Drugs and Drug Policy: The Control of Consciousness Alteration

This engaging and thoroughly updated text provides a cross-national perspective on the use and regulation of both legal and illegal drugs. It examines and critiques drug policies in the United States and abroad in terms of their scope, goals, and effectiveness. Authors Clayton J. Mosher and Scott Akins also discuss the physiological, psychological, and behavioral effects of legal and illicit drugs; the patterns and correlates of use; theories of the causes of drug use; and the policies that govern that usage.
Features and Benefits

• Thoroughly reviews use of and regulation policies of both illegal and legal drugs, including the use of energy drinks and muscle enhancers like steroids and human growth hormones.
• Very up to date statistics and discussions of emerging trends and policies.
• Provides more coverage of drug policy issues than comparable books with particular attention to contrasting policies in countries around the world.
• Coverage of drug "epidemics" for new legal and illegal drugs not found in other books on drugs.

Clayton Mosher received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Toronto, and is currently a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Sociology at Washington State University Vancouver. He is the author of several books and articles in the areas of inequality in criminal justice system processing, drugs and drug policies, and the impact of prison construction on employment. Besides co-authoring the Second Edition of Drugs and Drug Policy, he co-authored the Second Edition of The Mismeasure of Crime (SAGE, 2012) with Terance Miethe and Timothy Hart.

Scott Akins is currently a Professor of Sociology at Oregon State University. His research interests include drug use and policy; immigration, drug use and crime; and the intersection of disadvantage, ethnicity, and crime. He is author of Drugs and Drug Policy: The Control of Consciousness Alteration and In the Weeds: Demonization, Legalization, and the Evolution of U.S. Marijuana Policy.