ABSTRACT

War and Drugs explores the relationship between military incursions and substance use and abuse throughout history. For centuries, drugs have been used to weaken enemies, stimulate troops to fight, and quell post-war trauma. They have also served as a source of funding for clandestine military and paramilitary activity. In addition to offering detailed geopolitical perspectives, this book explores the intergenerational trauma that follows military conflict and the rising tide of substance abuse among veterans, especially from the Vietnam and Iraq-Afghan eras. Addiction specialist Bergen-Cico raises important questions about the past and challenges us to consider new approaches in the future to this longest of US wars.

chapter 1|5 pages

Introduction

The Escalation of War and Drugs in Relation to One Another

chapter 2|9 pages

Drugs and War

chapter 3|8 pages

The Opium Wars

chapter 4|7 pages

Drugs and the U.S. Civil War

chapter 6|9 pages

High Hitler

World War II

chapter 7|19 pages

The Cold War Was Hot for the Drug Trade

chapter 8|13 pages

Project Bluebird and MK-ULTRA

chapter 9|10 pages

The Vietnam War and the Blowback at Home

chapter 10|18 pages

Mexico's Drug War

chapter 11|17 pages

Drugs and the Afghan Wars

chapter 13|7 pages

Conclusion

The Seven-Generations Cost of War