Now in Paperback: Buy at Palgrave, Powell’s, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble

“Drink Spiking and Predatory Drugging is an extremely well-researched, readable and provocative book. Drawing on sociological concepts related to studies of social problems, moral panics and popular culture, this book will appeal to a wide range of academic audiences, as well as to non-academics interested in learning more about drug laws and crime stories.” –Karen G. Weiss, Medical History Journal, April 2017

” … illuminating, instructive, and noteworthy …. Highly recommended.”
–P. J. Venturelli,  ALA Choice Reviews, April 2017

Fear of drugging has shaped both our love and fear of brain-altering chemicals. Ideas about tampered drinks have shaped the way we think about drugs, alcohol, criminal law, risk, nightspots, and socializing for more than 150 years. This book challenges common perceptions and misperceptions about drink spiking and drugging — a pervasive fear and sometimes a troubling reality. This book examines the shifting cultural and gender politics of psycho-chemical treachery, from the rise of knockout drops and chloroform, through Temperance and Prohibition, and through the rise of 20th century techno-utopianism. In detailing the peculiar rise of “date rape drugs” it also questions whether we are truly ready to understand the dynamics of sexual violence despite decades of activism on the matter. The book also provides rich case histories dating back to the early 1900s, assesses evolving scientific knowledge, and explains why the often-repeated term “alcohol is the number-one date rape drug” might obscure more than it reveals. The book takes a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing on research from the fields of criminal law, forensic science, public health, cultural history, and social problems analysis.

Related Blog Posts:

The Life and Times of the term “Date Rape” 

What’s in Your Drugs? And Does it Matter if it isn’t what you think?

The Promise and Pitfalls of Consumer Drug Detectors. Okay, Mostly Pitfalls.

And more at my Main Page: pameladonovan.com