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Cocaine: From Medical Marvel to Modern Menace in the United States, 1884-1920 (Studies in Industry and Society, 18) 1st Edition

by Joseph F. Spillane (Author)

4.6 3 ratings

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Winner of the Addiction Book Award from the Society for the Study of Addiction

In 1884 American physicians discovered the anesthetic value of cocaine, and over the next three decades this substance derived from the coca plant became so popular that it became, ironically, a public health problem. Demand exceeded supply; abuse proliferated. The black market produced a legendary underground of "cocaine fiends." As attempts at regulation failed, Congress in 1914 banned cocaine outright, and America launched its longstanding war against now-illegal drugs.

Challenging "traditional thinking about both the 'rise' and 'fall' of drug problems" (which makes legal prohibition the pivotal point in the story), Spillane examines phenomena that have eluded earlier students of drug history. He explores the role of American business in fostering consumer interest in cocaine during the years when no law proscribed its use, the ways in which authorities and social agents tried nonetheless to establish informal controls on the substance, and the mixed results they achieved.

In asking how this pain-allaying drug became recognizably dangerous, how reformers tried to ameliorate its social effects, and how an underground of cocaine abusers developed even before regulation of the drug industry as a whole, Spillane discovers contingency, complication, and mixed motives. Arguing that the underground drug culture had origins other than in federal prohibition can tell us as we face questions about drug policy today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Joseph F. Spillane has written an immaculate monograph on the drug's early history in the United States of America. His use of archives and diverse other sources means that he writes with unparalleled authority.
―Richard Davenport-Hines, Times Literary Supplement

A new, detailed history, carefully crafted, and with reader-friendly summaries.
―John C. Burnham, Journal of Social History

This is a good piece of work, combining cogent ideas with a rich historical narrative. It is an important book for anyone interested in the complicated, interesting history of American drug use and control.
―Jerome L. Himmelstein, American Historical Review

Spillane's account . . . is nuanced, deeply researched, and highly original.
―David T. Courtwright, Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the country's current 'War on Drugs.'
―Virginia Quarterly Review

A fascinating, in-depth snapshot of 40 years in the early history of cocaine in the U.S.
―Choice

Spillane provides an excellent account. A deeply impressive social history.
―Philip Jenkins, Journal of American History

This book provides a remarkably well-researched account . . . an outstanding contribution to drugs history.
―Griffith Edwards, Addiction

A new, detailed history, carefully crafted and with reader-friendly summaries.
―John C. Burnham, Journal of Social History

About the Author

Joseph F. Spillane is an associate professor of history at the University of Florida. He is the author of several books, including Cocaine: From Medical Marvel to Modern Menace in the United States, 1884–1920, also published by Johns Hopkins.