David Lenson: Psychotropic Drugs: The Future

In the years since the publication of On Drugs, there has been a renaissance of studies on the subject in both the humanities and social sciences. This has coincided with the ongoing collapse of the marijuana prohibition, and increasing competition between pharmaceutical companies and underground manufacturers in the market for street drugs. If indeed psychotropic drugs are already technologies, there is speculation that the future of intoxication may involve not only a succession of newly minted "designer drugs," but also fusions of nanotechnology, digital electronics, and neurotransmitters. To what brave new world are we headed?