America’s Longest and Deadliest War: The War on Drugs

Details

When: Wednesdays, Feb 4 – 25 10:00 am – noon

Where: The Hampton Inn

Cost: $149.00 for 4 session(s)

Type: In Person

Category:

• Humanities Courses
• World History

Instructor: Michael Schaller Is a Regents Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Arizona. A specialist in 20th century American politics and foreign policy, widely published author and frequent contributor to the Arizona Daily Star
Michael Schaller

In the last 30 years alone more Americans died of narcotic overdoses than perished in all the nation’s wars since 1776. From Prohibition to anti-smoking campaigns, to the current efforts to paint the drug problem as a foreign threat, the US war on drugs is an integral part of our nation’s history. Sales of opium created several great American fortunes in the 1800s. Its overuse following the Civil War led to policies that defined drug use as a criminal problem. Examine the origins of the drug trade and the consequences of US efforts to control it from the 1800s to today, with a focus on the economic, political and social issues connected to America’s longest war – the war on drugs.