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A rundown on the numbers of illegal drugs users, how many are recreational and
hard core, and how much they spend.
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From amphetamine to marijuana from opium to crack, a look at when these drugs
first appeared, how they caught on, the government's and society's reaction,
and the trends in usage over the decades.
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Where did LSD come from? Who introduced heroin in tablet form into the U.S.
market? Some interesting questions and surprising answers.
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The testimony of six drug users whose lives, or the lives of family members,
have been damaged by drug abuse.
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Here's a rundown on each drug listing from what they're derived; what they
do in the body and in the brain; how that works; and the downside, the dangers
of using them: Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine, LSD, Marijuana, MDMA, Nitrous Oxide,
PCP and Ketamine, Opium, 'Shrooms
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Is drug addiction a biological disease, or a symptom of moral weakness? Experts
disagree. This overview examines the debate, explores new biological research,
and discusses the varieties of approaches to treating addiction.
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In 1994 the RAND corporation released a report that concluded treating
cocaine addicts was seven times more cost effective than domestic law
enforcement, and ten times more effective than interdiction efforts. Here's an
overview of that study, as well as summaries and links to other current
research evaluating the effectiveness of various treatment programs for drug
abuse.
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Leshner is Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He speaks about lessons learned from the crack
epidemic, what it takes to make treatment effective, why crack cocaine "is
not over," what defines a hard core addict, and the drug of the 1990s--
methamphetamine.
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He has been a pioneer in the
research and treatment of narcotic and cocaine abuse for over 30 years. He
discusses the reasons for this lack of political support in the U.S. for
treatment and expalins why treatment still is not as effective as it could be
-what more needs to be learned. He also discusses drug use trends in the 1990s
and whether drugs have a "cycle."
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He is a psychiatrist who promoted
methadone treatment for heroin addicts, and in 1971 became chief of President
Richard Nixon's drug programs, establishing a network of methadone treatment
facilities. He explains what was unique about the government's approach to the
drug problem during that period.
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He worked with heroin addicts
in methadone treatment during the early 1970' s and continued this work as
head of the Nixon Administration's Narcotics Treatment Administration,
1970-73. He discusses the "great drug epidemic" which started in the mid-1960s
and peaked in 1979, and how it was addressed. And he evaluates the country's
current situation with drug abuse and anti-drug policy.
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