Pleasure and Panic: New Essays on the History of Alcohol and Drugs

Booze, dope, smokes, and weed. Mind-altering, mood-changing substances have been part of human society for millennia. Pleasure and Panic reveals how attitudes toward drug and alcohol consumption have always been deeply embedded in cultural fears and social, political, and economic disparities. Contributors to this collection explore how drugs and alcohol intersect with diverse histories, including gender, medicine, popular culture, and business. Pleasure and Panic brings a dispassionate voice to current debates about liberalizing drug and alcohol laws and challenges existing ideas about how to deal with the so-called problems of drug and alcohol use.