Reference Recreational Drugs

Back Cover:

• According to government surveys, half the bicentennial graduating high school class has smoked marijuana, and 32 percent consider themselves to be regular users.
• Department of Defense figures indicate half the enlisted men in our armed forces regularly use drugs.
• Almost 750,000 Americans are habituated amphetamine users.
• Eight million Americans have experimented with cocaine.
• Studies indicate that 85 percent of adolescents who smoke more than one cigarette will become tobacco addicts.
• Alcohol misuse is responsible for 250,000 deaths in the United States annually. Only cancer and heart disease kill more.

The bottom line is simple and obvious: More people are using drugs recreationally than ever before. . .This book does not attempt to take a position on drug use. Neither pro nor con, we do realize one thing: Drug experimentation and use is booming. The likelihood that the trend will lessen in the months and years ahead is virtually nil. . . Drugs can kill, but often they do so merely through lack of information. We have tried to provide this information in the form of a complete, accurate, up-to-date, and honest picture of the drugs making the recreational rounds. Some of it may be surprising and contrary to long-held beliefs.

My Review:

My Dad bought this book back when he was a young adult. I got my hands on it when I first became interested in substances. Since it was published in 1977, it is a little outdated, but still a very valuable resource. You will not find all the substances in there, because many were discovered since such as MDMA.

One of the things that first strikes you about this handy little book, is that it not only includes the big players but also the little known ones. Everything from Cocaine to Jimson Weed. It provides an unbiased opinion on the various drugs. Not only the health risks, but also the benefits. It gives the impression of a book not designed to prevent drug use, but more to promote informed decisions when using substances. With a lot of the more popular or famous drugs, a history of the substance is given.

This book is great for light reading or for some quick info on the spot info. I would definitely recommend this book be sitting on your bookshelf if it were not a tad bit outdated. Each chapter is 1-12 pages long.

My Rating:
4.5/5

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Great review
	With this review in mind i will be reading this faster than i would