Drug abuse persists as one of the most costly and contentious problems on the nation's agenda. Pathways of Addiction meets the need for a clear and thoughtful national research agenda that will yield the greatest benefit from today's limited resources. The committee makes its recommendations within the public health framework and incorporates diverse fields of inquiry and a range of policy positions. It examines both the demand and supply aspects of drug abuse. Pathways of Addiction offers a fact-filled, highly readable examination of drug abuse issues in the United States, describing findings and outlining research needs in the areas of behavioral and neurobiological foundations of drug abuse. The book covers the epidemiology and etiology of drug abuse and discusses several of its most troubling health and social consequences, including HIV, violence, and harm to children. Pathways of Addiction looks at the efficacy of different prevention interventions and the many advances that have been made in treatment research in the past 20 years. The book also examines drug treatment in the criminal justice setting and the effectiveness of drug treatment under managed care. The committee advocates systematic study of the laws by which the nation attempts to control drug use and identifies the research questions most germane to public policy. Pathways of Addiction provides a strategic outline for wise investment of the nation's research resources in drug abuse. This comprehensive and accessible volume will have widespread relevanceâ€"to policymakers, researchers, research administrators, foundation decisionmakers, healthcare professionals, faculty and students, and concerned individuals.

Drug abuse and addiction are common in clinical practice. Often they interfere with patient treatment or require an alternative approach. Drug Abuse and Addiction in Medical Illness: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment is a major contribution to the literature, a gold standard title offering a comprehensive range of topics for those who care for patients with addiction, conduct research in this area, or simply have an interest in the field. Offering state-of-the-art information for all those working with drug abusing or addicted patients, or for those interested in this topic from other research perspectives, the volume is a first of its kind book -- rich, comprehensive, yet focused, addressing the needs of the very active theoretical, basic, and clinical research in the field. Comprised of 46 chapters organized in four sections and developed by the leading international experts, Drug Abuse and Addiction in Medical Illness: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment covers virtually every core, as well as contemporary, topic on addiction, from the established theories to the most modern research and development in the field. Enhancing the educational value of the volume, every chapter includes an abstract and two boxes summarizing learning objectives and directions for future research. Drug Abuse and Addiction in Medical Illness: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment discusses the topic in a authoritative, systematic manner and is an indispensable reference for all clinicians and researchers interested in this rapidly changing field.

All across the United States, individuals, families, communities, and health care systems are struggling to cope with substance use, misuse, and substance use disorders. Substance misuse and substance use disorders have devastating effects, disrupt the future plans of too many young people, and all too often, end lives prematurely and tragically. Substance misuse is a major public health challenge and a priority for our nation to address. The effects of substance use are cumulative and costly for our society, placing burdens on workplaces, the health care system, families, states, and communities. The Report discusses opportunities to bring substance use disorder treatment and mainstream health care systems into alignment so that they can address a person's overall health, rather than a substance misuse or a physical health condition alone or in isolation. It also provides suggestions and recommendations for action that everyone-individuals, families, community leaders, law enforcement, health care professionals, policymakers, and researchers-can take to prevent substance misuse and reduce its consequences.

As the nation's drug crisis has deepened, public and private agencies have invested huge sums of money in prevention efforts. Are the resulting programs effective? What do we need to know to make them more effective? This book provides a comprehensive overview on what we know about drug abuse prevention and its effectiveness, including: Results of a wide range of antidrug efforts. The role and effectiveness of mass media in preventing drug use. A profile of the drug problem, including a look at drug use by different population groups. A review of three major schools of prevention theory-risk factor reduction, developmental change, and social influence. An examination of promising prevention techniques from other areas of health and human services. This volume offers provocative findings on the connection between low self-esteem and drug use, the role of schools, the reality of changing drug use in the population, and more. Preventing Drug Abuse will be indispensable to anyone involved in the search for solutions, including policymakers, anti-drug program developers and administrators, and researchers.

Focusing on two central themes--the psychobiological evolution from youth to adult and the effects of drugs on the developing central nervous system--this important reference elucidates the mechanisms of chemical dependency in adolescents. Its multidisciplinary coverage analyzes addiction across major domains of human functioning against the backdrop of hormonal, cognitive, and other changes that accompany the transition to adulthood. Chapters discuss legal as well as illicit drugs, examine age-related social contexts, and present the latest findings on links between drug use and mental disorders. Throughout, the contributors make clear that education is more valuable to understanding--and preventing--substance abuse than are prohibition and zero-tolerance thinking. Included among the topics: Cognitive development, learning, and drug use. Neurobiology of the action of drugs of abuse. Findings in adolescents with substance dependence based on neuroimaging tests. Alcohol abuse in adolescents: relevance of animal models. Effects of chronic drug abuse on the chronobiology of sleep in adolescents. Neurological and cognitive disorders arising from the chronic use of drugs of abuse. The multiple lenses for understanding its subject and the sensitivity with which causal nuances are treated make Neuroscience of Drug Abuse in Adolescence an invaluable resource for clinical and child psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and addiction counselors.