Forces of Habit : Drugs and the Making of the Modern World

Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.: Harvard University Press, 2001. Hard Cover. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Historian Courtwright (Violent Land) ranges widely across more than four centuries and the world to chart the "psychoactive revolution" that made ever more potent drugs available to all classes of people and redefined the meaning and means of consciousness, and even social conscience. As pleasure came to matter more, drugs of all kinds found ready takers. Courtwright gathers up historical, scientific, literary, artistic, and public policy references on psychoactive substances, legal and illegal, to show how drug usage was as much an outgrowth of market forces as cultural habits. Drugs were commerce and currency and moved from geographically limited areas of cultivation to worldwide consumption, with ever more efficient means of production and supply driving down prices and thereby opening markets to the poorest. Efforts by governments over the past century to outlaw particular drugs, while regulating others, have proved uneven and erratic. Always intelligent and informed, witty and wise, Courtwright's book is the best way to get a fix on why getting drugs out of our systems would require more than abstinence; it would take another revolution in handling social and personal pain. An essential acquisition. - From Library Journal. In this exploration of drugs' influence on Western culture, a historian argues that governmental and religious institutions have both promoted and condemned the use of mind-altering chemicals like caffeine, cocaine, and marijuana. His numerous examples include 18th-century American colonists' attempts to bribe Native Americans to attend church, and Russian politicians' plans to reduce alcohol consumption. 277 pages..