DRUG THEMES IN SCIENCE FICTION
by
Robert Silverberg
November 1974
National Institute on Drug Abuse
11400 Rockville Pike
Rockville, Maryland 20852
A scholarly survey of how science-fiction literature portrays mind-altering drugs, compiling and analyzing English-language stories and novels published since the early twentieth century. The study emphasizes psychological effects of drugs rather than physical alterations, traces recurring motifs—such as drugs' relationships to work, sex, family and peer influence, pregnancy, death, and addict lifestyles—and situates these portrayals within social shifts that drove both drug use and the genre's popularity. It provides thematic synthesis, critical commentary, and bibliographic resources to help researchers understand narrative treatments of drug experience and their implications for attitudes and policy discussions.
by
Robert Silverberg
November 1974
National Institute on Drug Abuse
11400 Rockville Pike
Rockville, Maryland 20852