On Drugs [Paperback]

David Lenson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Unlike Thomas Szasz, who argues forcefully for the legalization of drugs in Our Right to Drugs (Praeger, 1992), Lenson tackles this subject by meditating on the national consumerist paradigm, the way the war on drugs closed avenues for heterogeneity, the lack of a vocabulary to describe changes in a user's consciousness, the senselessness of talking about "drugs" indiscriminately, and the differences among the users, the drugs, and the effects of psychedelics, cannabis, stimulants (cocaine, crack, amphetamines), depressants (heroin), opiates, and alcohol. He contrasts drugs of pleasure to drugs of desire and believes that "to legislate against drugs of pleasure is like legislating against music, chess, golf...." Lenson says that nothing in his professional life qualifies him to write about drugs, but his style and his literary and philosophical references would pinpoint him as an academic even if he were not identified as a University of Massachusetts professor of literature, albeit one who surveys his students' usage habits. Lenson's credentials as a user were probably the impetus for this work, but they are not much evident in the text. In the national debate and reevaluation of attitudes toward drugs, this is a different kind of contribution, one that is speculative, discursive, and visionary. For academic collections.?Janice Dunham, John Jay Coll. Lib., New York
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: University of Minnesota Press; 1st edition (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816627118
• ISBN-13: 978-0816627110
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #699,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thoughtful Look At Complexity, December 6, 2000

By 

Dr Mitchell Earleywine "Dr. Mitch" (Albany, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Drugs (Paperback)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YOU GOTTA READ IT, May 20, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: On Drugs (Paperback)

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.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On Drugs Raises Interesting Points, July 24, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: On Drugs (Hardcover)

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