CHAPTER ONE WOMEN’S ADDICTION AND TREATMENT THROUGH A HISTORICAL LENS

3Women’s addictions span a wide scope—from alcohol and other drug de-pendence to smoking, gambling, sex, eating disorders, and shopping. Nonetheless, it is the use of alcohol and other drugs that has been, and remains, the most pervasive and most stigmatizing of all addictions for women. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 4.5 million women in the United States are alcohol abusers or alcoholics, 3.5 million misuse prescrip-tion drugs, and 3.1 million regularly use illicit drugs. It is instructive to look at the history of women’s use of alcohol and other drugs in the United States, because such a historical perspective helps us under-stand women’s substance abuse problems in the context of their role in society. It also helps us understand society’s responses to women’s problems with these sub-stances, and consequently the treatment offered them. This chapter examines the history of women’s use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs and points out how women’s substance abuse and treatment in the United States has been affected by gender and racial bias, economic factors, and ignorance by treatment providers. The emphasis is on the history of alcohol and other drug problems among White, heterosexual women. Although there are some current data regarding substance abuse and treatment of African American and other women of color and of lesbians, their historical relationship to these issues has yet to be fully explored