The American Disease is a classic study of the development of drug laws in the USA. Supporting the theory that Americans' attitudes toward drugs have followed a cyclic pattern of tolerance and restraint, author David Musto examines the relations between public outcry and the creation of prohibitive drug laws from the end of the Civil War to the present day. The book traces the development of narcotic use, legislation, American foreign policy, attitudes towards groups associated with particular drugs, and the roles of physicians and the growing pharmaceutical industry.

Originally published in 1973, with an expanded edition in 1987, this revised and expanded third edition contains a new chapter and preface that cover the renewed debate on policy and drug legislation from the end of the Reagan administration to the present Clinton administration. Musto investigates how our nation has dealt with issues including the controversies over prevention programs and mandatory minimum sentencing, the catastrophe of the crack epidemic, the fear of a heroin revival, and the continued debate over the legalization of marijuana.