Cover SF Masterworks edition of Barefoot in the Head by Brian Aldiss (fair use)

(17) PHARMACOLOGICAL WARFARE

Sadly not a special mention entry for the psychedelic warfare in Barefoot in the Head, the classic SF novel by Brian Aldiss where a drugged out post-apocalyptic Europe is devastated by the Acid Head Wars, in which hallucinogenic “psycho-chemical” aerosols were the primary weapon.

I suppose that would be a form of ehemical warfare, only a lot more fun.

Instead, this is a special mention entry for my fascination with the interconnection between drugs and war, as also reflected in my corresponding special mention (to my top ten wars) for the Opium Wars. The Opium Wars are the closest thing to a war fought over drugs like the modern stereotype of wars fought for oil – in this case, a war fought over Britain smuggling opium into China. Beyond that, it is fascinating to think how much of European colonialism (and slavery) was born from the plantation production of drugs – tobacco, coffee and tea. Even more so if you count sugar as a drug.

Of course, modern drug smugglers or cartels tend not to have the force of the world’s largest maritime empire behind them, but often play a role in more low-level war or insurgency as in Colombia. And notoriously, drug smuggling – particularly in cocaine and opium – has often laid beneath the surface of larger modern conflicts, particularly for financing them.

There is also the use of drugs in war. I’ve read that narcotics have been as much a part of war as bullets and bombs. While that appears to be an overstatement, historically drug use was often sanctioned and encouraged by militaries including alcohol and tobacco in troop rations. Of course, alcohol is something of a law of diminishing returns – what it adds in ‘Dutch courage’, it can often take away in effectiveness, famously as in the Russo-Japanese War on the Russian side.

Germany was also notorious for drug use in the Second World War, notably for amphetamine use by its armed forces, but also drug use by its leadership. However, stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamine were widely used by belligerents in both World Wars to increase alertness and suppress appetite. Drug use was also notorious in American forces in Vietnam – and has been a feature of other conflicts

And then you have the more trippy use of drugs – the Viking berserkers possibly as a result of agaric “magic” mushrooms, the Assassins named for hashish, even MK-Ultra by the CIA in the Cold War.