The article reviews three cycles of drug use that have appeared in American history since the founding of our nation. Periods of greatly expanded drug use have followed each of our major national crises: the American Revolution, the Civil War and the Sixties. It is argued that drug use during these periods came to symbolize an independent, antinomial character ideal. After two to three decades of extreme proliferation, each of these periods has then been followed by a period in which drug use has been condemned and abstinence proffered as an exemplary character ideal. During these periods, drug use symbolized the excesses of individualism and the neglect of the commonweal. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of this analysis for the current period.
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