STRANGE TRIPS MCGILL-QUEEN’S/ASSOCIATED MEDICAL SERVICES STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE, HEALTH, AND SOCIETY SERIES EDITORS: J. CONNOR AND ERIKA DYCK This series presents books in the history of medicine, health studies, and social policy, exploring interactions between the institutions, ideas, and practices of medicine and those of society as a whole. To begin to understand these complex relationships and their history is a vital step to ensuring the protection of a fundamental human right: the right to health. Volumes in this series have received financial support to assist publication from Associated Medical Services, Inc.
(AMS), a Canadian charitable organization with an impressive history as a catalyst for change in Canadian healthcare. For eighty years, AMS has had a profound impact through its support of the history of medicine and the education of healthcare professionals, and by making strategic investments to address critical issues in our healthcare system. AMS has funded eight chairs in the history of medicine across Canada, is a primary sponsor of many of the country’s history of medicine and nursing organizations, and offers fellowships and grants through the AMS History of Medicine and Healthcare Program (www. 1 Home Medicine The Newfoundland Experience John K.
Crellin 2 A Long Way from Home The Tuberculosis Epidemic among the Inuit Pat Sandiford Grygier 3 Labrador Odyssey The Journal and Photographs of Eliot Curwen on the Second Voyage of Wilfred Grenfell, 1893 Ronald Rompkey 4 Architecture in the Family Way Doctors, Houses, and Women, 1870–1900 Annmarie Adams 5 Local Hospitals in Ancien Régime France Rationalization, Resistance, Renewal, 1530–1789 Daniel Hickey 6 Foisted upon the Government? State Responsibilities, Family Obligations, and the Care of the Dependent Aged in Nineteenth Century Ontario Edgar-André Montigny 7 A Young Man’s Benefit The Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Sickness Insurance in the United States and Canada, 1860–1929 George Emery and J. Herbert Emery 8 The Weariness, the Fever, and the Fret The Campaign against Tuberculosis in Canada, 1900–1950 Katherine McCuaig 9 The War Diary of Clare Gass, 1915–1918 Edited by Susan Mann 10 Committed to the State Asylum Insanity and Society in Nineteenth-Century Quebec and Ontario James E. Moran 11 Jessie Luther at the Grenfell Mission Edited by Ronald Rompkey 12 Negotiating Disease Power and Cancer Care, 1900–1950 Barbara Clow 13 For Patients of Moderate Means A Social History of the Voluntary Public General Hospital in Canada, 1890–1950 David Gagan and Rosemary Gagan 14 Into the House of Old A History of Residential Care in British Columbia Megan J. Davies 15 St Mary’s The History of a London Teaching Hospital E.
Heaman 16 Women, Health, and Nation Canada and the United States since 1945 Edited by Georgina Feldberg, Molly Ladd-Taylor, Alison Li, and Kathryn McPherson 17 The Labrador Memoir of Dr Henry Paddon, 1912–1938 Edited by Ronald Rompkey 18 J. Collip and the Development of Medical Research in Canada Extracts and Enterprise Alison Li 19 The Ontario Cancer Institute Successes and Reverses at Sherbourne Street E. McCulloch 20 Island Doctor John Mackieson and Medicine in Nineteenth-Century Prince Edward Island David A. Shephard 21 The Struggle to Serve A History of the Moncton Hospital, 1895 to 1953 W.
Godfrey 22 An Element of Hope Radium and the Response to Cancer in Canada, 1900–1940 Charles Hayter 23 Labour in the Laboratory Medical Laboratory Workers in the Maritimes, 1900–1950 Peter L. Twohig 24 Rockefeller Foundation Funding and Medical Education in Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax Marianne P. Fedunkiw 25 Push! The Struggle for Midwifery in Ontario Ivy Lynn Bourgeault 26 Mental Health and Canadian Society Historical Perspectives Edited by James Moran and David Wright 27 SARS in Context Memory, History, and Policy Edited by Jacalyn Duffin and Arthur Sweetman 28 Lyndhurst Canada’s First Rehabilitation Centre for People with Spinal Cord Injuries, 1945–1998 Geoffrey Reaume 29 J. Wendell Macleod Saskatchewan’s “Red Dean” Louis Horlick 30 Who Killed the Queen? The Story of a Community Hospital and How to Fix Public Health Care Holly Dressel 31 Healing the World’s Children Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Health in the Twentieth Century Edited by Cynthia Comacchio, Janet Golden, and George Weisz 32 A Canadian Surgeon in the Army of the Potomac Francis M.
