Cocaine in perspective

In a medical text published in 1883, Dr Benjamin Ward Richardson FRS denounced the evils of tea drinking, suggesting that it commonly gave rise to an 'Extremely nervous semi-hysterical condition'. That this distinguished Victorian physician could take such a view invites a sensitivity toward the perspective within which any debate on drugs is conducted--the historical, cultural and professional assumptions which will colour views as to what needs to be explained and how explanation is to be accomplished. The reality and significance of 'perspective' is further illustrated by examples drawn from contemporary literature which contrast the laboratory and social science approaches to study of cocaine. No one narrow disciplinary perspective on the cocaine problem will suffice; the challenge is to build bridges.