Drugs and Narcotics in History - A review

For anybody who is really interested in the debate on drugs, then it is a good idea to get a handle on the history of the issue.

A fast and enjoyable way to get up to speed is with Drugs and Narcotics in History, edited by Roy Porter and Mikulas Teich.

The book is a collection of essays that take a reasonably in depth view of the history of drugs from the time of the ancient Greeks through modern times (it was published in 1995 by Cambridge University Press), though there is a fairly large gap of almost 1500 years between Roman times and modern history that the book does not cover.

The book as a whole addresses the contentious status of drugs as both a healing phenomenon and a destructive force with some emphasis on demarcating the role of medical science in establishing the properties and uses of drugs and the role of the state in dictating the “proper use” and approved users surrounding the issue. The contradiction in the issues involved, according to the preamble, remain unresolved as evidenced by some highly addictive and damaging drugs such as nicotine and some precription drugs remaining legal, while others remain illegal.

Drugs and Narcotics in History also addresses the issues of the attitudes surrounding various drugs and how some came to be regarded as acceptable within society and others as outside the mainstream, at least partly as a result of the efforts of physicians to regulate (or deregulate) their control over the use of opiates. The social pressures from other elements of society is also addressed with some emphasis on the experience of the United States since World War 2.

The book covers many of the main movers and shakers in the drug debate including opiates, alcohol and conventional pharmaceuticals and goes into the role of history in shaping the debate on drugs - something readers of this site would probably be most interested in.

The book is not a light read, but it isn’t needlessly complex either. Anyone who has a solid interest in the debate on drugs will probably take a lot away from this book - most probably a far greater understanding of the trends that have shaped modern conceptions of drugs and drug use.

A worthwihle read - check out Drugs and Narcotics in History at Amazon.

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