Substance Use and Abuse

Cultural and Historical Perspectives

This book takes an integrative approach to the understanding of drug use and its relationship to social-cultural factors. It is lucidly and powerfully argued and constitutes a significant achievement. The authors sensibly argue that in order to fully understand and explain drug use and abuse it is necessary to take into account different levels of analysis, reflecting distinct domains of human functioning; the biological, psychosocial, and cultural-historical….Overall, this book represents an exceptional achievement and should be of interest to drug clinicians and researcher as well as social scientists and students.

"In Substance Use and Abuse, Durrant and Thakker present a detailed history of drug use over time to support the need for developing a broader understand of substance use that takes into account cultural and historical perspective. This book is a thought-provoking and much needed addition to the vast literature on drugs, drug use, and drug policy. The information in this book contributes to what is known by examining substance use through historical and cultural perspectives, providing readers with a detailed ride through the history of drug use over time throughout various societies and cultures. By documenting how specific forms of substance use emerged and re-emerged, how public perceptions and policy responses change over time, and how social attitudes about drugs are subject to public interpretation and influenced by a number of diverse cultural, political, and historical factors, a strong case for examining and understanding drug use through both historical and cultural perspectives is made."