If sound policy is to be made on the issue of marijuana in the workplace, all available empirical evidence about its impact on job performance should be utilized in the decision process. Although a substantial amount of relevant research has been done, the results published in journals in widely divergent fields, are not easily summarized and present no single, simple message for decision makers. Schwenk and Rhodes offer a unique review of this complex body of work and challenge the many highly publicized but scientifically unsound mythical numbers touted as supporting various policy options. The authors provide a clear and objective presentation to managers on how to evaluate the evidence for themselves and make sound decisions for their own organizations. Scrupulously unbiased in its choice of material, the book will be an essential resource for organizational and public policy makers, and for university students and their teachers.

The effect of marijuana on job performance has been widely accepted as harmful--but is it? Congress thought so, and in 1988, used productivity losses which it attributed to marijuana and other drugs to justify passage of legislation initiating a mandate for a drug-free workplace. Additional legislation expanding this mandate followed and a high percentage of large corporations and an increasing number of small businesses now expend scarce resources on anti-drug programs. Schwenk and Rhodes remain neutral in the debate over workplace drug policies, but argue that policy should be informed by empirical research on the impact of marijuana on job performance. Their book is both a challenge to the mythical numbers so often publicized as supporting a particular advocate's vested position, and a guide to both practitioners and scholars to help them evaluate the diverse body of existing evidence and the claims made by those committed to given policy positions.

Schwenk and Rhodes reprint examples of high quality research previously published in major journals in the fields of psychology, anthropology, economics and medicine. Reviewing and summarizing existing findings, the authors relate these findings to the decision situations faced by policy-makers in the private and public sectors. While the book refuses to endorse any decision outcome with regard to marijuana and the workplace, it makes strong recommendations about the DEGREESIprocesses DEGREESR that should be used in selecting those outcomes. It provides guidelines for evaluating policy-relevant social scientific evidence and discusses the role such evidence can and should play in policy-making. The book shows that contrary to widely held beliefs, very little evidence that the substance has a consistent negative effect on worker productivity. Though social science does not show that resources devoted to creating a drug-free workplace are likely to pay off economically, the authors stress that the implications of this fact for corporate and government decisions are not cut and dried, but depend on the decision rules and the policy goals selected by policy-makers. This book will be an essential tool for managers, scholars, and anyone trying to make sense of the complicated and confusing maze of data and arguments surrounding this divisive issue.

Experts in gerontology, clinical psychology, and geriatric medicine provide an analytical survey and abstracts of the significant literature and research dealing with alcoholism and aging over the last 30 years. This research guide offers a general survey with sections dealing separately with the prevalence, precipitants, effects, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of alcoholism in the older generation. The book also offers directions for future research. The narrative ends with a listing of references that have been assessed. The annotated bibliography gives abstracts for 301 sources that are arranged by types of works: bibliographies, overview articles, books and book chapters, empirical studies, and miscellaneous works. Cross-references and author and subject indexes make this guide readily accessible to students and teachers in the field of sociology, gerontology, psychology, medicine, and public health.

This volume features a comprehensive set of protocols featuring a range of both old and new technologies that can be used to analyze drugs of abuse, including prescription drugs, new psychoactive substances and psychoactive plants. Chapters guide readers through the application of color tests, light microscopy-based particle imaging, GC-MS, Raman spectroscopy, capillary electrophoresis, ultra-high performance LC-tandem MS, DART-MS, MALDI-mass spectrometry imaging, LC-MS/MS and HPLC-ESI-MS/MS to the analysis of abused drugs in wastewater, hair, urine and plant-derived materials, among other matrices. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Analysis of Drugs of Abuse aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.

The contributors to this volume demonstrate that it is now possible to undertake community prevention trials of alcohol-involved problems with the same precision, good design, and careful planning that has characterized similar prevention trials for heart disease and cancer prevention. This is the first book to establish a scientific basis for the integration of research into program design and in program evaluation, making it possible to determine if community programs are effective or worth the money spent for them.

