Confronting the Drug Control Establishment : Alfred Lindesmith As a Public Intellectual

Confronting the Drug Control Establishment is a biography of Alfred R. Lindesmith and an intellectual history of his times. A sociologist at Indiana University, Lindesmith believed legal prohibition of addictve drugs was futile and wrote widely on the threat to democracy inherent in such a policy.

Lindesmith's career began during the 1930s and developed along with the emerging drug prohibitions in the early and mid-twentieth century. Throughout his life Lindesmith attempted to utilize his research for the creation of more rational and humane drug control laws. His consistent message was that the addict's self-concept is a central element in human addiction. Lindesmith felt that an overriding influence on an addict's self-concept is fear of withdrawal, which keeps an addict from seeking treatment and becomes a key driving force in the drug problem.

"This book builds a convincing care for the scientific and clinical importance of Lindesmith's work on addiction and for the political significance of his stand against policies that criminalize the addict."
-- James D. Orcutt, Florida State University

"Essential reading for scholars and practitioners concerned with drug control policy and deviance, Lindesmith having been a sociologist of intellectual courage and vision."
-- Gideon Sjoberg, coauthor of A Methodology for Social Research: With a New Introductory Essay.

About the Author

David Patrick Keys is Professor of Political Science at West Texas A & M University.

John F. Galliher is Professor of Sociology and Director of Peace Studies at the University of Missouri. He is the author of Criminology: Human Rights, Conflict and Criminal Law and, most recently, Marginality and Dissent in 20th Century American Sociology: The Case of Elizabeth Briant Lee and Alfred McClung Lee, published by SUNY Press.