Capitalism + Dope = Genocide
Lunchtime once again finds me browsing around online, and I’ve stumbled across Michael “Cetewayo” Tabor’s famous 1970 pamphlet...
Work in Progress: Between Biological Reductionism and the Social Construction of Addiction
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Randolph Nesse about the evolutionary origins of addiction – Nesse is perhaps the leading...
Drinking Like a Guy? Women and Alcohol, Then and Now
I suppose it’s an occupational hazard, but I find myself surprised when I hear women today—many of whom are self-declared...
Los Angeles: City of No Surprises
Everyone, including the writer/director, producer, and stars of the film, had figured Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone a long shot in all the...
POINTS Guide to the 83rd Annual Academy Awards
In case you hadn’t heard, the 83rd Annual Academy Awards will be distributed on Sunday evening. And even if you haven’t paid attention...
Remembering Bob Schuster
NOTE: Dr. Charles Robert “Bob” Schuster passed away on February 21, following a sudden illness. Bob was a remarkable figure in the...
Disconnect: Moral Liberalization and Mass Incarceration
Note: The following is David Courtwright’s thoughtful response to my earlier post, in which I raised some questions about his recent...
Quaalude: The one that didn’t get away?
I was talking to a 67-year old relative about Quaalude at a recent family event. (Does this sort of thing happen to you all the time...
I’m Shocked, Shocked! to Find that People are Doing Drugs On Campus!
And even more shocked to find that other people are being shocked to learn of it. That’s what’s going on over at Inside Higher Ed today,...
RehabTV?
Television narrative has long mined drug and alcohol use and abuse for inciting incidents. As a plot device deployed to inaugurate...
On Moving Beyond “Context”
Perhaps it is because I teach in a medical school, rather than a traditional academic history department, but over the past two years I...
Drug Law Exceptionalism?
One of the rewards of blogging is an instant boost to your awareness of what others are doing with the same sort of forum. Among other...
Doing Drug History from a Drug War Zone
A Student Murdered One hot morning last May, the El Paso Times brought news that many of us had been dreading—a student from the...