ABSTRACT
The further back in history one goes, the more primitive and less constructive is the approach taken by society to the treatment of addiction, whether it’s to alcohol or other drugs (Royal College of Psychiatrists 1986). In Peru in the fifteenth century, the approved treatment for drunkenness was to have the offender taken to the market square and beaten to death. Until the third decade of this century, management of alcoholism and illicit drug dependence was only slightly more positive. Although most drug dependence was iatrogenic in the early part of the twentieth century, the attitude of the authorities was to focus on the damage done by the addict to society and to punish him/her for it. The same was true for people with drink related problems; those who were afflicted aroused concern only when falling foul of the laws governing drunkenness in a public place.
