Analyses the impact of addictive drugs (alcohol, nicotine and illegal drugs) and behaviours (gambling) on the health and wellbeing of individuals and societies based on the latest research and within an innovative new conceptual framework

Impact of Addictive Substances and Behaviours on Individual and Societal Well-being outlines an innovative and fascinating new framework for understanding the harm that addictive substances and behaviours can cause. Taking a holistic approach and with well-being as a central tenet, it demonstrates how using different methods can lead to a more just and evidence-based approach to dealing with addictions. Presenting the latest and most comprehensive research, the expert team of authors examines the harm caused by addictive substances and behaviour, factors that contribute to addictions, and current European approaches to governing addictive substances and behaviours. It is both legal and illegal drugs, and behaviour that cause harm. For the world as a whole, cigarettes were the second largest cause of ill health and early death in 2010, alcohol the fifth, and illegal drugs the eighteenth. Regular and sustained heavy engagement in addictive substances and behaviour also impacts on quality of life and material living conditions. The well-being framework outlined here for understanding this impact places particular emphasis on the reciprocal relationship between well-being and drug use: well-being can be a driver of the heavy use of addictive substances and behaviours, and also compounds the harm done. Furthermore, the response of society can increase the harm caused by drug use, and stigma, social exclusion, and the actions of the criminal justice system can impair individual and societal well-being considerably. Impact of Addictive Substances and Behaviours on Individual and Societal Well-being is based on the research from ALICE RAP, a multidisciplinary European study of addictive substances and behaviours in contemporary society. A timely addition to the field, this book is essential reading for those wanting to make a real impact in the field of addiction prevention policy, including public managers, practitioners, public health professionals, and stakeholders influencing policy for addictive substances and behaviours, as well as academics.

Estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans will experience a mental health problem or will misuse alcohol or drugs in their lifetimes. These disorders are among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they remain barriers to full participation in society in areas as basic as education, housing, and employment. Improving the lives of people with mental health and substance abuse disorders has been a priority in the United States for more than 50 years. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 is considered a major turning point in America's efforts to improve behavioral healthcare. It ushered in an era of optimism and hope and laid the groundwork for the consumer movement and new models of recovery. The consumer movement gave voice to people with mental and substance use disorders and brought their perspectives and experience into national discussions about mental health. However over the same 50-year period, positive change in American public attitudes and beliefs about mental and substance use disorders has lagged behind these advances. Stigma is a complex social phenomenon based on a relationship between an attribute and a stereotype that assigns undesirable labels, qualities, and behaviors to a person with that attribute. Labeled individuals are then socially devalued, which leads to inequality and discrimination. This report contributes to national efforts to understand and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that can lead to stigma and discrimination. Changing stigma in a lasting way will require coordinated efforts, which are based on the best possible evidence, supported at the national level with multiyear funding, and planned and implemented by an effective coalition of representative stakeholders. Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change explores stigma and discrimination faced by individuals with mental or substance use disorders and recommends effective strategies for reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment and other supportive services. It offers a set of conclusions and recommendations about successful stigma change strategies and the research needed to inform and evaluate these efforts in the United States.

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.

Presenting the findings of a five year project studying the pace and impact of addictions in Europe, this work deconstructs the failures and promises of European governance polices for reducing the harm done by legal and illegal drugs and posits a nine point plan as a way forward to redesign addictions governance

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.