Drugs in Germany and the United States, 1819-1945

Jonathan Lewy

doi:10.5771/9783845276380

Summary

The use of drugs is as old as history. However, it was only fairly recently that, following the rise of modern medicine, the concept of "drug addiction" was born and came to be seen as a clinical and a social disorder.

Focusing on the period from 1800 to the end of World War II, this book traces the way drug addiction developed in two very different countries, i.e. Germany and the United States. On the way, it explains why alcohol is legal whereas heroin and cocaine are not; follows the links between America's war on drugs on one hand and its racism on the other; and demonstrates the very different roles played by the medical establishments in the two countries under consideration.

For anyone interested in the history of drugs and medicine, as well as their interaction with politics, justice, and the law, this book is a must.

Search publication

Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2017
ISBN-Print: 978-3-8487-3284-5
ISBN-Online: 978-3-8452-7638-0
Publisher: Nomos, Baden-Baden
Series: Wissen über Waren - Historische Studien zu Nahrungs- und Genussmitteln
Volume: 2
Language: English
Pages: 338
Product type: Book Titles

Titelei/Inhaltsverzeichnis No access Pages 1 - 10
1. Drugs and Alcohol in Short No access
1. The Drinking Disease No access Pages 33 - 66
2. The Birth of Drug Addiction No access Pages 67 - 92
3. Diminished Responsibility No access Pages 93 - 106
4. “Gay Weimar” and the Third Reich No access Pages 107 - 128
5. German Drug Laws and Enforcement No access Pages 129 - 148
6. Treating a Biological Enemy No access Pages 149 - 164
1. Meat vs. Rice No access Pages 165 - 184
2. The Birth of a Panic No access Pages 185 - 208
3. Moral Diseases No access Pages 209 - 240
4. Age of Prohibition No access Pages 241 - 258
5. Fighting the Drug Trade No access Pages 259 - 286
6. Treatment vs. Incarceration No access Pages 287 - 298
Conclusions No access Pages 299 - 310
Bibliography No access Pages 311 - 334
Index No access Pages 335 - 338