Addiction and drug control legislation

Most countries have legislation which brings various drugs and drug-like substances under the control of licensing systems. Typically this legislation covers any or all of the opiates, canaboids, cocaine, barbiturates, hallucinogenics and a variety of more modern synthetic drugs, and unlicensed production, supply or possession is a criminal offence.

Usually, however, drug classification under such legislation is not related simply to addictiveness. The substances covered often have very different addictive properties. Some are highly prone to cause physical dependency, whilst others rarely cause any form of compulsive need whatsoever. Also, under legislation specifically about drugs, alcohol is not usually included.

Although the legislation may be justifiable on moral or public health grounds, it can make addiction or dependency a much more serious issue for the individual: reliable supplies of a drug become difficult to secure, and the individual becomes vulnerable to both criminal abuse and legal punishment.

See also

• List of heroin addicts
• Drug Mix
• Alcoholism
• Drug abuse
• Drug tolerance
• Drugs and prostitution
• Tachyphylaxis
• Rat Park
• Robinson v. California (1964), decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that states cannot criminalize narcotics addiction itself
• Harm reduction
• Demand reduction
• Arguments for and against drug prohibition

External links

• The National Addiction Centre
• National Acupuncture Detoxification Association
• Addiction as a Cultural Concept - Stanton Peele
• DEA list of drugs and drug types
• Drug and Detox Research Center Letter to the President
• Substance Abuse Policy
• U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration
• Drug addiction explained in a simple and interesting way - Narconon
• Addiction Research and Resources
• Drug Alcohol Rehab Resource

Literature

• Sainsbury, Drug and the Drug Habit (New York, 1909)
• C. A. McBride, Modern Treatment of Alcoholism and Drug Narcotism (New York, 1910)
• G. E. Pettey, Narcotic Drug Diseases and Allied Ailments (Philadelphia, 1913)
• Fitz Hugh Ludlow wrote The Hasheesh Eater (1857) and The Opium Habit (1868), designed as a warning.

References

• Nestler, Eric and Malenka, Robert (Mar. 2004). "The Addicted Brain". Scientific American, pg. 78-83.
• Leavitt, Fred (2003) The REAL Drug Abusers. Rowman & Littlefield.

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