Drugs During The Vietnam War

Section A: Plan of Investigation From November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975, the U.S. was caught up in, what is considered one of the most brutal wars the U.S. was ever involved in. 58,000 Americans were killed, wounded, or missing by the end of the war. However, many of the soldiers that came back from the war were addicted to drugs, and continued to stay addicted for years after the war. Many of the drugs that were used marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. This investigation will analyze the effect drugs played on American soldiers during the war and their return into civilian life after the war, by studying a John Hopkins study from 1973.

Words Count: 110 Section B: Summary of Evidence

Vietnam War

Began with the rise of power of Ho Chi MInh,

The author is Lee N. Robins. She was an American professor of social science and psychiatry in Washington University. The purpose of the source is to give some insight on the type of drug use that was occurring, how long it occurred for, and how intense the situation was.This source is extremely valuable, because it was taken a few years after the Vietnam War, and gives some insight to reasons behind the soldiers beginning the use of drugs. Robins also gives some detail into how the U.S. government dealt with the issue of the drugs. The limitations of this source are that it is a short summary. It doesn’t give a lot of detail into what happened to the soldiers when they returned home, and it didn’t give much insight on the type of men who commonly used the

It was a very emotion driven war, because the US were only fighting to preserve democracy.The US government wanted to prove to the Soviet Union that democracy wasn’t a dying government. The casualty toll was massive. Soldiers struggled to tell civilians and enemies apart, leading to such a high amount of deaths. 58,000 Americans died during the war, and even more civilian casualties. As the war continued, it took a physical and psychological toll on the soldiers involved. The average age of the soldiers was 21, and a third of them were drafted. Soldiers began to distrust their government and their reasons for being there. They lost unit morale and grew irritated. During this time period, many soldiers began looking for methods to help them forget the horrors and tragedies they saw in battle. In Vietnam drugs were at a surplus and easy to get your hands on. Many of the young soldiers were approached by someone with drugs, within their first five days of their tour. Marijuana was the most commonly used drug. It gave “soldiers an escape and hedonistic indulgence” (Stanton). Amphetamines were also readily available due to the fact that commanding officers gave them to soldiers to stay awake during missions. By 1969, opiates and heroin began to show up and a year later, they were readily available. 15% of the men who returned home, were addicted to heroin. The overall estimation of soldiers addicted to drugs was