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"THE CHEMOPHILIC SOCIETY": ADDICTION RESEARCH AFTER THE CLASSIC PERIOD OF NARCOTIC CONTROL, 1957-1975 A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Guelph by YVAN CRAIG PRKACHIN In Partial Fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts April, 2008 © Yvan Craig Prkachin, 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-41860-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-41860-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada ABSTRACT "THE CHEMOPHILIC SOCIETY": ADDICTION RESEARCH AFTER THE CLASSIC PERIOD OF NARCOTIC CONTROL, 1957-1975 Yvan Craig Prkachin Advisor: University of Guelph, 2008 Dr. Catherine Carstairs This thesis examines the scientific investigation of drug addiction in the United States and Canada between 1957 and 1975, following the Classic Period of Narcotic Control. It argues that during this period the definition of 'addiction' changed from one emphasizing individual susceptibility and psychopathology to one emphasizing broad susceptibility based on the principles of behavioral psychology. This new paradigm of addiction gained widespread popularity in the scientific community because it provided compelling explanations for the new patterns of drug use and relapse that were observed in society during the 1960s and 1970s. The new field of addiction studies used this definition to advance the use of behavioral therapy for treatment, and to link together different drugs of abuse; this linking of different drugs also led neuroscientists to develop the neuropharmacological theories of addiction. The Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario is also examined as a case study of these trends. Acknowledgements It is something of a cliche to say that a scholarly thesis is the product of many people whose names do not appear on the title page. In the case of this thesis, however, such a notion is eminently true; this being the situation I have a rather large number of people to thank. First and foremost I must offer my deepest thanks to my advisor, Dr. Catherine Carstairs. Catherine provided me with support and encouragement even before I became a student at Guelph, and during our professional relationship she continually confirmed her reputation as one of the most helpful, encouraging and enthusiastic scholars working in Canada today. She is not only a gifted historian in her own right, but also a profound example of everything that a scholar ought to be, and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have worked with her. I would also like to extend my thanks to Dr. Sofie Lachapelle and Dr. Wendy Mitchinson, who served on my committee, and whose contributions were extremely helpful. Thanks also to Dr. Karen Racine, who chaired my defense, and Dr. Peter Goddard, who helped me navigate the Guelph graduate program. The faculty and staff of the Guelph History Department deserve considerable praise for their professionalism and support. It is also a cliche to thank one's parents and family; again, special circumstances intrude. I would like to thank my parents, Ken and Glenda Prkachin, not only for providing exemplary moral support, but also for their considerable technical wisdom and insight. Both of my parents have extensive experience in the fields of psychology and neuroscience, and their contribution to the final product was not inconsiderable. Thanks also to my sister, Eva, for her wisdom and support. 1 I would also like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the support of a number of my colleagues in the Guelph History Program. In particular, I would like to thank Ryan Davidson, Natalie Dube, Jennifer Fraser-Lee, Emmanuel Hogg, Tom Hooper, Jeanna Hough, Jill McMillan, Natalie Rocheleau, Camille Shieh, Ashley Shifflet and Jessica Steinberg, all of whom at one point or another dealt with my characteristic neuroses. Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to both the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP), who provided me with, respectively, a Canada Graduate Scholarship and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Without such financial assistance my graduate education would not have been a possibility, and I am deeply grateful for their support. I will conclude by saying that, while this thesis was a collaborative effort, all errors remain my own. n Table of Contents Acknowledgements i Table of Contents iii Introduction - "Medical Education Has Utterly Failed": The End of the Classic Period of Narcotic Control and the Modern Concept of Addiction 1 Chapter 1 - "Drug Addiction: Crime or Disease?": Drug Addiction and the Birth of Addiction Science, 1957-1965 21 Chapter 2 - "Drug-Seeking Behavior": 'Drug Addiction,' 'Drug Abuse' and Addiction Research Journals, 1965 - 1975 50 Chapter 3 - "On The Forefront of Knowledge": The Addiction Research Foundation and the Idea of Addiction, 1961-1975 80 Conclusion - "The Chemophilic Society": Addiction, Society, Science and Human Nature 105 Bibliography 113 in Introduction - "Medical Education Has Utterly Failed": The End of the Classic Period of Narcotic Control and the Modern Concept of Addiction In December of 1973 the Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Non- Medical Use of Drugs was made available to the Canadian people. The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, commonly referred to as the Le Dain Commission, after its chairman Gerald Le Dain, began its work in March of 1969. Over nearly four years, the commission received 639 submissions from individuals and organizations, conducted public hearings in 27 cities, and released four reports;1 at the time it constituted one of the largest state-run research initiatives into drug use in the world. Today the commission is mostly remembered for its recommendation that cannabis be removed from the Canadian Narcotic Control Act.2 Less well-remembered is the LeDain commission's report on the treatment of drug addiction. The report authors stated: Traditionally, drugs have been among the most powerful weapons in the therapeutic armamentarium of most doctors. And traditionally, doctors have been assumed to be experts in all matters concerning the effects of drugs on human beings. This was a reasonable assumption 30 or 40 years ago. Today, however, with the number of drugs used in the treatment of specific diseases increasing constantly, and with so many new drugs appearing which are not used primarily for the treatment of diseases, no physician can reasonably claim to be an expert on all drug effects.. ..[T]he entire subject of psychotropic drugs has left the medical profession divided, indecisive, and poorly prepared to deal with it, or even understand it. It is, in fact, the first large scale public health problem in which medicine has not assumed a major leadership role and which few individual physicians have faced squarely. Medical education, both undergraduate and continuing, has utterly failed, in terms of its response to psychotropic medical and non-medical drug use, to keep up with the rate at which this problem of public health has grown in recent years.. ..Drug education and even treatment are now 1 Government of Canada, Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, (Ottawa: Information Canada, 1973), 3- 11. 2 For a detailed discussion of the Le Dain Commission's history and recommendations regarding cannabis, see Marcel Martel, Not This Time: Canadians, Public Policy and the Marijuana Question (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006), 120-155. 1 being left largely in the hands of users and former users, detached street workers and other paramedical personnel who are often well informed and able to provide constructive help, but who in such cases provide information and advice that are questionable and controversial. The very emergence of innovative services.. .is a dramatic indicator of how relatively inept and unresponsive the medical profession has been.3 In many ways this quotation from the Le Dain Commission Treatment Report captures much of the spirit of confusion and concern that characterized the public and professional discourse surrounding drug use in the English speaking world in the 1960s and 1970s.