Intoxication and Society

Intoxication and Society, as the title suggests, is ambitious in its scope. Its success lies in its thoughtful execution.' - Sally Marlow, Institute of Psychiatry, sallymarlow.com "Due to its accessibility and comprehensive format, Intoxication and Society is a manuscript that proves to be a useful tool in critically analysing and understanding the gamut of social, historical, and political issues surrounding the constant debate involving substance use and its effect on society." - Mariah Jade Zimpfer, Department of Sociology, University of Edinburgh, UK "The Editors of this book are professors of law, neuropharmacology, sociology and early medieval history, and hence it provides an array of perspectives on alcohol and other psychoactive drugs. The first chapter overviews these diverse themes, and provides useful guidance for the overall text...For Journal of Psychopharmacology readers, the final chapter may be of particular interest, since it provides a 'neuroscientific' perspective." - Andy Parrott, British Association for Psychopharmacology newsletter

Alcohol and illicit drugs play a prominent role in our society. This important collection presents a subtle historical and contemporary rereading of the social construction of intoxication, using cutting edge sociological, scientific, legal and ethical analysis.Intoxicants, substances that alter a person's mental and physiological state, are a continuing obsession. In their effect on the mind and body, intoxicants go to the heart of what it means to be human. In the tensions between 'free' and uninhibited consumption on the one hand, and the pressures of social regulation and personal responsibility on the other, they also illuminate the daily paradoxes, and sheer complexity, of living in modern Western societies. Yet this complexity, and the rich history that underpins it, is often lost in the current debates over public policy. Intoxication and Society sets out to supplement the contemporary discourse surrounding intoxication with a more nuanced appreciation of the history and nature of what is very much a multidimensional problem. It does so by employing an interdisciplinary framework that includes contributions from leading academics in law, sociology, anthropology, history, literature, neuroscience and social psychology. The result is a subtle historical and contemporary rereading of the social construction of intoxication that will provide a secure basis for analysis as society continues to respond to the problematic pleasures of intoxication.