NCJ Number
132235
Journal
Scientific American Volume: 265 Issue: 1 Dated: (July 1991) Pages: 40-47
Date Published
1991
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Over the past 200 years, Americans have twice accepted and then vehemently rejected opium, cocaine, and marijuana; understanding these dramatic historical swings provides perspective on our current reaction to drug use.
Abstract
During the 19th century, certain mood-altering substances, such as opiates and cocaine, were often regarded as helpful compounds. Gradually this perception of drugs changed. By the early 1900's and until the 1940's, the American public viewed these and some other psychoactive drugs as dangerous, addictive compounds that required tight controls. This was followed by a resurgence of a tolerant attitude toward drugs during the 1960's and 1970's, followed by the current period of drug intolerance. Americans' cycle of enthusiasm for recreational drugs and subsequent campaign for abstinence presents a problem to policymakers and to the public. Since the peaks of these episodes are approximately a lifetime apart, citizens rarely have a sense of this cycle. An appreciation of the public's ambivalence toward psychoactive drugs over time is necessary if public policy is to bring a realistic approach to drug-taking behavior and attitudes toward it. Such an approach would shun draconian measures and exaggerated fears of the social and medical effects of psychoactive drugs. A 6-item bibliography