This wide-ranging handbook brings together experts in the sociology of drug abuse prevention. Providing a comprehensive overview of the accumulated knowledge on prevention theory, intervention design, and development and prevention research methodology, this work also promotes prevention science as an evolving field in the practice and policy of drug abuse prevention.

This book examines the current strides being made in evidence-based drug prevention, particularly with school-age youth. It explores decades of research and successful programs to help researchers, practitioners, and policy makers make further progress in preventing drug abuse.

The second edition of The Substance Abuse Handbook follows the general organization of the 'big' book, Lowinson and Ruiz's Substance Abuse. This title distills content from the larger text into a concise, portable guide for healthcare professionals who need to diagnose and treat addictive disorders and related medical conditions.

This volume provides a serious examination of substance use prevention research and practice as components of the continuum from health promotion through to prevention and health care in sub-groups and in the general population. Extensive background chapters provide portals into the evolution of the field and the cutting edge research being conducted on the etiology, epidemiology, and genetics of substance use and abuse. The global nature and health burden of substance use and abuse incorporates assessments of the serious problems related to the prevention of legal substance use (i.e., alcohol and tobacco) and how lessons learned in those arenas may apply to the prevention of illicit substance use. Research and practice chapters detail a range of effective evidence-based programs, policies and practices and emerging prevention interventions from the literatures on the family and school contexts in addition to innovations involving mindfulness and the social media. Continued advancements in substance use prevention research, practice, training, and policy are projected. Included among topics addressed are: Progression of substance use to abuse and substance use disorders The tobacco prevention experience: a model for substance use prevention? Policy interventions: intended and unintended influences on substance use Qualitative methods in the study of psychoactive substance use Use of media and social media in the prevention of substance use Supporting prevention science and prevention research internationally The array of research accomplishments and real-world methods presented in Prevention of Substance Use merits the attention of a variety of researchers and practitioners, including public health professionals, health psychologists, and epidemiologists.

Adolescent substance abuse is the nation's #1 public health problem. It originates out of a developmental era where experimentation with the world is increasingly taking place, and where major changes in physical self and social relationships are taking place. These changes cannot be understood by any one discipline nor can they be described by focusing only on the behavioral and social problems of this age period, the characteristics of normal development, or the pharmacology and addictive potential of specific drugs. They require knowledge of the brain's systems of reward and control, genetics, psychopharmacology, personality, child development, psychopathology, family dynamics, peer group relationships, culture, social policy, and more. Drawing on the expertise of the leading researchers in this field, this Handbook provides the most comprehensive summarization of current knowledge about adolescent substance abuse. The Handbook is organized into eight sections covering the literature on the developmental context of this life period, the epidemiology of adolescent use and abuse, similarities and differences in use, addictive potential, and consequences of use for different drugs; etiology and course as characterized at different levels of mechanistic analysis ranging from the genetic and neural to the behavioural and social. Two sections cover the clinical ramifications of abuse, and prevention and intervention strategies to most effectively deal with these problems. The Handbook's last section addresses the role of social policy in framing the problem, in addressing it, and explores its potential role in alleviating it.

The Social Norms Approach to Preventing School and College Age Substance Abuse offers educators, counselors, and clinicians a handbook for understanding and implementing a new and highly successful alternative to traditional methods for preventing substance abuse among young people. The proven "social norms" approach outlined in this book identifies young people's dramatic misperceptions about their peer norms and promotes accurate public reporting of actual positive norms that exist in all student populations. The contributors to this important book are the originators, pioneers, and active proponents of this new approach. Many of them have successfully applied the social norms approach in secondary and higher education settings and as a result have promoted healthier lifestyles among adolescents and young adults across the United States.

Substance misuse and addictions are a public health issue. They affect the well-being of each community and nation as a whole. It is, therefore, necessary to identify, educate, and treat individuals who are addicted to substances. Policies and procedures go hand-in-hand with public health education and safety. The science behind the public health issues of one drug may be applicable to other drugs as well. However, marshalling all of the aforementioned information into a single source is somewhat difficult due to the wide array of material. The Editors address this by compiling the research in this single reference work that serves as a "one-stop-shopping" approach to everything readers need to know about the scientific basis of public health and addictions and agents of misuse. Apart from active agents that have a plant or chemical basis, there is a need to consider that there are other forms of addiction which may have common modes of causality or prevention. These include food addiction, gaming, gambling, and other non-drug addictions. These types of addiction may be related to the addiction of drugs. Overall, the Handbook of Substance Misuse and Addictions: From Biology to Public Health offers a holistic understanding of the relationship between public health and substance misuse. The text provides a common platform upon which other forms of addiction or substance misuse can be understood and treated. Addiction processes involve understanding the biological processes as well as behavior, psychology, sociology, and public health, all of which are interlinked. This Handbook is a useful reference for lecturers, students, researchers, practitioners, and other professionals in public health, addiction science, epidemiology, health education, health promotion, and health sciences.