Development of the disease model of drug addiction in Britain, 1870-1926

Abstract

OPIUM WAS widely used in the nineteenth century as an analgesic, a febrifuge, a sedative, and an anti-diarrhoea agent. Opium's addictive properties had been noted in the medical literature as early as 1700, but medical men did not take these very seriously. With the advent of the hypodermic syringe in 1856, which made it possible for morphia (the alkaloid of opium) to be injected, physicians became increasingly concerned about addiction. From 1878, they began to discuss the “disease” of drug addiction. What had begun as a trickle in the medical literature eventually became a torrent and, by 1910, a fully mature disease model of drug addiction had been developed. This had an enormous influence on both the popular understanding and national policies toward drug addiction in the period between 1910 and 1930. The reasons why medical men characterized drug addiction as a disease derived from specific features ofthe “culture ofmedicine” in the late nineteenth century: The concept of disease, the social role and status of the medical profession, the perception of public health concerns, and the political goals and influence of medical men. Considered within the context ofthe historiography ofmedicine, the development ofthe concept of drug addiction can illuminate how traditional and radical perspectives can be combined to produce a richer understanding of medical history. © 1980, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.