Health and Medical Professionals

Presents current knowledge on a variety of addiction issues, including nicotine’s affects on brain function; inhalant abuse; genetically-based research and treatment; maternal tobacco use and its effects on children; and a behavior game for young children.

Offers a list prescription drugs commonly abused, including depressants, opioids and morphine derivatives, and stimulants, and provides their common and street names, how they are generally administered, and their potential health effects.

Features recent research on drug abuse and criminal justice, including interventions to promote successful re-entry, nutrition issues for HIV-infected drug abusers, and recovery-oriented systems of care.

Reports on the cognitive effects of addiction, potential genetic influences, strategies for training counselors, cost evaluation of evidence-based treatments, and a trial underway on brief strategic family therapy.

Describes community systems that monitor the well-being of children and adolescents and lists recommendations that define the next steps for creating and mentoring effective community monitoring systems.

Provides guidelines for establishing epidemiology networks to monitor and assess drug abuse patterns and trends and emerging drug problems at community and State levels.

Explores the science behind such questions as what is addiction, why do people abuse drugs, and how does drug use change the brain, as well as research-based information about prevention, treatment, relapse, and HIV/AIDS.

The fifth in a 5-part series, summarizes the science behind drug abuse and addiction, reviews the harmful consequences of drug use, and poses the question of whether it is worth the risk.