A GENEALOGY OF DRUG ABUSE AND ADDICTION BY Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D.
ON THE GENEALOGY OF DRUG ABUSE AND ADDICTION Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. [Originally written in 2007; substantially revised in 2024] INTRODUCTION This paper adopts a genealogical approach, inspired by the methodologies of Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault, to explore the historical transformations in human substance use across different modes of production. Genealogy, as a critical framework, seeks to unravel the contingent and often contradictory processes through which modern understandings of drug use and addiction have emerged. This method challenges linear historical narratives, instead emphasizing the ruptures, power dynamics, and cultural negotiations that have shaped humanity’s relationship with psychoactive substances. While contemporary discussions of drug use often focus on addiction as a pathological or individual condition, this paper reorients the analysis to consider broader sociohistorical patterns. By tracing substance use across forager, agricultural, industri...