Drug Abuse in the Modern World

Drug Abuse in the Modern World: A Perspective for the Eighties is a compilation of research papers presented at an international symposium, held at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. The focus of the conference is the assessment of the effects of addictive drugs on an individual, both in mind and body, and the repercussions of its widespread use on society, specifically during the decade of the 80's.
The book is composed of 49 chapters, which were divided into five parts. The first part presents the pharmacological properties of addictive drugs; its effect on brain functions; and changes in the user's behavior leading to physical and psychic dependence, which when left unmitigated may cause neurological disorders. A paper on pharmacological cure, specifically for tobacco and alcohol abuse, is presented, as well as the effects of marijuana on the reproductive system. The second part examines drug use among children, family relationships, and drug abuse in adults engaged in various professions and undertakings. The third part exposes how a ""pro-drug"" media can be instrumental in the proliferation of drug use in society and also how religion may have also propagated drug use. In contrast, several articles are likewise written that extols the use of media in spreading the detrimental effects of drugs. Part 4 discusses the state of drug abuse in different cultures and societies; the drug trade; and various interventions being implemented by local governments and international organizations to curb the spread of this epidemic. Part 5 is devoted to the status of drug abuse in the 80's, efforts made, and plans to fight it.
The text is a must-read for physicians, pharmacists, educators, social workers, lawyers, law enforcers, sociologists, students, and people who want to get rid of this menace to the human race.

Contenu

List of Participants
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Drug Abuse: Pharmacological and Medical Aspects
Drug Addiction: Relation to the Brain Mechanism for Reward and Implications for Survival
A Pharmacological Classification of Drugs of Abuse
Drug Abuse and Psychiatric Disorders: Examinations of Some Specific Relationships
Effect on Children and Adolescents of Mind-Altering Drugs with Special Reference to Cannabis
Marihuana-Induced Psychoses
Medical and Non-Medical Use of Psychotropic Drugs: The Anxiolytics
The Pharmacological Treatment of the Addictive Disorders
Drugs of Abuse and Reproductive Function
Drugs and Drug Users
Drugs and the Nation's High School Students
Drugs in the School: The Shape of Drug Abuse among American Youth in the Seventies
Drugs and the Family
Drug Use by Athletes
Drugs in the Workplace: Retrospective and Prospective
Drugs and Alcohol in the Navy and Marine Corps-Some Considerations
Physicians' Use of Mood-Altering Drugs: A 20-Year Follow up Report
Drug Addicts in a Therapeutic Community; Drug Free Detoxification as the First Step to Rehabilitation
Social Aspects
The New Semantics of Drug Abuse
Drugs and Fashionable Nihilism
Marijuana and the Media
The Drug Culture and its Surrogates, Press and Paraphernalia
A Study in Contrast: Books on Addictive Drugs Printed in the U.S. (1970-1980)
Drug Abuse, Religion and Mysticism
Drug Abuse and the Law: Prosecution or Persecution?
Drug Education--or Drug Information
Drug Abuse in the World
The Epidemic Type of Addiction
Cannabis and Adolescent Culture in the Western World
Drug Abuse in Western Europe in the Past Decade
The Billion Dollar Trade
Hashish Use in Soviet Russia
Drug Abuse: The Eastern Bloc and China
A View from the Third World-The Role of WHO in Drug Addiction
A View from the United Nations
Perspective for the Eighties
Learning from the Past to Cope with the Future
Drug Use and Drug Abuse: A Statistical Correlation with Implications for Prevention
Drug Law Enforcement: Successes, Pitfalls, and Essential Requirements
International Drug Control: The Role of the United States
The School, Teacher, Administration, and Curriculum
Research in the Field of Drug Abuse
The Role of Rehabilitation
The Role of the Legislator in a Democratic Society
Families and Their Crucial Role in Preventing Drug Abuse
The Floodtide of Drugs and the Very Young: Re-Building the Protective Dikes at Home and Abroad
Appendices
The Billion Dollar Trade
Colombia
Jamaica
California
A Debate
The Reims Conference on Marihuana, Sir W.D.M. Paton
The Harvard Medical School Health Letter
The Beneficial Plant Research Association
The Single Convention of the United Nations
The International Medical Council on Drug Use
A Statement of Purpose
A Position Paper
Author Index
Subject Index