War and Drugs

War and Drugs explores the relationship between military incursions and substance use and abuse throughout history. For centuries, drugs have been used to weaken enemies, stimulate troops to fight, and quell post-war trauma. They have also served as a source of funding for clandestine military and paramilitary activity. In addition to offering detailed geopolitical perspectives, this book explores the intergenerational trauma that follows military conflict and the rising tide of substance abuse among veterans, especially from the Vietnam and Iraq-Afghan eras. Addiction specialist Bergen-Cico raises important questions about the past and challenges us to consider new approaches in the future to this longest of US wars. Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Drugs and War; Chapter 3 The Opium Wars; Chapter 4 Drugs and the U.S. Civil War; Chapter 5 French Connections and the Corsican Brothers; Chapter 6 High Hitler; Chapter 7 The Cold War Was Hot for the Drug Trade; Chapter 8 Project Bluebird and MK-ULTRA; Chapter 9 The Vietnam War and the Blowback at Home; Chapter 10 Mexico's Drug War; Chapter 11 Drugs and the Afghan Wars; Chapter 12 PTSD and Substance Abuse Among Veterans of the Afghan and Iraq Wars; Chapter 13 Conclusion;