Paul Gootenberg is Professor of History at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Cocaine is a major target of the ongoing war on drugs. In the 20th century the substance has been considered a social menace and a threat to society. The international criminal trade in the drug has continued despite efforts at worldwide prohibition led by the United States. Cocaine's history is mixed. In the 19th century cocaine was a fashionable stimulant. Paul Gootenberg describes the extra-ordinary transformation of this much-condemned narcotic.