David F. Musto
Encyclopedia
David Franklin Musto was an American expert on U.S. drug policy
and the War on Drugs
who served as a government adviser on the subject during the Presidency of Jimmy Carter
. He wrote extensively on the history of licit and illicit drug
s and the process by which many of them were placed under governmental control.
and earned his undergraduate degree in classics
from the University of Washington
in 1956. He attended Yale University
on a fellowship, earning a master's degree in the history of science
and medicine in 1961. Musto earned his medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine
, which was followed by an internship at Pennsylvania Hospital
and a residency
in psychiatry
at Yale.
through the United States Public Health Service
. He taught briefly at Johns Hopkins University
and became a professor of child psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center
beginning in 1969, in addition to being a professor of the history of medicine at Yale School of Medicine
. He was selected in 1973 as a presidential adviser on drug policy, and was named by Jimmy Carter
in 1978 to serve on the White House Strategy Council on Drug Abuse. Musto was a supporter of methadone maintenance
as a way of weaning heroin addicts from their addiction. He questioned the efficacy of employee drug testing and needle exchange programs
. Musto was wary of government efforts to curb drug use, noting that efforts to control drugs arise "from repeated observation of the damage to acquaintances and society" but that a prevention effort "usually comes just after the popularity of drugs has peaked". By 1992 Musto believed that the cocaine
epidemic in the U.S. had already hit its peak, but challenged the notion that legalization of cocaine and other drugs would curb their effects on society.
called the book "mandatory reading for anyone who wants to understand how we got into our present mess". His 2002 book The Quest for Drug Control: Politics and Federal Policy in a Period of Increasing Substance Abuse, 1963-1981, co-authored with Pamela Korsmeyer, documented the often-fragmented approach by the federal government in the 1960s and 1970s tp drug policy. Additional works edited by Musto on the subject include One Hundred Years of Heroin and Drugs In America: A Documentary History. One of his long-time interests was in Sherlock Holmes
, and he was a member of the Baker Street Irregulars
. Musto combined that interest with his vocational expertise in the 1968 article "A Study in Cocaine: Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud", which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
.
, Musto was visiting Shanghai
, China
, in conjunction with the donation of his writings to Shanghai University
and to mark the establishment of the Center for International Drug Control Policy Studies. He died there of a heart attack
at age 74 on October 8, 2010. He was survived by his wife, Jeanne, a daughter, three sons and four grandchildren.
Drug policy of the United States
Drug use has increased in all categories since prohibition except that opium use is at a fraction of its peak level. The big decline in use of opium started already after the Harrison Act of 1914. Use of heroin peaked between 1969 and 1971, cocaine, between 1987 and 1989 and marijuana between 1978...
and the War on Drugs
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
who served as a government adviser on the subject during the Presidency of Jimmy Carter
Presidency of Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter served as the thirty-ninth President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. His administration sought to make the government "competent and compassionate" but, in the midst of an economic crisis produced by rising energy prices and stagflation, met with difficulty in achieving its...
. He wrote extensively on the history of licit and illicit drug
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
s and the process by which many of them were placed under governmental control.
Education
Musto was born January 8, 1936, in Tacoma, WashingtonTacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
and earned his undergraduate degree in classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
from the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in 1956. He attended Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
on a fellowship, earning a master's degree in the history of science
History of science
The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world and the domains of the social sciences....
and medicine in 1961. Musto earned his medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine
The University of Washington School of Medicine is a public medical school located in Seattle, Washington.-Overview:UWSOM is a graduate school affiliated with the University of Washington, and is the only medical school in the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho...
, which was followed by an internship at Pennsylvania Hospital
Pennsylvania Hospital
Pennsylvania Hospital is a hospital in Center City, Philadelphia, affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania Health System . Founded on May 11, 1751 by Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Bond, it was the first hospital in the United States...
and a residency
Residency (medicine)
Residency is a stage of graduate medical training. A resident physician or resident is a person who has received a medical degree , Podiatric degree , Dental Degree and who practices...
in psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
at Yale.
