"Drug Habit: The Association of the Word "Drug" with Abuse and American History." A lecture presented by Dr. John Parascandola, Public Health Service Historian, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

When we speak of an individual today as a "drug user" or as "taking drugs", the first image that comes to mind for most people is illegal drug use. We are not likely to think of someone taking medication for an illness. Yet the word "drug" was not always so closely linked in the public mind with substance abuse. This lecture will consider the evolution of the word "drug" from a term limited basically to a therapeutic context to one associated with recreational use and abuse, a development that took place in the United States in the early 20th century. The talk will also discuss the unsuccessful efforts by American pharmacists in the 1920s to combat this trend.

The event will take place on Wednesday, February 26th, 2003, at 12 Noon, at the DEA Museum, Arlington, VA. Attendance is free of charge and reservations are not required. While there, please don't forget to visit the two exhibitions currently on view at the Museum: "Target America: Traffickers, Terrorists & You", and "Illegal Drugs in America: A Modern History".