Book Review: Creating the American Junkie: Addiction Research in the Classic Era of Narcotic Control
Date | 01 May 2005 |
DOI | 10.1177/0734016805275706 |
Published date | 01 May 2005 |
Subject Matter | Articles |
“The message is becoming clear: . . . Real cops are stars of their own entertainment tele-
vision shows. . . . This makes a rendering of what truly constitutes the good cop from the
bad cop more difficult” (pp. 158-160). In today’s Internet world, scandals can reach world-
wide audiences within minutes. Lovell’s book is both eye-opener and cautionary, a solid
foundation for further classroom exploration—and such is the stuff of teaching.
Penelope J. Hanke
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department/Warrants Section
Creating the American Junkie: Addiction Research in the Classic Era of Narcotic Control, by
Caroline Jean Acker. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002, 276 pp.
DOI: 10.1177/0734016805275706
Historical accounts of United States drug policy that document developing control of opi-
ates are quite abundant. Generally, the scope of these works presents the events and individu-
als that helped shape policy in its current form. The political sphere is most commonly
emphasized with occasional references to other important influences from other arenas such
as the emergence of the American Medical Association as a player in creating policy. Cer-
tainly, Acker’s work accomplishes this goal as she examines the policy emanating from the
differing perspectives of key players during the infancy of narcotic control in the United
States. What is unique, however, is the focus on the relationship between academic influence
and various government entities involved in creating drug policy and the reciprocal influence
of the academic sphere in maintaining attitudes necessary for marginalizing the addict from
mainstream society.
The scope of the book, as stated in the introduction, is an analysis of the relationship
between the pharmacologists, psychiatrists, and sociologists and the political policy makers.
Furthermore, the book examines the effect of this relationship on the opiate user as the United
States evolved from no regulation to...
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