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Demons : our changing attitudes to alcohol, tobacco, & drugs / Virginia Berridge.

by Berridge, Virginia.

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Oxford University Press, 2013.

Drug abuse -- Public opinion.

Drinking of alcoholic beverages -- Public opinion.

Tobacco use -- Public opinion.

Drug legalization -- Public opinion.

9780199604982 (hc.)

0199604983 (hc.)

x, 292 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 248-273) and index.

Introduction: past and present -- Culture: drugs for all -- Social movements: temperance -- The professionals: doctors and pharmacists -- Fear: dens and degeneration -- Economics and technology: the role of industry -- Internationalism and war -- Mass culture and subculture -- The new public health -- Convergence or divergence? public health and neuroscience -- Hedonism or control? -- Afterword: history and the future.

"Binge drinking, particularly in young women, has become big news. Debates about the regulation and classification of cannabis are frequently voiced. Cigarette smoking is banned in public places, and emotive public health campaigns seek to reduce its use still further. Yet there are many sides to each of these arguments, and if we look back over the last 150 years, we see massive variety in the ways societies and states have related to drugs, drink, and tobacco. A much-needed long view, which helps illuminate our current concerns. We visit the socially-acceptable opium dens of Dickens's London and the absinthe craze of fin-de-siecle Paris. Was prohibition in America helpful or harmful? How tobacco was promoted as being medicinal. The medical use of cannabis, LSD, and other drugs. And through all this, the author traces the changes in scientific and medical knowledge. This is a complex story of whether, and how, the state should intervene. How do we balance the interests of personal freedom, public well-being, healthcare, and the economy? Is substance abuse a social issue, or a medical one? As governments, health services, and the World Health Organization grapple with these issues, the wisdom and experience of history can help map the way forward"--Provided by publisher.

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