On Drugs

By David Lenson

Book Overview

A critical exploration of the user's perspective on drug consciousness-now in paperback

Engaging, articulate, and brilliantly argued, On Drugs is destined to become a revolutionary classic that redefines what it means to be "high." Calling for the acceptance of a "diversity of consciousness," Lenson delivers a searing critique of the War on Drugs as an effort based, like all attempts to eradicate "getting high," on an incomplete understanding of human nature.

In lucid prose, Lenson ventures outside the conventional genres of drug writing and offers a new look at the drug debate from a lost, and often forbidden, point of view: the user's. Walking a fine line between the antidrug hysteria of the 1980s and an uncritical advocacy of drug use, he describes in provocative detail the experiences and dynamics of drugs of pleasure and desire-from nicotine to marijuana, alcohol to LSD, and caffeine to cocaine.

From lotus-eaters to hippies to crackheads, history has shown the state's inability to legislate the bloodstreams of its citizens. After considering several specific issues associated with drug use-including sex, violence, and money-On Drugs asks what drugs really do and challenges society's accepted notions of sobriety and addiction. Lenson concludes with his vision of the end of the War on Drugs by questioning the sense in condemning millions of Americans to lives of concealment and deceit.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816627118
• ISBN13: 9780816627110
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Philosophical

Lenson conveys fascinating ideas in a very well written manner. Highly recommend

YOU GOTTA READ IT

This is simply a spectacular book. No one has written so well about drugs. Lenson is brilliant on the effects of drugs: what it's like to be high on this or that. He's marvelous on the history of the reception of various drugs--how pot came into the US and how its cultural meanings changed over time. He's also astoundingly good at showing what role drugs have played in the cultural imagination of the past twenty years, and how the war against drugs functions as, among other things, a war to regularize, normalize and delimit consciousness. The writing is very clear, but highly sophisticated, nuanced and often poetic. You gotta read it.

A Thoughtful Look At Complexity

This book is clearly one of the best to ever address links between consciousness, drug consumption, and societal demands. It is superbly written, with entertaining references to science, literature, history, and music. The author reaches an intriguing set of conclusions linking our attitudes about people who want to alter consciousness, the ever-present desire to continue a consumerist culture, and growing ideas about multiculturalism. The tone is very friendly-- the sort of prose that makes you want to sit down with the author over a beer. I particularly like that he draws distinctions among different illicit drugs and shows an appreciation for their varied effects.

On Drugs Raises Interesting Points

On Drugs raises many fascinating issues about drugs in American society. Lenson begins by exploding the myth of a Drug-Free America, and pointing out why the "War on Drugs" has failed, and a brief history of human drug use and American attitudes towards outsiders. One of the most interesting chapters is about drug use as a regression to childhood, and the chapter on stimulant abuse is chilling. Sometimes the author's concerns about consumer society seem to reek of liberal paranoia, but for the most part an excellent book