The Birth of Heroin and the Demonization of the Dope Fiend

Rating:
Summary: Enlightening
Review: Great book. I learned a tremendous amount from Metzger's details. I was shocked to find out the truth behind what company was the first to deal heroin (so to speak) and the real people and dates of addiction, eugenics, and the demographics of the heroin addict at different times. It's full of information that "I always wanted to know" but would never have found out if it weren't for this book.

Rating:
Summary: Useful Research
Review: Having recently written my Masters Thesis on Heroin in Contemporary Film, I found Metzger's book informative and interesting. Metzger focuses largely on the link between the eugenics 'cult of purity' of the early 20th century and the emergent anti-drug attitudes of 'mainstream' culture. At times Metzger may veer towards the hysterical himself, but his analysis of the beginnings of the criminalisation of heroin goes some way towards understanding the cultural formation of illict drugs and is a must for anyone wishing to explore the construction of the heroin addict. The book redresses the imbalance of 'legitimate' narratives, which simply take a moral stance on drug issues without a historical perspective. It's also an enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: "Heroin Heroes"
Review: When one thinks of drugs, particularly, illicit drugs, it is usual to think of them in terms of black or white. In other words, drugs are either good or bad, legal or illegal, healthy or unhealthy, &c. Concerning illicit drugs, the customary portrayal is that it has a diabolical dimension, as if the drug itself was actually sentient and its intentions were nothing but malicious. Contrarily, that same drug which at one point was contextually portrayed as evil can as easily be portrayed as a redeemer, a healer - again, almost as if it were a sentient thing - this time possessing good intentions. Is it, however, reasonable to bestow on drugs human attributes? Of course, no one would really ever admit that it, in fact, is reasonable (unless you're in Harry Potter-land), yet - Heroin has that exact kind of human status - in this case, it is wholly evil. And, by association, those who use Heroin are by default branded evil; these distinctions can lead to interesting conclusions, such as: Heroin is evil; you use Heroin; therefore you are evil. In this case, the attributes of the user are based on his or her use of the drug, and not the natural disposition of the user. Of course, logically considered, this assertion goes against all sense, yet this is how the propaganda against Heroin and its users or "fiends" have been articulated in the political arena as well as in the media. The author, Th. Metzger, considers this odd twist of unjust identification by analyzing the origins of opiate use in America and how it went from having an exalted status to that of the demonic, something bereft of any medical utility. Heroin, is, in and of itself, not only useless - but and especially morbid. A perfect and modern example of this, not mentioned in the book, can be easily seen in the hysteria over the BRAND of opiate, Oxycotin. Other than who manufactures the pill and how it is designed to work as well as its potency - there is simply no difference between it and other opiates, hydrocodones included.

Like Richard Lawrence Miller's excellent thesis of what societal role drug users play in American life in his book, "Drug Warriors and Their Prey," Metzger's book is an excellent survey of the more irrational side of the virulent American obsession with drugs, which has manifested itself in what is commonly referred to as the "drug war." In his book, Metzger mainly sticks to the topic of Heroin and the Heroin user and therefore other drugs are rarely mentioned.

This book is an excellent source for those not only interested in the role of drugs and drug users in society but why it is an issue in the first place - in fact, this book can provide many interesting directions for further study.

Metzger is an academic, but his writing is devoid of all the usual abstruse language and verboseness that attends typical scholarly writing. This work is well documented - however, I do wish that there were an index included in this work! Otherwise, Highly recommended.