Addiction: From Biology to Drug Policy

The debate on how to confront the nation's drug problems is often polarized, with different groups advocating extreme, politically driven policies. But the drug crisis will not be solved by either across-the-board legalization or all-out interdiction. Why? Because addictions to various drugs are specific diseases, each with its own distinctive symptoms, human and social costs, and treatment requirements. They must be approached accordingly.
That is the recommendation of Dr. Avram Goldstein, whose views are based on a lifetime of research into the effects of drugs on the brain, behavior, and society. In Addiction: From Biology to Drug Policy, Dr. Goldstein helps close the gap between public opinion about drugs and scientific understanding of what drugs actually do - to individuals and, by extension, to the country as a whole.
Why do people use drugs and how does that use escalate into full-blown dependency? To answer, Dr. Goldstein explains what each drug gives to its user, and at what cost. Discussing the seven families of addictive drugs (including alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine), he describes how each drug affects brain chemistry, how each leads to the medical condition called addiction, how the physical and behavioral symptoms of addiction differ from drug to drug, and how the addiction disease for each drug can be treated.
Dr. Goldstein then turns his attention to the full scope and impact of drug addiction as a public health crisis. He applies the "addictions as diseases" approach to a number of important topics, including education and treatment programs, AIDS research and policy, the legalization debate, what can be learned from other countries' drug policies, and the concept of different levels of regulation for different drugs.
Understanding the toll of drug addiction on individuals is essential to fighting the problem in society at large. Addiction makes that understanding possible for legislators and policymakers, medical and nursing professionals, public health officials, attorneys and judges, law enforcement personnel, educators, students, and the general public.

Avram Goldstein is Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology at Stanford University.