Wafer Edited by Cheryl A. Wells 33 A Sadly Troubled History The Meanings of Suicide in the Modern Age John Weaver 34 SARS Unmasked Risk Communication of Pandemics and Influenza in Canada Michael G. Tyshenko with assistance from Cathy Patterson 35 Tuberculosis Then and Now Perspectives on the History of an Infectious Disease Edited by Flurin Condrau and Michael Worboys 36 Caregiving on the Periphery Historical Perspectives on Nursing and Midwifery in Canada Edited by Myra Rutherdale 37 Infection of the Innocents Wet Nurses, Infants, and Syphilis in France, 1780–1900 Joan Sherwood 38 The Fluorspar Mines of Newfoundland Their History and the Epidemic of Radiation Lung Cancer John Martin 39 Small Matters Canadian Children in Sickness and Health, 1900–1940 Mona Gleason 40 Sorrows of a Century Interpreting Suicide in New Zealand, 1900–2000 John C. Weaver 41 The Black Doctors of Colonial Lima Science, Race, and Writing in Colonial and Early Republican Peru José R.
Jouve Martín 42 Bodily Subjects Essays on Gender and Health, 1800–2000 Edited by Tracy Penny Light, Barbara Brookes, and Wendy Mitchinson 43 Expelling the Plague The Health Office and the Implementation of Quarantine in Dubrovnik, 1377–1533 Zlata Blažina Tomić and Vesna Blažina 44 Telling the Flesh Life Writing, Citizenship and the Body in the Letters to Samuel Auguste Tissot Sonja Boon 45 Mobilizing Mercy A History of the Canadian Red Cross Sarah Glassford 46 The Invisible Injured Psychological Trauma in the Canadian Military from the First World War to Afghanistan Adam Montgomery 47 Carving a Niche The Medical Profession in Mexico, 1800–1870 Luz María Hernández Sáenz 48 Psychedelic Prophets The Letters of Aldous Huxley and Humphry Osmond Edited by Cynthia Carson Bisbee, Paul Bisbee, Erika Dyck, Patrick Farrell, James Sexton, and James W. Spisak 49 The Grenfell Medical Mission and American Support in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1890s–1940s Edited by Jennifer J. Connor and Katherine Side 50 Broken Institutions, Families, and the Construction of Intellectual Disability Madeline C. Burghardt 51 Strange Trips Science, Culture, and the Regulation of Drugs Lucas Richert STRANGE TRIPS Science, Culture, and the Regulation of Drugs LUCAS RICHERT McGill-Queen’s University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Chicago © McGill-Queen’s University Press 2018 ISBN 978-0-7735-5637-9 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-7735-5652-2 (ePDF) ISBN 978-0-7735-5653-9 (ePUB) Legal deposit first quarter 2019 Bibliothèque nationale du Québec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free (100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.
Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Richert, Lucas, 1979–, author Strange trips : science, culture, and the regulation of drugs / Lucas Richert. (McGill-Queen’s/Associated Medical Services studies in the history of medicine, health, and society ; 51) Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats. Drugs of abuse–Canada. Drugs–United States. Drugs of abuse–United States.
