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Key Concepts in Drugs and Society
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Key Concepts in Drugs and Society



May 2013 | 208 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
'This is a great resource that reflects the huge expertise of the authors. It will be welcomed by students, researchers and indeed anyone wanting critical but comprehensive coverage of key issues and trends concerning drugs and society - locally and globally, historically and today.'
- Nigel South, Professor of Sociology, University of Essex

'Provides informative, balanced and contextualized insights into the relationships between people and drugs. Whatever your background and however knowledgeable you feel you are about contemporary drug issues, I guarantee that you will learn something unexpected and new from this valuable text.'
- Joanne Neale, Professor of Public Health, Oxford Brookes University

Why do people take drugs? How do we understand moral panics? What is the relationship between drugs and violence? How do people's social positions influence their involvement in drug use? Insightful and illuminating, this book discusses drugs in social contexts. The authors bring together their different theoretical and practical backgrounds, offering a comprehensive and interdisciplinary introduction that opens up a wide scientific understanding moving beyond cultural myths and presuppositions.

This is an invaluable reference source for students on criminology, sociology and social sciences programmes, as well as drug service practitioners such as drug workers, social workers and specialist nurses.


 
PART ONE: TYPES OF DRUGS AND PATTERNS OF USE
 
What Is a Drug/Medicine?
 
Prevalence and Trends in Illicit Drug Use
 
Why Do People Take Drugs?
 
Addiction
 
Legal Drugs: Alcohol and Tobacco
 
Polydrug Use/Polysubstance Use
 
Common Illicit Drugs
 
Typologies of Drug Use: Use-Misuse-Abuse and Problematic-Recreational Use
 
Binge-Drinking
 
Raves and Circuit Parties
 
Dance Drugs/Club Drugs
 
Cross-cultural and Traditional Drug Use
 
Gender, Ethnicity and Social Class
 
Normalisation
 
PART TWO: DRUG EFFECTS
 
Drug Effects: Drug, Set and Setting
 
Medical Marijuana and Other Therapeutic Uses of Illicit Drugs
 
Prescribed and Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drugs
 
Novel Psychoactive Substances
 
The Gateway Hypothesis/Stepping Stone Theory
 
Drug-related Violence
 
Drugs and Crime
 
Drug Risks and Health Harms
 
Injecting Drug Use
 
HIV/AIDS and Other Blood-borne Viruses
 
PART THREE: DRUG POLICY, TREATMENT AND PERCEPTIONS OF THE DRUG PROBLEM
 
Drug Treatment and Quasi-compulsory Treatment (QCT)
 
Harm Reduction
 
Substitute Prescribing
 
The New Recovery Approach
 
Prevention: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
 
International Drug Control History/Prohibition
 
Drugs in Sport
 
Drug Scares and Moral Panics
 
Drug Dealers
 
Drug Markets: Difference and Diversity
 
Drug Trafficking
 
Crop Eradication, Crop Substitution and Legal Cultivation
 
War on Drugs
 
Drug Testing in Schools and Workplaces
 
Drug Courts
 
Decriminalisation, Legalisation and Legal Regulation
 
Liberalisation

Good introduction to key concepts however not as in depth as I would have hoped to include as an essential text, as a supplemental this text is adequate and uses language accessible to learners.

Miss Sarah Allen
ALSS, University Centre Peterborough
October 21, 2013

Covers broader issues than in the module but some great student friendly chapters.

Mr Richard Lynch
Criminology, Sheffield Hallam University
July 25, 2013

This is an excellent critical analysis which covers all contemporary drug issues and provides students with an indepth understanding of the keys issues which surround this subject

Mrs Fiona Porter
Dept of Social Sciences & Humanities, Bradford University
July 11, 2013

THE TEXT GIVES A CONCISE AND INFORMED OVERVIEW OF A NUMBER KEY ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH SUBSTANCE MISUSE. THE TEXT ENGAGES THE READER THROUGHOUT AND WILL BE RECOMMEDED TO BOTH STUDENTS UNDERTAKING THE AWARD AND COLLEAGUES WORKING WITHIN THE FIELD OF SUBSTANCE MISUSE.

Mr Mark James
Faculty of Health, Sport and Science, Glamorgan University
June 19, 2013

This book gives both a critical and well informed coverage of all the key issues which surround studying this difficult topic. It has a good overall approach to the various aspects of studying drugs and societal issues and is a comprehensive read for students new to the subject.

Mrs Fiona Porter
Dept of Social Sciences & Humanities, Bradford University
June 19, 2013

This books helps in understanding the core problem of drugging within the society

Dr Jabulani Makhubele
Social Work, University of Limpopo
May 22, 2013
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