Morality, Religion, and Drug Use

Moral and religious beliefs affect the ways in which people understand drug use and abuse, what they think should be done about it, and whether they themselves use illicit drugs. I say moral and religious beliefs because it is difficult, in the context of American history, to disentangle the two. Of all developed Western nations, the United States has been and still is the most overtly religious (Wills 1990, 15–17). The foundation of American morality is the Judeo-Christian tradition.