Series: McGill-Queen’s/Associated Medical Services studies in the history of medicine, health, and society ; 51 RM316.1 C2018-905685-1 C2018-905686-X This book was typeset in 10. For Meredith, who left us far too early CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction: Beyond Substances in Silos PART ONE END-OF-LIFE MEDICINE 1 Medical Heroin’s Return to Canada: Pain, Palliative Care, and Colonial Medicine 2 Justifying Junk: Heroin in the American Hospice during Reagan’s War on Drugs 3 Laetrile’s Life Cycle after the Death of Steve McQueen PART TWO HIPPY MEDICINE 4 LSD’s Return from the Wilderness 5 Civilizing Cannabis in Canada PART THREE DEMONIZED PHARMACEUTICALS 6 The “Maple Peril” and the War on Terror: Pharmaceutical Purchasing in the Wake of September 11 7 American Obesity and Diet Pills: Dangerous Drugs on Every Corner 8 A Ketamine Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Marvellous communities of scholars and friends were supportive as I progressed through the ups and downs of this project. Special thanks to members of the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare, University of Strathclyde. I’ve been surrounded by a superb collection of comrades, including Ved Baruah, Patricia Barton, Mark Ellis, Laura Kelly, Arthur McIvor, Emma Newlands, and Elsa Richardson.
At CSHHH, Caroline Marley has brought a measure of order to the chaos and helped us unleash our potential. The support team in the School of Humanities has been stellar, too, and must be acknowledged for everything they have done for me during my time at Strathclyde. Very special thanks to Jim Mills, who has been an energetic and encouraging mentor. Matt Smith, an outstanding academic and a good friend, was also instrumental in the completion of this book.
The willingness of many scholars to share their time and ideas was incredibly important in the development of this project. While at the University of Saskatchewan, I was fortunate to work within a first-rate history of medicine research cluster, led by CRC Erika Dyck, who acted as collaborator, mentor, and friend. Her expertise and collaborative spirit were vital in the construction of chapter 4. Parts of this chapter were conceived and written in partnership with her, versions of which later appeared in Plant Medicines, Healing and Psychedelic Science: Cultural Perspectives, edited by Beatrix Caiuby Labate and Clancy Cavnar (Springer, 2018).
Others who read and commented on this work to varying degrees include Mark Haden, Greg Higby, Stephen Parkin, and Percy Walton. Finally, thanks to a wide range of people who have been helpful along the rutted road, including: Virginia Berridge, William Booth, Nancy Campbell, Dorian Deshauer, Claire Clark, Jackie Duffin, Emily Dufton, Matthew Dziennik, W. Scott Haine, Jim Handy, David Herzberg, Timothy Hickman, Chris Hoff, Jackie Kripki, Emma Long, Dan Malleck, Sarah Marks, Helen Mawdsley, Stephen Mawdsley, Joe Merton, Adam Montgomery, Matthew Neufeld, Dan Peart, Nic Rasmussen, Mat Savelli, Phillip Smith, Joe Spillane, Jon Sutton, Richard Warden, Cheryl Krasnick Warsh, and Manuela Williams. At MQUP, Kyla Madden and the production team have been terrific.
Recognition, of course, must be given to my external reviewers and copy editors for taking the time to read and make useful suggestions to improve the manuscript. Finally, thanks to Matthew DeCloedt, a superb research associate and friend. This project would not have been possible without the generous support of various institutions, organizations, and archives. Archival gatekeepers Diana Bachman, Jessica Borge, Sam Maddra, and Sarah Hepworth were crucial.
I’m certain to miss someone, so please forgive me. I must also thank the Wellcome Trust and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada for funding me several years ago, as well as convey gratitude to the Canadian Association for the History of Medicine and American Association for the History of Medicine. Early versions of this work appeared in the pages of the Canadian Review of American Studies and Pharmacy in History. This book begins with a dedication to my mother, Meredith.
She struggled with different forms of cancer and tried several strange medicines during her losing battle. As an undergraduate student in my early twenties, I had no idea then that the experience would lead me on this pathway. Thanks to my other family members who have listened to my stories about drugs and medicines, and the peculiar line that separated them. You know who you are.
Lastly, thank you to my wife Elizabeth for being my best friend, as well as to my luminescent children, Oscar and Lucy, who are generous with their light. STRANGE TRIPS INTRODUCTION: BEYOND SUBSTANCES IN SILOS Drugs. Each word has been invested with degrees of legitimacy and illegitimacy, as well as legality and illegality. And these words have always correlated with consumption, control, and political agendas.
In recent years, both recreational and pharmaceutical drugs have seized the general public’s attention for numerous reasons.