Habit Forming

"Habit Forming explores American drug dependency from 1776 to 1914-the era when drug sales were largely unregulated-as well as Americans' growing understanding of addiction and attitudes toward habituated people; most commentators were white and middle-class, and their prevailing views, influenced by racism and classism, shaped policy. Domestic opiate use grew rapidly in the nineteenth century. Many white, middle-class women used morphine to treat pain or insomnia, enjoyed its pleasurable effects, and became addicted. Many users could hide their habit, and domestic habituation-the era's term for "addiction"-received limited attention before 1867"--