2020 Summer Kreminar #4 – Adam Rathge, Cannabis Cures

The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy and the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy are pleased to announce the inaugural Edward Kremers Seminar in the History of Pharmacy & Drugs. The 2020 Summer “Kreminar” will explore the theme of Cannabis, and the fourth presentation will be by Dr. Adam Rathge speaking about, “Cannabis Cures: Medical Jurisprudence and the Origins of the War on Drugs.” Dr. Rathge’s online virtual presentation will be June 18, 2020, from 1:00–2:30 Eastern time (12 noon–1:30 p.m. Central time). Pre-registration is required.

Adam Rathge holds a PhD in American history from Boston College and has written extensively on the history of cannabis in the United States. His article, “Mapping the Muggleheads: New Orleans and the Marijuana Menace, 1920-1930,” is a digital humanities project that deploys interactive scholarship. He is currently the Director of Strategic Operations and Projects for Enrollment Management at the University of Dayton, where he also teaches undergraduate courses in the Department of History.

Cannabis Cures Presentation Abstract: “Cannabis Cures: Medical Jurisprudence and the Origins of the War on Drugs” examines the emergence of legal regulations on the use of cannabis in the United States during the late nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Often considered the golden age of cannabis medicine, Adam Rathge argues this largely understudied period was critical in categorizing cannabis as a potentially dangerous drug and establishing the cultural and legal basis for a bifurcated drug market that ultimately became the foundation for the war on drugs. In contrast to oft-cited paradigms, Rathge contends that marijuana prohibition in the United States was not solely a swift or sudden byproduct of racism and xenophobia toward Mexican immigrants, but instead, contingent on broad evolutions in public health and drug regulation coupled with a sustained concern about the potential dangers of cannabis use dating to the mid-nineteenth century.

The 2020 Summer Kreminar will be a virtual seminar with five streaming online presentations. Each presentation will run from 1:00–2:30 Eastern time (12:00–1:30 Central time) on a Thursday in May or June. Participants will be required to preregister for each presentation.

Dr. Lucas Richert, the George Urdang Chair in the History of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy and the AIHP Historical Director, will host the Kreminar.

Learn more about the 2020 Summer Kreminar.