America's War on Drugs (And Drug Addicts)
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AMERICA’S WAR ON DRUGS (AND DRUG ADDICTS): A FOUCAULDIAN HISTORY by Ian Andrew Heft A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (MA) in Interdisciplinary Humanities Faculty of Graduate Studies Laurentian University Sudbury, Ontario, Canada © Ian A. Heft, 2014 THESIS DEFENCE COMMITTEE/COMITÉ DE SOUTENANCE DE THÈSE Laurentian Université/Université Laurentienne Faculty of Graduate Studies/Faculté des études supérieures Title of Thesis Titre de la thèse AMERICA’S WAR ON DRUGS (AND DRUG ADDICTS): A FOUCAULDIAN HISTORY Name of Candidate Nom du candidat Heft, Ian Degree Diplôme Master of Arts Department/Program Date of Defence Département/Programme Interdisciplinary Humanities Date de la soutenance October 3, 2014 APPROVED/APPROUVÉ Thesis Examiners/Examinateurs de thèse: Dr. Hoi Cheu (Supervisor/Directeur(trice) de thèse) Alain Beaulieu (Committee member/Membre du comité) Dr. Carolle Gagnon (Committee member/Membre du comité) Approved for the Faculty of Graduate Studies Approuvé pour la Faculté des études supérieures Dr. David Lesbarrères M. David Lesbarrères Dr. Alan Shandro Acting Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies (External Examiner/Examinateur externe) Doyen intérimaire, Faculté des études supérieures ACCESSIBILITY CLAUSE AND PERMISSION TO USE I, Ian Heft, hereby grant to Laurentian University and/or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or for the duration of my copyright ownership. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also reserve the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that this copy is being made available in this form by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner. Abstract/Keywords This thesis applies some teachings and methods of Michel Foucault (1926-1984) to critically analyze the history and current practices related to the United States’ “War on Drugs.” By tracing the history of the Drug War and placing drugs and drug addicts in a less hyperbolized context than traditionally presented in the media and in drug war propaganda, it is possible to critique what can be seen as a war on drug addicts and to gain insight as to its hidden motives, relevant patterns, social implications and ultimately its effect on American culture and society and notably its deleterious effects among America’s people of colour and urban communities. With respect to Foucault’s concept of a race war and the notion that “politics is the continuation of war by other means,” the War on Drugs can be contextualized in terms of a discourse of perpetual war that rages even in times of putative peace. Keywords Drug prohibition, war on drugs, American Dream, addictions, Foucault iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank the professors with whom I was fortunate to study in this program. My personal life during the course of this program could best be described as hectic and without the flexibility and understanding of faculty members I would have found myself unable to complete the requirements of the program. Their assistance in helping me to build my program around my own frenetic schedule is deeply appreciated. Thanks to Dr. Susan Glover, Dr. Philippa Spoel and Dr. Michael Yeo for their assistance and instruction throughout the program. I deeply appreciate the opportunity to have worked with and studied under the direction of Dr. Hoi Cheu who was kind enough to agree to supervise this project. His expertise and perspective were incredibly valuable and inexpressibly helpful throughout my work in this course of study. I will always appreciate that every time I leave a discussion with Dr. Cheu, he presents me with something more to think about or a different perspective to take away. His infinite patience and incredible wisdom was of enormous assistance during this undertaking. As well, I appreciate the assistance of Dr. Alain Beaulieu and Dr. Carolle Gagnon who agreed to be my second and third reader respectively and assisted me greatly during my research and gathering of ideas. I often very excitedly told people that I felt as though I had the most kind and helpful thesis committee in the world, as all were incredibly supportive and insightful throughout this process. Thank you to my good friend and employer Sidney Shapiro for providing insight and editing throughout this process as well. Endless love and appreciation go out to friends, family and colleagues who offered their unconditional support throughout my post-secondary iv pursuits. Your kind words and encouragement have seen me through to the culmination of this project and this degree. Dedicated to my grandparents, with sincere gratitude: ‘Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood. When blackness was a virtue, the road was full of mud. I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form: ‘Come in’, you said, ‘I’ll give you shelter from the storm’ - Bob Dylan v Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv Chapter One: Method and Purpose ................................................................................................. 8 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Method: Applying Foucault – History, Genealogy and Discourses............................... 11 1.3 Purpose ........................................................................................................................... 22 Chapter Two: The Drug Crusade (1930s-1950) ........................................................................... 24 2.1 Phases of War ................................................................................................................. 24 2.2 Marijuana: From Miracle Crop to “Loco Weed” ........................................................... 25 2.3 Medicinal Opium: The Physician and the Rise of the Addict ........................................ 29 2.4 Enter Anslinger .............................................................................................................. 32 2.5 Illegalities and Drug Use ................................................................................................ 37 2.6 Debunking Anslinger ...................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Chapter Three: The Beats and the Hippies (1950-1970) .............................................................. 52 3.1 The Heroin Revival ........................................................................................................ 52 3.2 A Beat Generation ........................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3 The 1960s: Drugs, Dreams and the Counterculture ....................................................... 61 3.4 Savage Journeys of Drug Experimentation .................................................................... 64 Chapter Four: The Addict in the Contemporary Drug War .......................................................... 73 4.1 Literary/Film Representations ........................................................................................ 73 4.2 Drugs and the Dream...................................................................................................... 74 4.3 Choose Life .................................................................................................................... 76 4.4 Foucauldian Notions of Madness and the Modern Experience of the Addict ............... 78 Chapter Five: Fighting the New War on Drugs (1971-Present) ................................................... 96 5.1 Following Nixon ............................................................................................................ 96 5.2 Rhetorical Warlords: Reagan and Bush ......................................................................... 98 5.3 A Race War on Drugs .................................................................................................. 106 5.4 Soldiers of War, Spoils of War .................................................................................... 109 vi 5.5 Origins of the Prison and the Rise of Mass Incarceration in the Drug War ................. 111 5.6 Drug Épistèmés ............................................................................................................ 122 5.7 From Sovereign Power to Biopower and Governmentality ......................................... 127 5.8 “Racism” vs. “Race War Discourse” ........................................................................... 133 5.9 Some Policy Alternatives to Incarceration ..................................................................