In this book leading experts in the field of addictions report on key aspects of addictive disorders. They focus particularly on relapse, the long-term course of addiction to drugs or alcohol, and interventions to prevent relapse and promote recovery. A critical and highly complex public health problem, addiction is seen today as having biological, psychological, social, and cultural aspects. This important volume brings together the major perspectives on addiction, treatment, and recovery along with the current findings of clinical and scientific research. For those working with addicted patients and those making policy decisions that affect treatment and its availability, this book is an essential reference.

It inspired written testimonials from William McKinley, Thomas Edison, and Sarah Bernhardt; merited a medal from Pope Leo XIII; produced "exhilaration and lasting euphoria" in Sigmund Freud. Once the stimulant of choice of the enlightened and the elite, cocaine has become, a century later, a plague, ravaging the lives of millions. This book is the first to draw together all the facts about this pervasive drug - from its natural occurrence in a tea-like native South American plant to its devastating appearance as crack in the inner cities of the United States. Drawing on the latest work in medicine, psychiatry, neuroscience, pharmacology, epidemiology, social work, and sociology, the volume is a highly accessible reference on the history and use of cocaine, its physical and psychological effects, and the etiology and epidemiology of cocaine addiction. It also provides a critical evaluation of the pharmaceutical agents and psychosocial interventions that have been used to treat this addiction. Author Jerome J. Platt answers such basic questions as: What is cocaine? What forms does it come in? How is it administered? What does it do? What are the medical complications of cocaine addiction? What are the treatments, and how successful are they? Uniquely comprehensive, Cocaine Addiction makes all the latest information on this urgent subject readily available to medical professionals and practitioners, social workers and scholars, and anyone who cares to know more about this perennially troubling drug.