Understanding the use of addictive and other psychoactive drugs should be attempted in a variety of frameworks. In this study of alcohol and opium use among the Meo of Laos the author demonstrates that alcohol is employed within rigid social constraints and that alcoholism as such does not occur. Opium, a cash crop, is found in every home; many Meo smoke it, and a few become addicted to it. Studies such as this, using rigorous field methods, demonstrate the importance of the society-individual-drug triad.Abstract Teaser