In part I, the contributors address issues of outcome measures, selection of relevant community interventions, utilization of appropriate research designs and analyses, and adjustment to social and political realities. Part II reviews definitions, perspectives, and issues that provide a conceptual base for the rest of the book. Also considered are the selection and measurement of alcohol problems that may be candidate outcome variables for a community intervention study. Part III summarizes the perspectives and prior experiences of community-based approaches in other health areas (including heart disease, cancer, and adolescent health) that may be applicable to the prevention of alcohol-related problems. Experiences and implications of alcohol-prevention projects in Ontario, Texas, and Rhode Island are discussed in part IV. Part V evaluates different experimental designs, methodologies, and relative risk regression models of community-based intervention programs in alcohol prevention. The two chapters in part VI discuss the dynamic social and political realities facing community prevention trials for alcohol problems and guidelines for undertaking such trials. This book will be useful for state and local prevention program planners and evaluators, researchers in alcohol and substance abuse, teachers of applied research methods or social program development and planning, and government policy makers.

aThis is a beautifully written account from the front lines of a struggle between a federal drug war complex determined to keep demonizing marijuana and the growing movement of patients and doctors who have found marijuana to be a valuable medicine. Voters in California and many other states have strongly supported the patients. The moving stories in this book show why.a
--Craig Reinarman, co-author of "Crack in America: Demon Drugs and Social Justice"

aChapkis and Webb have done a masterful job in describing the intricacies of the drug debate and offer brilliant analysis on a complex and controversial subject. Both baby boomers and the current teenage population will find this book important and compelling reading.a
--Terry Williams, author of "Crackhouse: Notes from the End of the Line"

Marijuana as medicine has been a politically charged topic in this country for more than three decades. Despite overwhelming public support and growing scientific evidence of its therapeutic effects (relief of the nausea caused by chemotherapy for cancer and AIDS, control over seizures or spasticity caused by epilepsy or MS, and relief from chronic and acute pain, to name a few), the drug remains illegal under federal law.

In Dying to Get High, noted sociologists Wendy Chapkis and Richard J. Webb investigate one community of seriously-ill patients fighting the federal government for the right to use physician-recommended marijuana. Based in Santa Cruz, California, the Wo/Menas Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) is a unique patient-caregiver cooperative providing marijuana free of charge to mostly terminally ill members. For a brief period in 2004, it even operated the only legalnon-governmental medical marijuana garden in the country, protected by the federal courts against the DEA.

Using as their stage this fascinating profile of one remarkable organization, Chapkis and Webb tackle the broader, complex history of medical marijuana in America. Through compelling interviews with patients, public officials, law enforcement officers and physicians, Chapkis and Webb ask what distinguishes a legitimate patient from an illegitimate apothead, a agooda drugs from abad, a medicinal effects from ajust getting high.a Dying to Get High combines abstract argument and the messier terrain of how people actually live, suffer and die, and offers a moving account of what is at stake in ongoing debates over the legalization of medical marijuana.

In Alcohol and Hormones, leading researchers concisely review what is known about each human hormone system and how these systems are affected by alcohol use, to a lesser extent, other drugs of abuse. The contributors show clearly just how the body is regulated and how its normal functioning can be changed by alcohol.
Major topics covered range from alcohol-stress interactions and the effects of alcohol on vitamin A metabolism (fetal alcohol syndrome and neural tube development) to how alcohol blocks the release of various peptide hormones, to its effects on puberty-related events in the female. There are also articles about how alcohol affects the control of body temperature, the impact of alcohol on male sexual development during puberty, the role of TRH in alcohol use disorders, and the possibility for a neuroendocrinological component in alcoholism.
Alcohol and Hormones will be of interest to biomedical and alcohol researchers, neurobiologists, endocrinologists, pharmacologists, psychiatrists, and some clinicians interested in a deeper understanding of the effects of alcohol on the body.

Research in the mid-1980s on the effects of prenatal drug abuse characterized cocaine-exposed children as moody, inconsolable, less socially interactive, and less able to bond than other children. "Crack babies," in particular, were believed to be less attentive and less able to focus on specific tasks than nonexposed children. Research concluded that these conditions were irreversible and that no amount of special attention or educational programs could turn these cocaine-exposed infants into well-functioning and adjusted children. Methodological problems in these early studies, combined with the fact that cocaine using mothers abuse other drugs as well, have left the research and public health communities uncertain about the cause and effect relationship between cocaine use and pre- and postnatal consequences. Cocaine-Exposed Infants examines what is known about the problem and unravels some of the contradictions in the extant literature. The authors also explore in-depth the media frenzy over so-called crack babies and the resulting legislation that served to criminalize drug use during pregnancy. For researchers, academics, health care providers, and mental health and legal professionals/practitioners, Cocaine-Exposed Infants provides state-of-the-art information in a field now entering its second generation of research. The book is also an excellent supplementary text for courses in criminal justice, corrections, policing, drug/alcohol studies, psychology, public health, and nursing.

