CC 213 - The War on Drugs

Credits: 4 credits

While the official “War on Drugs” in the United States was declared in 1971 by Richard Nixon, battles about alcohol and drug use were waged as early as the Colonial Era. This course covers the health effects, social impacts, and legal debates of various drugs including: alcohol, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, club drugs, marijuana, and tobacco. Using documentaries, media reports, social science research, and original source material, students learn about the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s, the so-called “crack epidemic” of the 1980s, and modern-day debates over marijuana decriminalization and legalization. Students are asked to evaluate and propose changes to current US drug policy. There is also a service learning component to the course, where students partner with a local organization to work on needed communication initiatives related in some way to addiction, overdose, harm reduction, or substance use and abuse. (Semester varies)