solved Need help with my History question – I’m studying for
Need help with my History question – I’m studying for my class.
What does Courtwright mean by the term “Psychoactive Revolution”? Roughly when did this revolution come about, and why do you think it happened over this timespan? What were the main forces driving the Psychoactive Revolution? How did the status of drugs, culturally and legally, change as the Psychoactive Revolution came to fruition?
In what parts of the world did the use of the opium, cannabis, and coca originate? And how did their use spread to other parts of the world? Based on the information from the assigned readings up to now, what factors do you think best explain why these drugs spread around the world?
For what purposes did people in the past use the “little three” drugs: opium, cannabis, and coca? In what ways did these uses persist or change as consumption of these drugs spread across Western Europe and North America?
Courtwright argues, in line with the nineteenth-century British physician, Sir William Moore, that “proximity to supply” was an important factor shaping global patterns of drug consumption. What evidence does Courtwright give to support this argument? Thinking more broadly about the historical and present use of drugs (including licit drugs like alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceuticals), to what extent do you think this argument holds true? What factors might limit the consumption of a drug that is locally available?
In what parts of the world were drugs like betel, kava, qat, and hallucinogenic plants consumed and for what purposes? Using a few key examples, explain why these drugs never spread beyond their regional cultural enclaves to become major global drugs like the “little three” (opium, cannabis, coca) or the “big three” (alcohol, tobacco, caffeine). Do you think this is changing today as more obscure drugs become known through global migration and available through vendors online?