Abstract
This small volume grew out of lectures provided at a summer school on alcohol and drugs. It discusses most of the usual suspects but surprisingly does not contain any discussion of hallucinogens or smoking behaviour. The subtitle of abuse and dependence makes the inclusion of antidepressant and antipsy-chotic agents as chapters somewhat curious, although they can clearly be subsumed under the main title.
This is not a book for the specialist. Those seeking treatment approaches will be disappointed, while those after a detailed explanation of the pharmacological mechanisms underlying drug action and, in particular, drug abuse/dependence will not be satisfied. Where the book does succeed is in providing a readable account of the central sites of action of drugs affecting behaviour. The level of the approach is clearly undergraduate and would be suitable as an introductory volume for medical and pharmacology students wanting a simple overview and for allied health professionals.
Although not divided into sections, the chapters form a natural progression with the first five devoted to background material: neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, pharmacokinetics, relation between brain and behaviour. The second section is devoted to chapters discussing individual agents: alcohol, marijuana, opiates, cocaine and other stimulants. Athird section deals with the drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders: anxiolytics, antidepressants and antipsychotics. The book concludes with the concept of addiction. This seems out of place at the end of the volume and could perhaps have been discussed earlier on. Much of the book is devoted to the discussion of alcohol and marijuana and these are the stronger chapters of the volume. The authors firmly adopt a disease model of addiction ‘caused by a brain chemistry imbalance in a part of the brain known as the pleasure pathway’. Not a model accepted by all but clearly one that has credence with many.