Medical Drugs of Abuse by Simon Wills

While this is not a book that will bring you inspiration and profound spiritual insight, it nonetheless does what it says on the tin, and provides a chapter by chapter guide to the common legal and illegal drugs of abuse. It includes a fairly large list of prescription drugs, anabolic steroids, over-the-counter drugs, plants and smart drugs in addition to the usual subjects. There is an introductory chapter which contains breakdowns of world drug abuse and global deaths in 2000 attributable to major risk factors. For those interested, Tobacco at 4.9 million is second only to Blood Pressure at 7.1 million. Alcohol comes in at 1.8 million and Illicit Drugs at a mere 200,000. DSM (that's the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) criteria for dependence and addiction are given, along with, among other things, brief information on withdrawal, methods of administration and drug abuse environments. There is even a section on the pros and cons of legalization. None of this information is comprehensive, but is a useful introduction for those not as knowledgeable as many on this site.

Chapter 2 is all about injecting, and it does not make pleasant reading, especially if, like me, your cat has few veins left as a result of this practice. It is at this point that I am somewhat glad I do not work in healthcare, although I get the feeling that Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis is not a good thing! Essentially this chapter is a guide to the health problems associated with injecting, and to quote one statistic, a survey of 112 injectors in Glasgow identified 107 with current injection-related medical problems. This should be required reading for those injecting or wishing to inject. If this is not going to make you take harm-reduction seriously then nothing will.

After that we go through the list of drugs, usually with sections on history, effects sought, administration, pharmacokinetics and pharmacology, adverse effects, dependence, interactions with medicines, use and concurrent illness and finally pregnancy and breastfeeding. The chapters on performance enhancing drugs, prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs and plants and fungi are done differently, listing the different substances covered in order.

Overall, I was impressed with the sheer number of references given by the author, over 100 for several of the chapters. Although this book is written for medically trained people, it is completely accessible, except for the medical conditions and terms, which google or wiki could sort out. I tended to skip over these details and don't feel I missed a huge amount.

This book works well, both as something to read cover to cover to get a broad overview of most common (and sometimes not so common) drugs of abuse, and to dip into when you want information on a particular substance. The style is easy, there is no moral stance, but there is a lot of well-researched information of the risks involved. A good book to read especially to make an informed choice about whether to use or continue to use a drug, and better than several others in a similar vein I have come across. There is at the end a glossary and a lost of internet resources. Certain other "user-oriented sites" are mentioned, but not this one. Maybe because having cats who use rather than using drugs ourselves disbars DF!

Reputation Comments on this post:

A good overview of this book