An Anatomy of Addiction

It is well known that Freud, before becoming the founder of psychoanalysis, wrote about the medical uses of cocaine and did a good deal of experimentation with the drug himself. At about the same time, as Markel (George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine, Univ. of Michigan) relates, Halsted, a pioneering young American surgeon, also began experimenting with cocaine, self-injecting it to learn how to standardize the dosage. He became seriously addicted and eventually was placed in a mental hospital after all other attempts to control his drug use failed. Despite a prestigious medical career, he continued to use cocaine and morphine throughout his life. Freud, on the other hand, seems to have stopped his cocaine use on his own. There is an interesting story here about the history and sociology of medicine and drug use, but Markel doesn't pursue it; instead, he shoehorns the facts (and gossip) about the two men into a modern, 12-step view of addiction.