Pt. 5: Includes minutes of Canadian Senate hearing "Proceedings of the Special Committee on the Traffic in Narcotic Drugs in Canada," Apr. 18, 1955 (p. 1771-1836). Hearing was held in NYC; pt. 7: Continuation of hearings investigating drug abuse and illicit narcotics traffic in the U.S. Sept. 22 hearing was held in NYC; Oct. 12 hearing was held in Austin, Tex.; Oct. 13, 14, and Dec. 14 and 15 hearings were held in San Antonio, Tex.; Oct. 17 and 18 hearings were held in Houston, Tex.; Oct. 19 and 20 hearings were held in Dallas, Tex.; Oct. 21 hearing was held in Fort Worth, Tex.; pt. 9: Continuation of hearings on drug traffic and use in America. Hearings were held in Chicago, Ill.; pt. 10: Nov. 23 hearing was held in Detroit, Mich.; Nov. 25 hearing was held in Cleveland, Ohio.

Habitual drug use in the United States is at least as old as the nation itself. Habit Forming traces the history of unregulated drug use and dependency before 1914, when the Harrison Narcotic Tax Act limited sales of opiates and cocaine under US law. Many Americans used opiates and other drugs medically and became addicted. Some tried Hasheesh Candy, injected morphine, or visited opium dens, but neither use nor addiction was linked to crime, due to the dearth of restrictive laws. After the Civil War, American presses published extensively about domestic addiction. Later in the nineteenth century, many used cocaine and heroin as medicine. As addiction became a major public health issue, commentators typically sympathized with white, middle-class drug users, while criticizing such use by poor or working-class people and people of color. When habituation was associated with middle-class morphine users, few advocated for restricted drug access. By the 1910s, as use was increasingly associated with poor young men, support for regulations increased. In outlawing users' access to habit-forming drugs at the national level, a public health problem became a larger legal and social problem, one with an enduring influence on American drug laws and their enforcement.

pt. 5: Includes minutes of Canadian Senate hearing "Proceedings of the Special Committee on the Traffic in Narcotic Drugs in Canada," Apr. 18, 1955 (p. 1771-1836). Hearing was held in NYC; pt. 7: Continuation of hearings investigating drug abuse and illicit narcotics traffic in the U.S. Sept. 22 hearing was held in NYC; Oct. 12 hearing was held in Austin, Tex.; Oct. 13, 14, and Dec. 14 and 15 hearings were held in San Antonio, Tex.; Oct. 17 and 18 hearings were held in Houston, Tex.; Oct. 19 and 20 hearings were held in Dallas, Tex.; Oct. 21 hearing was held in Fort Worth, Tex.; pt. 9: Continuation of hearings on drug traffic and use in America. Hearings were held in Chicago, Ill.; pt. 10: Nov. 23 hearing was held in Detroit, Mich.; Nov. 25 hearing was held in Cleveland, Ohio.