The American Disease : Origins of Narcotic Control: Origins of Narcotic Control

David F. Musto Professor of Child Psychiatry and History of Medicine Yale School of Medicine

Oxford University Press, Feb 5, 1999 - Medical - 432 pages

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.

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Review: The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control

User Review  - Patrick - Goodreads

i read this book for my undergraduate thesis research, and it was indispensable in that regard. though a little dry at times, the book is extremely well researched and packed full of interesting facts ...

Review: The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control

User Review - Goodreads

I had to read chapters 1-3 of this book for class, and I have no desire to read the rest. I know legislation and history can sometimes be boring, but as a history nerd I was expecting something a ...

Contents

• The American Disease: 1
• Diplomats and Reformers: 24
• The Harrison Act: 54
• The Search for Cures: 69
• State and Local Narcotic Control: 91
• The Federal Assault on Addiction Maintenance: 121
• The Narcotic Clinic Era: 151
• The Troubled Twenties: 183
• Marihuana and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics: 210
• Federal Support of the Medical Approach: 230
• The Return of Drug Toleration 19651985: 245
• Renewed Efforts at Control 19861997: 273
• The Dynamics of Narcotic Control: 294
• Notes: 301
• Index: 391

Popular passages

Page 382 - I propose a national mental health program to assist in the inauguration of a wholly new emphasis and approach to care for the mentally ill. This approach relies primarily upon the new knowledge and new drugs acquired and developed in recent years which make it possible for most of the mentally ill to be successfully and quickly treated in their own communities and returned to a useful place in society.‎

About the author

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David F. Musto, M.D., a well-known authority on drug abuse, is Professor of Child Psychiatry and the History of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The American Disease : Origins of Narcotic Control: Origins of Narcotic Control; Oxford paperbacks
• Author: David F. Musto Professor of Child Psychiatry and History of Medicine Yale School of Medicine
• Edition: 3, revised
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1999
• ISBN: 019802892X, 9780198028925
• Length: 432 pages
• Subjects: Medical / History