The Myth of the Addicted Army: Vietnam and the Modern War on Drugs (Culture, Politics & the Cold War) - Softcover

Kuzmarov, Jeremy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558497056 ISBN 13: 9781558497054

Publisher: University Massachusetts Press, 2009

Synopsis

The image of the drug-addicted American soldier has long been associated with the Vietnam War. Not only was alcohol the intoxicant of choice for most GIs, but the prevalence of other drugs varied enormously. This work offers an analysis of the links between the Vietnam War and the evolution of American drug policy.

About this title

Review:

The Myth of the Addicted Army will contend for best-book awards in history, sociology, and many fields of policy studies. It is chock full of original research utilizing government documents and interviews with policy makers to show how the war in Vietnam incubated the myth of widespread drug addiction among U.S. troops that became, in turn, the back story to the homefront War on Drugs. - Jerry Lembcke, author of The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam ""What is so compelling about Jeremy Kuzmarov's book is his careful depiction of how 'the myth of the addicted army' was used for a variety of political and cultural purposes. He convincingly shows that Nixon adopted his drug policy in order to advance his own political fortunes, and that Nixon's drug war set the terms of the discussion in several ways. It obscured the real lack of evidence for a drug epidemic among GIs and set off an irrational response to drug use that has been a staple of American politics and popular culture ever since."" - William O. Walker, author of Drug Control in the Americas

About the Author:

JEREMY KUZMAROV is visiting assistant professor of history at Bucknell University.

About this edition

• Publisher: University Massachusetts Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1558497056
• ISBN 13: 9781558497054
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288