Key Concepts in Drugs and Society

A must for anyone working with questions of drug use; from students across the social sciences to practitioners such as nurses, health workers and social workers. This is not a medical text but rather a critical account of psychoactive drugs in our society that enables the reader to think about drugs beyond cultural myths and presuppositions.

′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.