Career
Musto first developed a focus on drug policy when he became special assistant to the director of the National Institute of Mental HealthNational Institute of Mental Health
The National Institute of Mental Health is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health...
through the United States Public Health Service
United States Public Health Service
The Public Health Service Act of 1944 structured the United States Public Health Service as the primary division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare , which later became the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The PHS comprises all Agency Divisions of Health and...
. He taught briefly at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
and became a professor of child psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center
Yale Child Study Center
The Yale Child Study Center is a department at the Yale University School of Medicine. The center conducts research and provides clinical services and medical training related to children and families...
beginning in 1969, in addition to being a professor of the history of medicine at Yale School of Medicine
Yale School of Medicine
The Yale School of Medicine at Yale University is a private medical school located in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. It was founded in 1810 as The Medical Institution of Yale College, and formally opened its doors in 1813....
. He was selected in 1973 as a presidential adviser on drug policy, and was named by Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
in 1978 to serve on the White House Strategy Council on Drug Abuse. Musto was a supporter of methadone maintenance
Methadone maintenance
Methadone maintenance is the use of methadone over a prolonged time as treatment for someone who is addicted to opioids or has severe pain problems that are resistant to other drugs.-Modality:...
as a way of weaning heroin addicts from their addiction. He questioned the efficacy of employee drug testing and needle exchange programs
Needle-exchange programme
A Needle & syringe programme or syringe-exchange programme is a social policy based on the philosophy of harm reduction where injecting drug users can obtain hypodermic needles and associated injection equipment at little or no cost. Many programmes are called "exchanges" because some require...
. Musto was wary of government efforts to curb drug use, noting that efforts to control drugs arise "from repeated observation of the damage to acquaintances and society" but that a prevention effort "usually comes just after the popularity of drugs has peaked". By 1992 Musto believed that the cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
epidemic in the U.S. had already hit its peak, but challenged the notion that legalization of cocaine and other drugs would curb their effects on society.
Books
His 1973 book The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control, expanded and reissued in 1987 and 1999, presented a history of drug use, abuse and control from the 19th century to the time of the book's publishing. Describing the connection between drug prohibition and their use by minority populations, it was written in "a non-polemical tone rare in a field dominated by partisan zealots". The New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
called the book "mandatory reading for anyone who wants to understand how we got into our present mess". His 2002 book The Quest for Drug Control: Politics and Federal Policy in a Period of Increasing Substance Abuse, 1963-1981, co-authored with Pamela Korsmeyer, documented the often-fragmented approach by the federal government in the 1960s and 1970s tp drug policy. Additional works edited by Musto on the subject include One Hundred Years of Heroin and Drugs In America: A Documentary History. One of his long-time interests was in Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
, and he was a member of the Baker Street Irregulars
Baker Street Irregulars
The Baker Street Irregulars are any of several different groups, all named after the original, from various Sherlock Holmes stories in which they are a gang of young street children whom Holmes often employs to aid his cases.- Original :...
. Musto combined that interest with his vocational expertise in the 1968 article "A Study in Cocaine: Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud", which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
Journal of the American Medical Association
The Journal of the American Medical Association is a weekly, peer-reviewed, medical journal, published by the American Medical Association. Beginning in July 2011, the editor in chief will be Howard C. Bauchner, vice chairman of pediatrics at Boston University’s School of Medicine, replacing ...
.
Death
A resident of New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, Musto was visiting Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, in conjunction with the donation of his writings to Shanghai University
Shanghai University
Shanghai University is a public, comprehensive university located in Shanghai, China. The university has the longest serving President; Chien Wei-zang since 1982 until he died in 2010. He was a well known scientist in China...
and to mark the establishment of the Center for International Drug Control Policy Studies. He died there of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at age 74 on October 8, 2010. He was survived by his wife, Jeanne, a daughter, three sons and four grandchildren.