A brief history of war and drugs: From Vikings to Nazis

From World War II to Vietnam and Syria, drugs are often as much a part of conflict as bombs and bullets
Al Jazeera
Friday, November 25, 2016

Adolf Hitler was a junkie and the Nazis' narcotics intake gives new meaning to the term 'war on drugs'. But they weren't the only ones. Recent publications have re­vealed that narcotics are as much a part of conflict as bul­lets; often defining wars rather than sitting anecdo­tally on the sidelines of them. In his book Blitzed, German author Norman Ohler describes how the Third Reich was permeated with drugs, including cocaine, heroin and most notably crystal meth, which was used by everyone from soldiers to housewives and factory workers. (See also: A Pill for ISIS Super­soldiers? Not So Fast)