Whether it be illegal drugs such as marijuana, heroin, and cocaine, or legal substances including cigarettes and alcohol, drug use is a deeply embedded characteristic of society. It has been estimated that during the last ten years $800,000 million has been spent in the United States by federal, state, and local governments, communities, businesses, schools, and private individuals to address drug use; and this amount does not include the indirect cost of drug use measured in human suffering, increased violence, and lost lives, nor does it include the damage done by cigarettes and alcohol. ^IDrug Use, Policy, and Management^R examines important issues about the use and abuse of legal and illegal drugs from multiple perspectives including the social context of reality, historical and present patterns of drug use, causal factors associated with addiction, personality characteristics of the addict, consequences of addiction, research findings including those of a cross-cultural nature, case studies of addicts, and the management of services provision.

There are many factors that affect the patterns of drug use and the ways that addiction is addressed in terms of prevention and treatment. A full understanding of how these factors can and have changed is necessary for those who are working and studying in the field of social work, social welfare, and the helping professions. ^IDrug Use, Policy, and Management^R provides that understanding.