at a particular point in time as well as the reasons for the waxing and waning popularity of various drugs. The author provides accurate historical context that explains perceptions about substance abuse in American history, and draws compelling parallels across different time periods to show that much of what may seem new and unique for the present generation actually has a historical precedent.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Reader's Guide to Related Documents and Sidebars
• Foreword
• Preface: The Forgotten War
• Introduction
• 1. The Early 20th Century: Patent Medicines, the Rise and Fall of Prohibition, the Narcotics Farms
• 2. The 1930s through the 1950s: Harry J. Anslinger and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Reefer Madness, the Kefauver Committee, the Beat Generation
• 3. The 1960s through the Mid-1990s: Amphetamines and Barbiturates, the Counterculture, LSD, Vietnam, the Heroin Epidemics, Cocaine Reemerges, Crack Cocaine, HIV/AIDS, Harm Reduction, Sentencing Disparities
• 4. The Mid-1990s to 2011: Medical Marijuana, Black Tar Heroin, OxyContin, Methamphetamine, the Mexican Drug War, the War on Drugs Continues
• Bibliography
• Index