Untold stories of people with substance addictions who have recovered without formal treatment Despite the widely accepted view that formal treatment and twelve-step groups are essential for overcoming dependencies on alcohol and drugs, each year large numbers of former addicts quietly recover on their own, without any formal treatment or participation in self-help groups at all. Coming Clean explores the untold stories of untreated addicts who have recovered from a lifestyle of excessive and compulsive substance use without professional assistance. Based on 46 in-depth interviews with formerly addicted individuals, this controversial volume examines their reasons for avoiding treatment, the strategies they employed to break away from their dependencies, the circumstances that facilitated untreated recovery, and the implications of recovery without treatment for treatment professionals as well as for prevention and drug policy. Because of the pervasive belief that addiction is a disease requiring formal intervention, few training programs for physicians, social workers, psychologists, and other health professionals explore the phenomenon of natural recovery from addiction. Coming Clean offers insights for treatment professionals of how recovery without treatment can work and how candidates for this approach can be identified. A detailed appendix outlines specific strategies which will be of interest to addicted individuals themselves who wish to attempt the process of recovery without treatment.

Innovations in Adolescent Substance Abuse Interventions focuses on developmentally appropriate approaches to the assessment, prevention, or treatment of substance use problems among adolescents. Organized into 16 chapters, this book begins with an assessment of adolescent substance use; theory, methods, and effectiveness of a drug abuse prevention approach; and problem behavior prevention programming for schools and community groups. Some chapters follow on the community-, family- and school-based interventions for adolescents with substance use problems. Other chapters explain psychopharmacological therapy; the assertive aftercare protocol for adolescent substance abusers; and twelve-step-based interventions for adolescents.

The US-led war on drugs has failed: drugs remain purer, cheaper and more readily available than ever. Extreme levels of violence have also grown as drug traffickers and organized criminals compete for control of territory. This book points towards a number of crucial challenges, policy solutions and alternatives to the current drug strategies.

The mother of a suicide victim shares her pain, guilt, anger, and psychiatric expertise to offer methods for healing, weaving her personal grief, pain, and anger with practical information on the "normal" reactions to suicide.

A comprehensive overview of major 12-step programs, this practical manual also describes the nuances of the various programs that address the same addictive behavior to assist the clinician in assessing and referring clients to any 12-step program. One of the unique features of this book is a description of how 12-step program philosophy aligns with eight major psychotherapy orientations. Another feature is the integration of the client's individual needs and ego structure with the appropriateness and timing of a referral to a 12-step program within the overall therapeutic process.

In this day of managed care, it is essential for clinicians to make informed referrals. This book bridges the gap between the desire to refer and a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of the various programs. Through the use of detailed description, case vignettes, and clinical examples, this book proves an invaluable resource assisting clinicians to guide their clients through the process of integrating psychotherapy with adjunctive 12-step program involvement. Also included is a description of terms used in 12-step programs that allows the clinicians to join the client in a common language.

This volume, is developed from a collaborative study sponsored by the World Health Organization over a period of five years, the result of the combined effort of over 30 experts working in 19 different countries. The book presents a comprehensive survey of the development, policy, and procedures of methadone maintenance in countries with experience in this treatment. In addition to presenting a general overview of methadone's role in treating opioid addiction, the volume also focuses on specific questions of current interest, particularly the critical issue of methadone maintenance in the prevention of AIDS. Public health specialists and policymakers will find this book an invaluable source of information about what can be expected from methadone maintenance programs and why such programs have achieved some success in the rehabilitation of opiate users, while so many other attempts in this area have failed.

Following an introductory chapter, the contributors look at the impact of AIDS epidemiology on methadone policy. The role of methadone in addressing intravenous drug abuse and unsafe sex practices in drug dependent persons is explored in an attempt to assess the ability of methadone maintenance programs to stem the spread of AIDS. Subsequent chapters review the world literature on methadone in treating opioid dependency, explore national policies and practices regarding methadone maintenance, present an international survey of methadone's role, and analyze the present state of research on methadone. A bibliography and index complete the volume.

