NCJ Number
169610
Date Published
1998
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This lecture provides an overview of the history of alcohol, opiate, and cocaine use in the United States and examines patterns in the social and governmental response to perceived drug abuse and its health and behavioral consequences.
Abstract
Dr. Musto, who has an educational background in both medicine and history, notes that trends in the use of and public response to alcohol, opiates, and cocaine show similar patterns. When certain drugs are first experienced as having actual or perceived physiological effects that are pleasant or desirable, they tend to be used to excess or to the extent that their overuse begins to cause harmful health and behavioral consequences. The attractive effects of drugs are zealously broadcast by their users and sellers, so use and abuse escalate. History shows that it is only after this wave and epidemic of first use peaks that the harmful effects of drug use are experienced by its users and observed by nonusers. Then the perception spreads that these drugs are harmful, and the public demands some public policy to restrict the drug's sale and use. Laws have been the instrument most often used to combat drug abuse. Dr. Musto notes that although the detrimental effects of drugs must be countered by public policy and appropriate laws, there should be no illusion that drug abuse can be eradicated; it tends to run in cycles, usually in accordance with the strength of public opinion and society's emphasis on healthful living habits. He advocates patience and realism as the lesson of drug-use history. Questions from the audience are included on the cassette.