Monthly Archives: May 2011

Glatt and Popper in Helsinki: A Personal Anecdote

Posted on May 31, 2011 by

In June, 1975, I had the honor to represent Berkeley’s Alcohol Research Group (ARG), where I then worked, at the 21st International Institute on the Prevention and Treatment of Alcoholism, in Helsinki.(1)  I presented a paper to the Epidemiology Section meeting … Continue reading →

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What Time Do You Want it to Be? Finessing Science, Part Two

Posted on May 28, 2011 by

In the first segment of this post, Ron Roizen explored the congenial relationship between the free and easy scientific method that prevailed at the Yale School during the late 1940s and Marty Mann’s message-driven National Council on Alcoholism.  The second … Continue reading →

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Meth and Moral Panics, Part Three

Posted on May 27, 2011 by

Meth and Moral Panics, Part One and Part Two led us to the question of whether and how we ought to arbitrate the real in assessing the ‘disproportionate response’ that moral panics require. In this post, we’ll look at efforts … Continue reading →

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What Time Do You Want It To Be? Finessing Science at the National Council on Alcoholism and at Yale

Posted on May 26, 2011 by

Over the course of the second half of the 20th century Mrs. Marty Mann and her National Council on Alcohol (NCA) became the best known public advocates of the disease concept of alcoholism in the United States.  Mann’s great campaign, … Continue reading →

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OxyContext: “Hillbilly Heroin” and the Kentucky Crime Scare of the Late 1990s

Posted on May 25, 2011 by

As we continue in our quest to get to the bottom of the current moment’s hysteria about “pill mills,” Points is delighted to have as a guest blogger Kenneth D. Tunnell, talking about the ways in which OxyContin abuse was … Continue reading →

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Boxing, Crack, Class, and Crisis in *The Fighter*

Posted on May 24, 2011 by

Guest blogger Eoin Cannon reported on Mickey Ward and Dick Ecklund before David O. Russell dramatized their lives last year in The Fighter.  What a difference a major motion picture makes. Despite coming a few months late to the party, … Continue reading →

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New DOJ Attack on State Medical Marijuana Laws Could Land Feds Back in Court

Posted on May 23, 2011 by

Guest blogger Allen Hopper ponders the impact of letters sent recently by U.S. Attorneys to officials in medical marijuana states: will they affect an ACLU lawsuit alleging 10th amendment violations in the federal government’s prosecution of a Santa Cruz medical … Continue reading →

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Cherry-Picking the History of the Alcoholism Movement (1)

Posted on May 20, 2011 by

Sometimes useful pieces of historical evidence may be found lying around in plain sight.  A case in point concerns the relationship between Alcoholics Anonymous and the disease concept of alcoholism.  In 2002, Ernest Kurtz, A.A.’s distinguished academic historian, published a … Continue reading →

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The Points Interview: Burton Peretti

Posted on May 17, 2011 by

Today’s installment of the Points Interview is the ninth of the series and, as ever, we’re grateful to find so many authors willing to discuss their work in this forum.  That’s certainly true of entry #9–Burton Peretti, talking about his … Continue reading →

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The Libertarian Theme in Anti-AA Rhetoric

Posted on May 17, 2011 by

Hopping on the Ron Paul bandwagon as it pulls out for Campaign 2012, guest blogger Eoin Cannon speculates on why Libertarians don’t show more love for Alcoholics Anonymous. In the book manuscript I’m currently revising, I look at the founding … Continue reading →

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