Introduction
The Encyclopedia of Addictive Drugswill save readers many hours of time that
would otherwise be spent tracking down basic facts in science journals and
libraries. This book is useful to a wide variety of persons—from a student
doing a term paper to reporters preparing a story, from parents reading that
story to a narcotics law enforcement officer needing extra information for a
public presentation.
In writing this book the approach has been multidisciplinary, meaning that
perspectives from several fields of research have been pulled together. The
same substance may mean different things to a chemist, a biologist, a physi-
cian, or an anthropologist. Thousands of scientific reports were sifted for in-
formation and concepts that will be meaningful to readers seeking basic
information about specific substances and about drugs in general.
The core of this book is an alphabetical listing of substances. Some are not
ordinarily thought of as drugs, but all have been misused in ways indistin-
guishable from drug abuse. While information in the individual listings and
elsewhere may refer to various physical effects, such information does not
constitute medical advice. Anyone with a medical difficulty needs to consult
a medical practitioner, not this book.
In addition to meaty information about what drugs do, this book includes
trivia that might interest, for example, a student preparing a report or a home-
work assignment. For instance, some individual listings of drugs mention
little-known military usage that might intrigue teens interested in the armed
forces. Some experiments are mentioned not because they are necessary to
know about, but because they might add depth to a term paper or inspire a
student to pursue a new angle. Material about effects on pregnancy is inher-
ently important but might also have special interest for female readers.
In addition to alphabetical listings of substances, this book includes a section
about drug types in which substances are arranged in general categories, such