HIST 2167: Drugs and Other Addictions Since 1980

This course examines the business culture, policy legal, and public health implications of drugs and the broader category of addiction since 1980.

Topics here will include the emergence of “crack” in the United States and “cartels” in Mexico and Colombia, the ties between the War on Drugs and the Cold War, the War on Drugs and the “prison industrial complex,” the militarization of police in the name of fighting drugs, and how all of this eventually led to calls for reform that resulted in part in the legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana and a more public-health oriented approach to the more recent opioid epidemic.

At the same time, the course will explore other forms of addiction that have exploded since the 1980s, principally the various “digital addictions ” from online gaming to smartphones and social media.