The Cult of Pharmacology: How America Became the World's Most Troubled Drug Culture
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.81 (890 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0822349078 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 312 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-06-09 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Drug Status Depends on More than Drug Composition Joel M. Kauffman Richard DeGrandpre might be familiar to you as the author of Ritalin Nation. Ritalin comes in for much attention by detailed comparison with cocaine. Both are said to produce the same mental effects to the point where Ritalin is called "synthetic cocaine". A main theme of this book is that Ritalin is considered and "ethical" drug and an angel in dealing with ADHD, while cocaine is considered a "street" drug and a demon; this artifical difference had nothing to do with the pharmacology of the two drugs, but to the conditions of use and the dogma on each, ca. "Perfect balance of hard and social science" according to J Kragt. It seems pretty hard to read "The Cult of Pharmacology" by Richard DeGrandpre and still believe we have to keep throwing money at the war on drugs. But knowledge in and of itself does not make a culture's demons disappear. Not only do we have complex individual psychologies that seem to follow each its own rules and development but also shared cultural psychology, which cannot be changed on demand, or merely by the facts.This is a book about how the very nature of the study of chemicals (pharmacology) for human use has lead to huge distortions and wrong be. "Five Stars" according to Penreader. Not finished but very interesting - in conjunction with The Truth about Cancer.
Whether Valium or OxyContin at the pharmacy, cocaine or meth purchased on the street, or alcohol and tobacco from the corner store, drugs and drug use proliferated in twentieth-century America despite an escalating war on “drugs.”Richard DeGrandpre, a past fellow of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and author of the best-selling book Ritalin Nation, delivers a remarkably original interpretation of drugs by examining the seductive but ill-fated belief that they are chemically predestined to be either good or evil. Heroin was marketed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals, and marijuana was available as a tincture of cannabis sold by Parke Davis and Company.Exploring how this rather benign relationship with psychoactive drugs was transformed into one of confusion and chaos, The Cult of Pharmacology tells the dramatic story of how, as one legal drug after another fell from grace, new pharmaceutical substances took their place. He argues that the determination to treat the medically sanctioned use of drugs such as Miltown or Seconal separately from the illicit use of substances like heroin or ecstasy has blinded America to how drugs are transformed by the manner in which a culture deals with them.Bri
“The Cult of Pharmacology brings badly needed information, insight, and—above all—sanity to the emotionally charged debate over legal and illegal drugs in America, whether LSD, caffeine, or Prozac. This book should be required reading for those whose lives are touched by the war on drugs—which of course means all of us.”—John Horgan, author of The End of Science, The Undiscovered Mind, and Rational Mysticism