BACKGROUND INFORMATION :: Background briefings
This page provides links to "Background briefings" on drug and alcohol issues written by Professor David Clark of Wired and published (by CJWellings) in Drink & Drugs News.
In context
Drugs in Society
Takes the definition of a psychoactive drug right back through history, and reveals how politics, economics & the media play their part in shaping attitudes. Historical Perspectives: Opium, morphine and opiates (part 1)
Historical Perspectives: Opium, morphine and opiates (part 2)
Historical Perspectives: Opium, morphine and opiates (part 3)
The history of the opiates, from use in Summarian and Assyrian civilisations through to the present day.
Historical Perspectives: Cocaine
Tracing the history of cocaine, linking the Incas, Freud, Thomas Edison, Sherlock Holmes and Coca Cola.
The normalisation of recreational drug use: Part 1
The normalisation of recreational drug use: Part 2
British youth culture and the role of drugs and alcohol among adolescents during the 1990s.
Should recreational drug use be criminalised? (part 1)
Should recreational drug use be criminalised? (part 2)
Exploring the regulation and control of drugs by looking at philosopher Douglas Husak's views on the justice of US drug laws.
The regulation and control of drugs: Part 1
The regulation and control of drugs: Part 2
Describing factors that have influenced the development of laws regulating recreational drug use, in particular influential happenings in America. Effects of Drug & Alcohol Use
The harms and risks of substance use
Reflections on the harms and risk factors related to drugs, alcohol and solvents.
Drug, set and setting
In addition to its biochemical actions, a drug’s effects are dependent on personality, expectancies & emotional state, and the physical & social setting.
Drug choices…and the loss of choice
Looks at the choices that influence a relationship with drugs and alcohol – and how these choices change as dependency takes hold.
Drugs, chemical, brain and behaviour
How drugs of misuse influence chemical and electrical events in the brain, and how these changes may relate to effects on behaviour.
Psychoactive drugs: From absorption to elimination
Factors that can influence indirectly the way that psychoactive drugs impact on the brain and influence behaviour.
Theories of craving and urges
Describes craving and urges for drugs and alcohol, and briefly outlines some of the underlying theories.
The drug experience: Amphetamine
The experience of taking amphetamine, including the subjective pleasurable experiences of initial use and the effects of long-term use.
The drug experience: Cocaine, part 1
The drug experience: Cocaine, part 2
The drug experience: Cocaine, part 3
Exploring the dynamic world of heavy cocaine use as revealed in a provocative, high-quality study by Dan Waldorf and colleagues.
The drug experience: Heroin (part 1)
The drug experience: Heroin (part 2)
The drug experience: Heroin (part 3)
The drug experience: Heroin (part 4)
The drug experience: Heroin (part 5)
The drug experience: Heroin (part 6)
The drug experience: Heroin (part 7)
The drug experience: Heroin (part 8)
The drug experience: Heroin (part 9)
The drug experience: Heroin (part 10)
The experiences of heroin users who have their lives seriously affected by their drug use, focusing on heroin withdrawal.
Heroin overdose (part 1)
Heroin overdose (part 2)
Heroin overdose (part 3)
Research and guidance on the causes and prevention of heroin overdose.
Models of Dependence and Change
Conditioning models of addiction: Part 1
Conditioning models of addiction: Part 2
Conditioning models of addiction: Part 3
How the processes of operant and classical conditioning, as well as positive and negative reinforcement, are involved in problematic substance use and addiction.
Social learning and coping models: Part 1
Social learning and coping models: Part 2
The relevance of social learning and coping models to our understanding of substance use and misuse.
The disease model of addiction
This model is central to the philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and the 12-step Minnesota Model.
Addiction as a chronic disorder
Acute and chronic disorders and how they are managed in today's medical world.
Stages and processes of change: Part 1
Stages and processes of change: Part 2
Stages and processes of change: Part 3
A description of a major influential model in the field, the Transtheoretical Model of Change.
Helping people towards recovery
Recovery and communities of recovery: Part 1
Recovery and communities of recovery: Part 2
Recovery and communities of recovery: Part 3
Recovery and communities of recovery: Part 4
Along the route to recovery
Articles on the process of recovery and ways of assisting it.
Treatment
What the science shows, and what we should do about it (part 1)
What the science shows, and what we should do about it (part 2)
What the science shows, and what we should do about it (part 3)
What the science shows, and what we should do about it (part 4)
What the science shows, and what we should do about it (part 5)
Series of briefings on what treatment would look like if it were based on the current research evidence.
Treatment of substance use problems: Reflections (part 1)
Treatment of substance use problems: Reflections (part 2)
Reflections on a variety of aspects related to treatment of substance use problems.
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