The Control of Fuddle and Flash: A Sociological History of the Regulation of Alcohol and Opiates (International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology)

The Control of Fuddle and Flash: A Sociological History of the Regulation of Alcohol and Opiates provides a historical and comparative overview describing the regulation of the use of alcohol and drugs (opiates) in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. It explains the conditions and causes of the various regulatory regimes, such as the economic benefits reaped from the colonial opium trade and the role that duties on alcohol played in state formation. Moreover, it explores the consequences of different regulatory regimes, e.g. the shift in the supply of (increasingly strong) liquor and the professionalisation of crime, both unintended consequences of American Prohibition. The Control of Fuddle and Flash provides original insights into the political economy of regulatory regimes, and sheds new light on the contemporary debate on the ‘drug problem’.

Jan-Willem Gerritsen (1957-1993) graduated in sociology at the University of Amsterdam and completed his doctor's thesis at the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research. As a student, he worked as an assistant to professor Nobert Elias. As a journalist, he contributed to a variety of Dutch newspapers and periodicals. As a sociologist, he conducted extensive historical and comparitive research into different regimes of social control of alcohol and opiates. This book represents the fruits of this research. Jan-Willem Gerritsen died in 1993, shortly after finishing this study.