History of Drug Abuse: Women in the United States (From Drug Addiction Research and the Health of Women: Executive Summary, P 8-17, 1998, Cora Lee Wetherington and Adele B. Roman, eds. -- See NCJ-178171)

• NCJ Number: 178172
• Author(s): S. R. Kandall
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC; paper from a national conference on "Drug Addiction Research and the Health of Women," September 1994.

Annotation

This paper summarizes the history of drug abuse in the United States, with attention to women's involvement in it.

Abstract

Although the news media may imply that drug abuse is a recent development, marijuana was brought by Jamestown settlers to the United States in the 17th century, and opiates were widely used during the Revolutionary War to control pain and diarrhea. Women composed the majority of drug users during the 19th century; and for the past 150 years, women, compared with men, have been overmedicated by physicians. Although women have represented a large portion of the drug-using population in the United States, research on and treatment of drug abuse among women has received relatively little attention. Antidrug legislation has been promoted throughout U.S. history by linking drug abuse to prostitution and to public fears of racial and ethnic minority groups. In the past 25 years, there has been much progress in research and advocacy on women and drug abuse, but negative attitudes toward drug abusers have slowed this process. Women now represent approximately 30 percent of the drug-using population; this figure would be significantly higher if prescription drugs were included. Questions from the audience and answers from the author are included.