SWINGING PENDULUM - THE TREATMENT OF DRUG USERS IN AMERICA (FROM HANDBOOK ON DRUG ABUSE, 1979, BY ROBERT DUPONT AND AVRAM GOLDSTEIN - SEE NCJ-57805)

• NCJ Number: 57806
• Author(s): J H JAFFE
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 14 pages
• Corporate Author: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

AN OVERVIEW OF DRUG ABUSE TREATMENT METHODS AND SOCIETAL ATTITUDES TOWARD ABUSE AND TREATMENT FROM COLONIAL TIMES IN AMERICA TO THE 1970'S IS PRESENTED, ALONG WITH DISCUSSION OF POLITICAL AND SYMBOLIC IMPLICATIONS.

Abstract

ALTHOUGH MOST COLONIALS BELIEVED THAT DAILY DRINKING WAS NECESSARY FOR GOOD HEALTH, BOTH WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT DRUNKENNESS AND, DURING THIS PERIOD, AN EMINENT PHYSICIAN BROUGHT A CLINICAL PERSPECTIVE TO ALCOHOLISM BY INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT OF ALCOHOL ADDICTION. LATER, DURING THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT, SOCIETY ADOPTED THE POSITION THAT ADDICTION EVOLVED FROM MORAL WEAKNESS. OPIUM, ON THE OTHER HAND, WAS TREATED AS A DISEASE AND TREATMENT DEVELOPED FROM MANAGEMENT OF THE OPIATE WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME TO REALISTIC AWARENESS OF THE NEED FOR AN OVERALL APPROACH TO DRUG ADDICTION TREATMENT. IN THE EARLY PART OF THIS CENTURY, OPIATE ADDICTS WERE ASSIGNED TO FEDERAL HOSPITALS, STATE MENTAL HOSPITALS, AND PRIVATE SANATORIUMS AND A FEW MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS MADE SPORADIC EFFORTS TO TREAT SELECTED ADDICTS WITH PSYCHOANALYSIS AND PSYCHOTHERAPY. A RESURGENCE OF INTEREST IN DRUG ADDICTION TREATMENT OCCURRED AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND PILOT TREATMENT PROJECTS SPRUNG UP IN LARGER CITIES. A 1968 NATIONAL SURVEY LOCATED 183 PROGRAMS, INCLUDING FACILITIES OPERATED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, STATE, AND LOCAL AGENCIES. EX-ADDICT AND SELF-REGULATING COMMUNITIES DEVELOPED DURING THE 1960'S, AS WELL AS FEDERALLY SUPPORTED TREATMENT AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS BASED ON HUMANITARIAN CONCERN. THE EXISTING NETWORK OF TREATMENT SERVICES HAS BEEN SHAPED AS MUCH BY RECENT POLITICAL AND MORAL FORCES AS BY SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE AND MEDICAL OPINION. THIS NETWORK IS DISCUSSED AS A SYMBOL OF SOCIETIES INTENT TO HELP OTHER HUMANS, AS A RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY, AS A METHOD FOR EXPERIMENTING WITH SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS, AND AS A MEANS OF PERSECUTION, SOCIAL CONTROL, AND SELF-PERPETUATING BUREAUCRACY. EVEN THOUGH THE BENEFITS OF TREATMENT MAY NOT SEEM COST-EFFICIENT, SOCIETY MUST REALIZE THAT TREATMENT IS IMPORTANT AS A SYMBOL OF HUMAN CONCERN. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. FOR RELATED ARTICLES, PLEASE SEE NCJ 57805 AND 57807-57834. (DAG)