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"Serial no. 106-272." ; Shipping list no.: 2002-0042-P. ; Distributed to some depository libraries in microfiche. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Mode of access: Internet.

The psychopathology of drug addiction is reviewed. Empirical research data on a time span of more than twelve years are presented. The data support a four-type-based classification of drug abusers, and the family structure underlining such personality types is analyzed. Clinical cases are presented. Type A addicts (adjustment disorders) present an evident relation between the external event, psychic trauma, and drug-abusing behavior. Type B (neurotic disorders) have a tendency to reduce internal anxiety by drug abuse, and their personal problems may be covered by drug use. Type C (psychosis and borderline) are an heterogeneous group, where often drug use can create a intense experience of inner freedom. Type D (sociopathic personality disorders) often express their psychic conflicts by means of serious acting-out, and come from families were "nonexistent" marriages were established. Intervention in public health services is examined, as well as the evolution of the addiction depending on the typology. The special cases of information on HIV infection prevention and overdose risk are also evaluated. It is concluded that the typology of drug addicts may shed light on prevention and therapy, whereas more specific therapeutic programs are needed.

This paper explores three basic questions: (1) Who is the elderly abuser and what are his drugs of abuse?, (2) How does he become identified by institutionalized treatment programs?, and (3) How do treatment programs respond? The data on which the conclusions are based were collected from 5500 older individuals who entered treatment during 1976. Findings led to the following conclusions: (1) The elderly abusing population is primarily white, male, and unemployed; (2) Alcohol is by far the principal substance of abuse; (3) Identification by treatment programs is usually initiated by the individual, his family or friends, or by social control agencies; and (4) the elderly abuser is seldom treated in a holistic manner. This research illuminates the lack of effective treatment modalities for the elderly substance abusing population.

The Dutch approach toward the consumption and trade of drugs has yielded the country a stereotypical image of a too liberal nation. But how did this image develop and to what extent has it influenced Dutch on drug policies? This article goes back to the 1970s to analyze these questions in the context of the first European collaboration around drug policies, with the creation of the Pompidou Group—Co-operation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs. The analysis draws on archival data and literature. Results show that the emergence of the Dutch stereotype of a "drugs paradise" was formed well before the shift in the national Opium Act in 1976 and the existence of coffee shops and was closely connected with the different national and international framing of a drug problem in the 1970s. The Dutch approach was seen as contributing to the increased availability of drugs in other European countries, while fighting the supply of drugs remained the dominant solution for the "drug problem" in the Pompidou group. Dutch policy makers perceived stereotypes as a problem and have indeed influenced the Netherlands to take more conciliatory positions regarding drug policies with the intention to protect the national image. This included trying to keep a low profile regarding their liberal cannabis policies and a high profile as a serious drug trade crime fighter. Consequently, despite the image of a drugs paradise, the Dutch political positions around drugs contained elements of both leniency and strict law enforcement.

Hidden older illegal drug users are a seldom researched group; most research on illegal drug users instead focusses on the young or the institutionalised. To counter this trend, this book reports on a study of current 'hidden' users of illegal drugs aged 40 and over. These are individuals who have sustained illegal drug use over the long term, largely away from the gaze of the authorities, whilst living otherwise 'conventional' lives, holding down jobs, raising families and so on. Thus they have much to tell us about how illegal substances can be integrated into life over the long term, how that integration intersects with other aspects of one's existence, and how illegal drug use is ultimately shaped by changes in personal circumstances and wider social contexts. Utilising insights from the 'life course perspective', the development of the participants' use over their lives is analysed and placed in social context. The book also details the nature of their current drug use. Thus, the book illustrates the place of illegal drugs in the lives of the participants, and how this came to be over the decades as they also juggled work, family and the everyday minutiae of life with their use. The result is a unique look at the illegal drug use of an often ignored group of older drug users, which charts the changing role that illegal drugs have played - and continue to play - in their lives. --Back cover.

Methamphetamine may be a scourge in the United States, but in reality, its threat is far more global. Today, its users outnumber both heroin & cocaine addicts, making meth the world's fastest-growing illegal drug. Adapted from the source document.