Description
Book SynopsisBy 1940, Acker concludes, a particular configuration of ideas about opiate addiction was firmly in place and remained essentially stable until the enormous demographic changes in drug use of the 1960s and 1970s prompted changes in the understanding of addiction-and in public policy.
Trade ReviewA well-written and thoughtful book... Acker presents a fascinating account of how addicts' negative image came to dominate public and official perceptions, as well as how it forced some users into the mold. Her careful analysis of research findings will make this book of interest to historians, drug-abuse workers, and anyone else who wants to examine the origins of American drug policy. -- David F. Musto, M.D. New England Journal of Medicine Fascinating... A compelling journey through drug-addiction history... This book lays a firm foundation for re-evaluating our approach to the study of addiction. -- George F. Koob Nature Medicine Draws on familiar themes to create a novel and compelling portrait of the times. -- Jim Baumohl Journal of American History This book makes its most original contribution by probing the intersecting interests of professionals and policy makers who believed in managing the drug problem through a self-conscious combination of legal control and scientific knowledge... Acker's history of drug policy and science during the first two-thirds of the twentieth century illustrates the recent guise of an old social divide between deserving and undeserving Americans. -- Ellen Herman American Historical Review A thorough and compelling survey. -- Mike Jay Medical History A fine book, convincingly arguing its central points, and in the process concisely making a significant original contribution to an intensely studied field. -- Nicolas Rasmussen Metascience A critical text for scholars and policy makers alike that underscores the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to developing anything approaching an accurate model of substance-dependence and humane policies for dealing with people dependent on opiates. -- Robin Pappas Metapsychology While harm reduction supporters will find this book validating, readers do not need to subscribe to this particular drug policy alternative to find Dr. Acker's book to be filled with fascinating stories about the people and the ideas which have shaped today's ptiched battles in the drug policy wars. -- Robert L. DuPont, M.D. JAMA 2003 Provides an excellent foundation for understanding not only the prevailing attitudes of the day but also the influence of those attitudes on current policy and theories of addiction. -- Chris Stewart Criminal Justice Review 2005
Table of ContentsContents: Introduction 1 Heroin Addiction and Urban Vice Reform 2 The Opportunistic Approach 3 The Technological Fix: The Search for a Nonaddicting Analgesic 4 Constructing the Addict Career 5 The Junkie as Psychopath 6 Healing Vision and Bureaucratic Reality 7 The Addict in the Social Body Conclusion Notes Acknowledgments Index
