ABSTRACT
In Western society, we have tended to view drug addiction as related to chemical dependency and criminal behaviour. But an overwhelming amount of evidence from a variety of fronts is showing that it is a psycho-social problem, an embodiment of cultural trauma that is unsettling our nervous systems on a grand scale. This chapter shows how oppression, trauma, and other adverse experiences such as social dislocation and isolation are what lead to and support addiction. The chapter follows the history of Anslinger's war on drugs and the criminalization of addiction, as well as the story behind Felitti's now-famous adverse childhood experiences studies (ACEs) to reveal the true underlying causes of addiction.
