David F. Musto, M.A., M.D.

Professor Child Psychiatry, Child Study Center

Research Interests

My primary interest is in the long-term development of social issues, especially the history of controlled substances such as heroin, cocaine and including alcohol. This research extends from the 18th century to the present and is chiefly limited to America. Recognizing patterns of positive and negative attitudes toward these substances is particularly useful in understanding our current drug controversy. I also have interests in AIDS and the history of psychiatry.

Dr. David F. Musto, who holds the rank of Professor of Child Psychiatry and History of Medicine, has been a member of the Yale faculty since 1969. His research has centered on social history, particularly the development of policies involving alcohol, narcotics, AIDS, the family and mental health.

Dr. Musto received the BA in classical languages in 1956 and in 1963 the MD degree, both from the University of Washington. While a medical student, he was awarded a fellowship by Yale to study the history of science and medicine and received the MA degree from Yale in 1961.

Dr. Musto interned at the Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, and then served as a resident physician in psychiatry at the Yale Medical Center, completing his training in 1967. Following residency, he served in the US Public Health Service as special assistant to the director, National Institute of Mental Health, until 1969. He concurrently held the position of visiting assistant professor of history at the Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Musto has investigated many areas touching on history and medicine and has been called upon to serve the nation in various capacities including membership on the White House Strategy Council on Drug Abuse Policy during the Carter administration, membership from 1981 to 1990 on the National Council of the Smithsonian Institution and as historical consultant to the Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic. He has also served on the National Advisory Committee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's program to combat drug and alcohol abuse and is a charter Fellow of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. He is a member of the alcohol advisory committee of the National Association of Broadcasters.

Within Connecticut, Dr. Musto chaired a state-wide Task Force on Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace supported by the APT Foundation (1986-88). In 1992 Governor Weicker appointed him a member of the Connecticut Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission. When the National Endowment for the Humanities established a National Humanities Institute at Yale, he served as Associate Director (1974-75) and as Program Director (1977-78).

At Yale he is a Fellow of Davenport College, member of the Editorial Advisory Committee of the Yale Editions of the Private Papers of James Boswell, and curator of historical scientific instruments at the Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Dr. Musto has published widely in professional journals and is particularly noted for his study of drug policy The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control published first in 1973 and now in a third edition (1999) by Oxford University Press. He has published additional books on such subjects as the history of heroin and a documentary history of drugs and alcohol in America.

His essays on social issues have appeared in the general media such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post and he has been featured as a commentator on social policy by news magazines and television networks.

 

Contact

Campus Address
Child Study Center
230 South Frontage Road
P.O. Box 207900
New Haven, CT 06520-7900

Office Address
SHM L-214

E-mail
david.musto@yale.edu

Office Phone
203-785-4258