Teens take drugs for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they simply want to feel different. They might feel emotions they want to change, such as sadness or anxiety. And they might even be bored or feel left out. Yet casual drug use can easily develop into abuse and addiction, whether the drug of choice is legal or illegal. Drug abuse can ruin the lives of users and their friends and family. It can cause harm to a person's body and take control of his or her mind. Drug use also supports an illegal drug supply industry—one that involves criminals and gangs. This frank, clear-eyed, sobering text examines what drugs are, what they can do, and how people can get help. From first use to hardcore addiction, drugs affect not only users but also friends, family, and society. This hard-hitting exposé deglamorizes drug abuse and reveals its true toll.

Julie grew up in the heart of Dublin’s north inner city, in Sheriff Street. Living in this tough area, she was exposed to crime and drugs. She started using heroin when she was 16. By the time she was 18 she was a chronic addict. This story details how she spent the next four years living on the streets of Dublin; dealing drugs and stealing to feed her habit. It is a snapshot of how a young girl became a victim of circumstances. It happened in Dublin, but it could have happened anywhere in the world. Her life was saved by a chance encounter with a drugs counsellor who brought her to first to London, and then to America where she de-toxed and slowly began to rebuild her life.

A FASCINATING EXPOSÉ ON THE CORRUPTION OF WESTERN MEDICINE. "The truth about cures without drugs is suppressed, unless it suits the purpose of the censor to garble it. Whether these cures are effected by chiropractors, Naturopaths, Naprapaths, Osteopaths, Faith Healers, Spiritualists, Herbalists, Christian Scientists, or MDs who use the brains they have, you never read about it in the big newspapers.”—Morris A. Bealle In the 1930’s, Morris A. Bealle, a former city editor of the old Washington Times and Herald, was running a county seat newspaper, in which the local power company bought a large advertisement every week. This account took quite a lot of worry off Bealle’s shoulders when the bills came due. But according to Bealle’s own story, one day the paper took up the cudgels for some of its readers that were being given poor service from the power company, and Bealle received the dressing down of his life from the advertising agency which handled the power company’ s account. They told him that any more such ‘stepping out of line’ would result in the immediate cancellation not only of the advertising contract, but also of the gas company and the telephone company. That’s when Bealle’s eyes were opened to the meaning of a ‘free press’, and he decided to get out of the newspaper business. He used his professional experience to do some deep digging into the freedom-of-the-press situation and came up with several shattering exposes—one of which is this book, The Drug Story, which was first published in 1949. Although never admitted to a major bookstore—it was sold exclusively by mail—it went on to become one of the most important books on health and politics ever to appear in the USA.

Harley began using drugs at fourteen, and by the time she was twenty-two, she was caught up in the heroin epidemic. She lost her battle with drug addiction in 2016 at the age of twenty-six. This is her story of a young life spiraling out of control, her desire to beat addiction, and her search for God.

'The most important study on this subject in years, perhaps ever' Phillip Knightley, SUNDAY TIMES A history of drug-taking, telling the story across five centuries of addicts and users: monarchs, prime ministers, great writers and composers, wounded soldiers, overworked physicians, oppressed housewives, exhausted labourers, high-powered businessmen, playboys, sex workers, pop stars, seedy losers, stressed adolescents, defiant schoolchildren, the victims of the ghetto, and happy young people on a spree. It is also the history of one bad idea, prohibition. 'You'll find almost everything you ever wanted to know about drugs in this work, except how to get hold of them' Simon Garfield, FINANCIAL TIMES 'Everyone with any influence on government policy should read this book and wake up before it is too late' Phillip Knightley, SUNDAY TIMES

From the antiquity of "Homer" to yesterday's "Naked Lunch, " writers have found inspiration in a world of the imagination tinged and transformed by drugs. Drawing on history, science, biography, literary analysis, and ethnography, Boon shows that the concept of drugs is interdisciplinary and reveals how connections between disciplines configure each drug's unique history. 12 illustrations.