# Drug Themes in Fiction

This work is Issue No. 10 of a Research Issues Series, prepared for the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
* Research Issues 10
* DRUG THEMES IN FICTION
* NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE
RESEARCH ISSUE SERIES :
| 1. | Drugs and Employment |
| 2. | Drugs and Sex |
| 3. | Drug and Attitude Change |
| 4. | Drugs and Family/Peer Influence |
| 5. | Drugs and Pregnancy |
| 6. | Drugs and Death |
| 7. | Drugs and Addict Lifestyles |
| 8. | A Cocaine Bibliography—Nonannotated |
| 9. | Drug Themes in Science Fiction |
| 10. | Drug Themes in Fiction |
Cover Illustration
William Blake. The figure of Urizen or the Ancient of Days.
Frontispiece from Europe. Illuminated printing.
DRUG THEMES IN FICTION
by
Digby Diehl
November 1974
National Institute on Drug Abuse 11400 Rockville Pike Rockville, Maryland 20852
For sale by the Superindent of Document, U.S. Governement Printing Office, Washington D.C. 20402
This volume, part of a Research Issues Series, was prepared for the National Institute on Drug Abuse by Documentation Associates, Box 25892, Los Angeles, California, under Contract Number HSM-42-73-222.
DHEW Publication No. (ADM) 75-191 Printed 1975
FOREWORD
The issues of drug use and abuse have generated many volumes of words, all written in an attempt to explain the "problem" and suggest the "solution." Data have been generated by researchers from many disciplines, each looking at a particular aspect of an issue. The present booklet is one of a new series intended to aid researchers who find it difficult to find the time to scan, let alone read all the information which exists and which continues to be published daily in their area of interest. An attempt has been made to focus predominantly on empirical research findings and major theoretical approaches.
Included in volumes 1 through 7 of the series are summaries of the major research findings of the last 15 years, formulated and detailed to provide the reader with the purpose, methodology, findings and conclusions of previous studies done in the topic area. Each topic was chosen because it represented a challenging issue of current interest to the research community. As additional issues are identified, the relevant research will be published as part of this series.
Several of the volumes in the series represent a departure from the above description. These also represent challenging issues, and issues of current interest; they are, however, virtually unexplored areas which have received little attention from the research world. For example, the subjects of drugs and the visual arts, science fiction, and fiction—aspects of contemporary life which impact on all of us—are explored here by writers who have been deeply involved in those fields. Their content is perhaps provocative, and certainly stimulating.
The Research Issues series is a group project of staff members of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Division of Research, Behavioral and Social Sciences Branch. Special thanks are due to the continued guidance and support of Dr. Louise Richards and Dr. Norman Krasnegor. Selection of articles for inclusion was greatly aided by the suggestions of a peer review group, researchers themselves, each of whom reviewed a topic of particular interest, It is my pleasure to acknowledge their contribution to the project here.
Dan J. Lettieri, Ph.D. Project Officer National Institute on Drug Abuse
A NOTE TO THE READER
This essay is a survey of selected literary works of fiction with drug-related thematic content. The themes represented in the survey reﬂect popular American attitudes toward drugs from pre-World War II through the 1970's. The roots of these themes, beginning with 17th century French cultural attitudes are explained. The subject has been treated broadly; there is no attempt to analyze literary characters who used drugs (for example, Sherlock Holmes), nor to consider the effect of drugs on the creativity of any authors who may have used drugs.
Digby Diehl is the book editor for the Los Angeles Times, teaches journalism at the University of California at Los Angeles, and is a member of the National Book Committee. Mr. Diehl is the author of the recently published Supertalk.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).
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