As the first director of National Drug Control Policy is appointed to the federal cabinet, this timely "Handbook" surveys the U.S. government's efforts to control illegal drugs. In his valuable contribution toward effectively dealing with this problem, Inciardi successfully avoids the traps that have misled so many in the past, such as devising a single prefabricated solution and waging yet another war on drugs. Instead, he offers a useful way of thinking about the problem, which, while not a solution in itself, provides the tools necessary to develop a realistic and effective national drug policy. Among these is a better understanding of the drug problem, which is supported by including the history and evolution of drug abuse and drug control in the United States, surveys of supply-reduction and demand-reduction strategies, and a discussion of the drug-control controversies before us today. Inciardi then takes a look to the future direction of drug control by recognizing the single most effective resource we have in the struggle to overcome the scourge of illegal drugs and the crime they spawn--the will of the American people.

"The Handbook" is divided into three parts, and includes appendices and exhaustive indices. The Introduction and Part One consist of four articles that chronicle the history of the drug problem in the United States, the roots of the current policy effort, and the emergence of drug abuse treatment as a means of demand reduction. This is followed by a focused examination of the links between drug use and crime. Part Two then offers detailed accounts of contemporary efforts to reduce the supply and demand of illegal substances, including prevention, intervention, treatment, and foreign policy considerations. Part Three targets problematic sectors and controversies in contemporary drug control efforts such as foreign policy implications, drug testing, the AIDS/intravenous drug use connection, and the debate over the legalization of drugs. A series of background papers focuses on drug scheduling, drug paraphernalia laws, and extradition, plus a summary of the 1989 National Drug Control Strategy released by the White House. The name and subject indices further enhance the value of this volume as a reference resource.

Pioneering evidence is presented in this book to support the effectiveness of peer counseling for substance abuse treatment of pregnant women and their families. The introduction by Barry R. Sherman describes his personal experience as a behavioral scientist doing work in a culture other than his own. A comprehensive overview of the crack epidemic and its impact on women is followed by an up-to-date account of acupuncture in addiction treatment. The authors use the theory and principles of social learning to justify the peer counselor model known as SISTERS. Chapters include discussions of conducting culturally competent research, development and validation of the Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES) and the Traumatic Life Events (TLE) Inventory, as well as the social support systems of drug-dependent women. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used to evaluate program impact. A urine toxicology index of sobriety as well as empirical measures of psychosocial functioning and client satisfaction demonstrate sufficient success and cost-effectiveness of the program to warrant serious support by health care providers and insurance companies.

This book is a collection of studies of drug policies in several Latin American countries. The chapters analyze the specific histories of drug policies in each country, as well as related phenomena and case studies throughout the region. It presents conceptual reflections on the origins of prohibition and the "War on Drugs," including the topic of human rights and cognitive freedom. Further, the collection reflects on the pioneering role of some Latin American countries in changing paradigms of international drug policy. Each case study provides an analysis of where each state is now in terms of policy reform within the context of its history and current socio-political circumstances. Concurrently, local movements, initiatives, and backlash against the reformist debate within the hemisphere are examined. The recent changes regarding the regulation of marijuana in the United States and their possible impact on Latin America are also addressed. This work is an important, up-to-date and well-researched reference for all who are interested in drug policy from a Latin American perspective.

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This book focuses on New York City-based actors and comedians who are self-acknowledged heroin users. Barry Spunt examines a number of hypotheses about the reasons why actors and comedians use heroin as well as the impact of heroin on performance, creativity, and career trajectory. A primary concern of the book is the role that subculture and identity play in helping us to understand the heroin use of these entertainers. Spunt captures the voices of actors and comedians through narrative accounts from a variety of secondary sources. He also examines how New York-based films about heroin relate to the major themes of his research.

