Drug Use in Australia: Preventing Harm examines policy, prevention, and treatment responses to drug use, and details the social, economic, and political contexts of these approaches. Key sociological, historical, and psychological theories are described, with attention to social groups such as Aboriginal people, young people, and women. The book draws together the historical, policy, treatment, and cultural issues of drugs and drug use, and includes community responses. It represents the most recent and up-to-date thinking and research across a broad range of drug issues affecting Australian society. The second edition of this highly regarded book has been substantially revised and updated in response to changes in the field and includes, changes to drugs and drug use, treatments and, strategic approaches to policy and practice in Australian drug prevention.

Structured in two parts, Part I outlines the biosocial and cultural context of drug use, while Part II deals with the various ways in which a harm-minimisation approach can be used in responding to drug use (the harm-minimisation perspective recognises that safety should be the first priority in dealing with the use of both legal and illicit drugs). The book concludes with a critical reflection on the limits of harm minimisation, a discussion of emerging areas of importance such as drugs in sport, and a glossary of key terms. By challenging prevailing and often simplistic views about drugs and drug use in Australia, the book is often provocative and always engaging.

Written for undergraduate and graduate students undertaking drug and alcohol studies, as well as for practitioners working in public health and allied disciplines such as welfare and law enforcement, Drug Use in Australia offers long-ranging and unique insights into contemporary and future issues such as the changing nature of drugs and drug use in this digital age.

Key Features:

• demystifies the complex issues of drug use and community responses
• provides a mix of theoretical perspectives and descriptive data, and articulates the key issues for debate; and
• examines current Australian research and program examples in the international context.

 

Acknowledgments
Preface
Acronyms
1. Drugs in Society: A Social History
Part I – The Bio-social and Cultural Context of Drug Use
1. The Pharmacological Dimension of Psychoactive Drugs
2. The Epidemiology of Australian Drug Use
3. Grand Theories of Drug Use
4. The Social Context of Drug Use
5. Psychological Theories of Drug Use and Dependence
6. Alcohol and Aboriginal Society: Heavy Drinking and Allied Responses
7. Women and Drugs
8. Adolescent Substance Abuse
Part II – Responding to Drug Use and Problem Drug Use
9. Addressing Drug Problems: The Case for Harm Minimisation
10. Law Enforcement and Harm Minimisation
11. Preventing Drug-Related Harm
12. Community Approaches
13. Developing the Drug and Alcohol Workforce: Our Biggest Challenge?
14. Harm Reduction with Problem Users
15. Specialist Interventions in Treating Clients with Alcohol and Drug Problems
16. Pharmacotherapy Maintenance Treatment
17. Contemporary Issues and Challenges for the Future
18. Demystifying the Language of Drugs: A Select Glossary of Terms
Bibliography
Index

Margaret Hamilton, Trevor King and Alison Ritter — Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre