Draft:The General History of Drugs

The General History of Drugs is a book by Spanish philosopher Antonio Escohotado. It is considered a leading work on the matter, combining both a historical and phenomenological approach via an appendix that examines the main drugs known to mankind, both legal and ilegal, often refered to by the author as pharmaceuticals. It includes more than 300 pictures, being a unique book in the world due to its precision and depth.

It was first published in 1983. It consists of 1542 pages, 15 editions (until 2005) and partial or total translations to English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Bulgarian and Czech.

The ouvre takes the reader on a multidisciplinary journey on drunkenness, addressing historical, cultural, mythological, anthopological, sociological, political, chemical and medical aspects. It includes an appendix previously published separately and titled in subsequent editions as El libro de los venenos (1990), Para una fenomenología de las drogas (1992) and Aprendiendo de las drogas (1995). It is presented as a manual on the use and consumption of the different kinds of drugs that the author used.

The goal of this work is to analyze the use of drugs throughout history and justify the right to consumption of these from a libertarian view.