“I decided on a summer day in June 1995 to gather the courage to step into a life free of addiction.”

In this sixth and final part of The World History of Drugs, learn how the most powerful men in America, and thus the most powerful men in the world, used and abused the lives of the pawns in this scandalous affair.

From Ronald Reagan to George H.W. Bush — our past political leaders made decisions that led to a global drug epidemic. Learn more in our latest installment of The World History of Drugs.

In Part 4 of The World History of Drugs, we explore the influence of politics on drugs and drug use throughout the 1980s and beyond.

The first couple of years of recovery are the most dangerous and uncertain — but let’s explore why this is, and what this feels like for those in recovery.

As global military conflict escalates, drug development collides with the need to boost soldier performance. Read on to see how this collision impacted our shared World History of Drugs.

Explore our shared history with mood and mind altering substances in Part II of the World History of Drugs.

How did we get here — what shaped our modern experience with drugs as we know it today? Read on for Part 1 in the series of the “World History of Drugs.”