Forbidden Drugs (3^rd Ed.)

Recreational drug use is a world-wide phenomenon. Despite the best efforts of governments, the public fascination with drugs shows no signs of abating. With media accounts of illegal drug use often verging on the hysterical, this book provides a refreshingly balanced and honest account of drug use throughout the world, one based on scientific fact, and not dogma. The book examines all the drugs currently used throughout the world, looking at their effects and side-effects. Why do people use drugs? Why do they become addicted? What are the lessons to be learned from making drugs illegal? Updated for the third edition with chapters rewritten to take account of scientific, epidemiological and political developments since the second edition, and with a new section on the present and future US drug policy from high-profile contributors, the book provides a much needed rational approach to the problem of drug use.

Part 1. 1. Why use drugs?. 2. The consequences of drug use. Part 2. 3. Alcohol. 4. Tobacco. 5. Cannabis. 6. Cocaine, amphetamine, and other stimulants. 7. Psychedelics and hallucinogens. 8. The inhalants. 9. Ecstasy and other 'party drugs'. 10. Anabolic steroids. 11. Tranquillizers and sleeping pills. 12. Heroin and the opioids. 13. The nature of addiction. 14. Helping problem drug users. 15. International drug policy - is it working?.

Dr Philip Robson (MBBS, MRCP, FRCPsych) gained experience in hospital medicine, clinical pharmacology and drug development before training as a psychiatrist. He has worked in drug dependency units in Melbourne and London and developed a regional service for drug users in Oxfordshire. Since 2000 he has worked with GW Pharmaceuticals plc in exploring the therapeutic potential of cannabis-based medicines.