Project 6: The history of drugs


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Patterns of drug use change over time. Different drugs come into and go out of fashion and are used in different ways. Drug laws have also changed over time. This project gets you to look at the history of drug use. It is a difficult project to do unless you have access to books and/or the internet and are prepared to do some serious research but it can be very interesting.

First choose a particular topic to examine. Possible examples include:

  • Opium use in Britain in the nineteenth century.
  • The use of cannabis in Britain.
  • Changes in drug laws in Britain.
  • The 'Opium Wars' between Britain and China in the eighteenth century.
  • The use of cannabis and LSD by 'hippies' in the 1960s.
  • The prohibition of alcohol in the USA in the 1920s.
  • Changes in the use of tobacco in Britain.
  • The introduction of ecstasy use and raves in the late 1980s.

The following books may be useful to look at:

V. Berridge
Opium and the People - opiate use and drug control policy in nineteenth and twentieth century England, London: Free Association Books 1999.

M. Gossop
Living with Drugs, Aldershot, 5th edition, Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing, 2000.

B. Inglis
The Forbidden Game - a social history of drugs, London: Hodder and Stoughton 1975.

B. Inglis
The Opium War, London: Coronet (Hodder and Stoughton) 1979.

P. Robson
Forbidden Drugs - understanding drugs and why people take them, Oxford: Oxford University Press 1994.

L. Rose
Drink and Drugs, London: Batsford 1984.

A. Tyler
Street Drugs, 3rd edition, London: Hodder and Stoughton 1995


To obtain these books talk to your school or college librarian or use a local library. You might also talk to some history teachers and they may be able to suggest other books and sources of information.

For some of the projects you may also be able to get information by talking to adults. For example, you could discuss the use of cannabis and LSD by 'hippies' in the 1960s, with your parents and other people of their age. Your grandparents and people of their age may also be able to tell you about drug use when they were young.

Resources

 Here are a selection of websites that may help with your project. Please remember that DrugScope/D-World cannot be held responsible for the content of other sites

DrugScope's History Of Drugs Reference List (PDF 156Kb)

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