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Alcoholism, Drug Addiction, and the Road to Recovery

Life on the Edge

• By Barry Stimmel

• Price: $39.95
• Binding: Paperback (also available in Hardback)
• Pages: 438
• Published by: Routledge
• Publication Date: 20th March 2002
• ISBN: 978-0-7890-0553-3

About the Book

Gain a fuller understanding of substance addiction and treatment options!

Originally published in 1992 as The Facts About Drug Use, this updated edition contains new information about the effects of alcohol and recreational, mood-altering drugs on the body. The multiple causes of drug use and the options available to those dependent on drugs as a way of life are thoroughly and clearly described.

Drug use affects nearly 1 out of 2 Americans and cuts across every social and economic boundary. The effects of addiction on the individual are great, and the cumulative effects on society are staggering. Knowledge of the adverse effects of mood-altering drugs and why and how they are used excessively is a centerpiece of this book. It presents, intelligently and interestingly, ways to identify persons at risk and identify problems that the addicted encounter in attempts to become drug free. Alcoholism, Drug Addiction, and the Road to Recovery: Life on the Edge is an essential tool in both finding available resources for drug users and developing appropriate responses to today's drug problem.

This remarkable, well-referenced book enables those with little or no background in science or health care to understand the complex issues surrounding drug use. It provides current, reliable, and unbiased information on methods for dealing with dependency upon alcohol and central nervous system depressants, hallucinogens, heroin, nicotine, marijuana, caffeine, amphetamines, designer drugs like Ecstasy, and steroids. A glossary listing common street names for drugs will be invaluable to those interested in identifying specific substances.

This comprehensive volume will show you:

• who typically uses drugs and the reasons why they do
• how to classify mood-altering drugs
• how to identify and treat drug dependency
• areas of special concern such as multiple drug use, AIDS and drug use, drugs and pregnancy, drugs and sports, and drug testing technology

Chapter by chapter, this nonjudgmental book helps readers develop a better understanding of the effects of mood-altering substances and the reasons many continue to use them despite serious consequences. This is a valuable key to the nature of dependency and addiction, and the external forces (including poverty and homelessness) that promote such behavior.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• PART I. BASIC CONCEPTS
• Chapter 1. Who Uses Drugs?
• Drugs and the Young
• Adults and Drug Use
• Ethnicity and Drug Use
• Drugs and the Work Place
• Drug Use Among the Affluent
• Summary
• Chapter 2. Classifying Mood-Altering Drugs
• Types of Classification
• Differences and Similarities Among Drug Groups
• Designer Drugs
• Club Drugs
• Performance-Enhancinhg Drugs
• Summary
• Chapter 3. Habituation, Dependency, and Addiction
• Defining Terms
• Effects of Drugs on the Brain
• Chapter 4. Why People Use Drugs
• Initiating Drug Use
• Biological Determinants
• Psychological Factors
• Environment and Conditioning
• Conclusion
• Chapter 5. Identifying Inappropriate Drug Use and Drug Dependency
• Signs and Symptoms of Drug Use
• Addressing Drug Abuse in Your Children
• Laboratory Aids to Identify Alcohol and Drug Use
• Value of Identifying the Drug User
• Chapter 6. Treating Drug Dependency
• Available Treatment Modalities
• Evaluation of Treatment
• After Treatment
• The Law and Drug Treatment
• PART II. MOOD-ALTERING DRUGS
• Chapter 7. Alcohol
• Patterns of Use
• Costs of Drinking
• Common Alcoholic Beverages
• How Alcohol Is Handled by the Body
• Effects of Environment
• Interaction with Other Drugs
• Dependency and Withdrawal
• Adverse Effects
• Diagnosis
• Reasons for Excessive Drinking
• Alcoholism: A Disease or a Psychological Disorder?
• Summary
• Chapter 8. Central Nervous System Depressants and Antianxiety Agents
• Patterns of Use
• Barbiturates
• Nonbarbiturate Hypnotics and Sedatives
• Other Central Nervous System Depressants
• Benzodiazepines
• Miscellaneous Antianxiety Agents
• Chapter 9. Powerful Hallucinogens, Phencyclidine, and Ecstasy
• Classification
• Adverse Effects of Hallucinogens
• Ecstasy
• Phencyclidine
• Ketamine
• Chapter 10. Marijuana
• Reefer Madness
• Patterns of Use
• Tolerance, Dependency, and Withdrawal
• Adverse Effects
• Moving to Stronger Drugs
• Medical Uses of Marijuana
• Conclusion
• Chapter 11. Opiates and Opioids
• Opium Preparations
• Action of Opioids on the Brain
• Effects of Opioids on the Body
• Tolerance, Dependency, and Withdrawal
• Opioids Susceptible to Nonmedical Use
• Opiate Agonists—Antagonists
• Partial Opioid Receptor Agonists
• Chapter 12. Heroin Addiction
• Heroin from Opium: The Street Trade
• Getting High and Coming Down
• Prevalence
• Adverse Effects
• The Challenge of Treating Heroin Addiction
• Measuring Treatment Effectiveness
• Chapter 13. Amphetamines, Amphetamine-Like Drugs, and Caffeine
• Amphetamines
• Amphetamine-Like Drugs
• Caffeine
• Chapter 14. Cocaine
• Patterns of Use
• Cocaine Metabolism
• Dependency, Tolerance, and Addiction
• Adverse Effects of Cocaine
• Treatment of Cocaine Dependency
• Chapter 15. Nicotine
• Cigarette Smokers Today
• Available Nicotine Products
• Ingredients in Tobacco
• Dependency, Tolerance, Addiction, and Withdrawal
• Adverse Effects of Smoking
• Treatment
• Chapter 16. Volatile Solvents, Anesthetics, and Organic Nitrites
• Volatile Solvents
• Anesthetic Agents
• Organic Nitrites
• PART III. AREAS OF SPECIAL CONCERN
• Chapter 17. Multiple Drug Use
• Alcohol and Other Drugs
• Smoking and Drug Use
• Opioids
• Cocaine
• Marijuana
• Treatment
• Chapter 18. AIDS and Drug Use
• HIV: The Human Immunodeficiency Virus
• Preventing HIV Transmission
• Treatment of AIDS
• Relationship Between the Use of Non-Injecting Mood-Altering Drugs and HIV Infection
• Summary
• Chapter 19. Drugs, Pregnancy, and the Newborn
• Incidence of Drug Use During Pregnancy
• General Effects of Drugs on Pregnancy Outcome
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus <

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