Women and drug addiction: a historical perspective

The history of women and addiction in America extends back more than 150 years. Although the true epidemiology of women and addiction has always been difficult to determine, the spectrum of female addicts extends well beyond those women who make sensationalistic headlines by "abandoning" or "battering" their children. Historically, female addiction has been largely the result of inappropriate overmedication practices by physicians and pharmacists, media manipulation, or individuals own attempts to cope with social or occupational barriers preventing equality and self-fulfillment. From the mid-nineteenth century, uneasy tolerance, social ostracism, vilification, persecution, and legal prosecution have grudgingly, but not completely, given way to more humane treatment opportunities in the setting of more enlightened comprehensive care.