This book provides a sociological examination of young people's pathways into, and out of, substance abuse. Drawing from in-depth, life-history interviews with over sixty young people who have experienced problematic drug use, the author uses participants' narratives to throw light on the relationship between trauma and issues such as homelessness, crime and self-injury. Contesting the view that substance abuse is either a medical issue or individual failing, the book examines the wide variety of factors which lead to youth substance abuse such as extreme poverty and other structural factors. Whilst it does not overlook individual agency, the rich descriptions from young people's oral histories show us that the contexts in which agency was exercised, was often considerably constrained by significant structural forces. The sociological concept of 'situated choice', which is used to explain and understand how people make choices within their individual context, is used throughout the book as we witness young people wrestling to escape intergenerational disadvantage. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of Social Work, Social Policy, Youth Studies, Sociology and Health Studies.

The Latin American narcotics trade is an important national security issue for the United States because it is destabilizing important Latin American allies and creating serious social problems within the United States. Frustration with the inability to block the flow of cocaine, marijuana, and heroin from Latin America prompted passage of major national anti-drug laws in 1986 and 1988. Throughout the decade, United States narcotics policy has created serious friction between the United States and Latin America yet, according to Mabry, it essentially has failed in its goals. Nine experts on this subject deal with the major issues of United States narcotics policy and offer recommendations for future action. The history of the United States narcotics policy, the nature of the trade, the debate over the use of the United States military in interdiction efforts, the role of Congress in making policy, and the origin and implementation of narcotics policy, be it directed against a specific nation or against the entire region, are presented. In addition, the book also contains a List of Tables covering: Consumption of Drugs, and Columbian Trafficker's Investment Preferences. An extensive bibliography is included designed to give other scholars and those interested in this issue an excellent start for further research.

This cutting-edge volume is the first to address the burgeoning interest in drugs and Africa among scholars, policymakers, and the general public. It brings together an interdisciplinary group of leading academics and practitioners to explore the use, trade, production, and control of mind-altering substances on the continent

The most important writings on the psychoanalytic understandings and treatments of drug and vice addiction Drug abuse, alcoholism, compulsive gambling, and other destructive addictions plague our society. Theories of addiction locate its cause variously-in factors related to the substance, the addict's personality, or to the addict's environment. Arguments about effective treatment programs are fierce. Essential Papers on Addiction presents the most important writing and the various sides of the debate on the psychoanalytic understanding and treatment of addiction. Daniel Yalisove outlines the history of the treatment of addiction and introduces important psychoanalytic concepts used in understanding addicts. The book includes case studies which illustrate the course of addiction and presents the work of the most influential theorists in the field. Divided into eight sections focusing on historical work on addiction, psychoanalytic theories of addiction, transference and countertransference issues in treating addiction, psychoanalytic treatment for the addictions, psychoanalytic therapy and disease concepts, and psychiatric illness and addiction, this definitive volume includes contributions by the most experienced and renowned experts on the subject. Contributors include S. Freud, E. Glover, S. Rado, R. P. Knight, L. Wurmser, N. E. Zinberg, H. Krystal, D. Jacobs, R. Fine, J. Gustafson, C. L. Brown, M. L. Selzer, V. Davidson, J. Imhof, R. Hirsch, R. E. Terenzi, M. E. Chafetz, A. Silber, R. J. Rosenthal, E. M. Pattison, M. B. Sobell, L. C. Sobell, J. E. Zweben, E. Simmel, B. Brickman, E. J. Khantzian, R. D. Weiss, S. M. Mirin, A. T. McLellan, and H. J. Richards.

Using data from an ongoing longitudinal study of adolescents and young adults, this provocative volume examines the frequency, prevalence, and types of disruptive drug use in the workplace and in schools. The findings provide essential information for developing effective long-term prevention and education programs which focus on creating a drug-free work environment that is responsive to the needs of both employers and employees.

Why does American law allow the recreational use of some drugs, such as alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine, but not others, such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin? The answer lies not simply in the harm the use of these drugs might cause, but in the perceived morality-or lack thereof-of their recreational use. Despite strong rhetoric from moral critics of recreational drug use, however, it is surprisingly difficult to discern the reasons they have for deeming the recreational use of (some) drugs morally wrong. In this book, Rob Lovering lays out and dissects various arguments for the immorality of using marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs recreationally. He contends that, by and large, these arguments do not succeed. Lovering's book represents one of the first works to systematically present, analyze, and critique arguments for the moral wrongness of recreational drug use. Given this, as well as the popularity of the morality-based defense of the United States' drug laws, this book is an important and timely contribution to the debate on the recreational use of drugs.