Freud on Coke

April 15, 2012

British writer, filmmaker, and psychologist Cohen (The Escape of Sigmund Freud) writes a lively, rather speculative history of drug use and abuse from the time of the Aztecs to Freud's involvement first with cocaine, then with nicotine (in the form of cigars). With a keen eye, Cohen mines Freud's letters to his future wife, Martha, his colleague Wilhelm Fliess, and others. The book features illustrations, some in color, that enliven the strange and often sordid history of drugs used to combat pain and/or enhance pleasure. Several chapters critically address issues that have occurred since Freud's time--e.g., the current drug war, the overpromotion of pharmaceuticals for profit--as well as the development of newer drugs such as LSD and ecstasy. VERDICT Cohen's flimsy, speculative hunches detract from the book by offering all opinion and no evidence, but general readers will find plenty of information and theories to work with. While overextended, this is a stimulating potion of history, biography, psychology, chemistry, and economics.--E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, DC

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