This work explores all aspects of the drug and alcohol abuse issue, including the history and impact of drugs within our society; pharmacological impacts of drugs on the body; policy implications of drugs; the criminal justice system response; the affects, treatment and prevention of abuse; theories of use; drug business; and drug law enforcement. Reports on the latest data on drug concerns provide further examination of alcohol and explore the abuse of additional substances such as inhalants, herbal stimulants, and designer drugs. The major drugs are arranged into depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, and cannabis.
Howard Abadinsky is a Professor of Criminal Justice at St. John's University. He was born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens, and spent 22 years in Chicago. Dr. Abadinsky graduated from Queens College with a B.A. in political science, Fordham University with an M.S.W., and New York University with a Ph.D. in sociology. He was a N.Y. State parole officer and senior parole officer for 15 years and a deputy sheriff/inspector for the Cook County (Chicago) Sheriff's Office for 8 years.
Founder of the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime (headquartered at John Jay College), his interest in organized crime began as the result of being assigned to the Red Hook section of Brooklyn when that waterfront area was the scene of a bloody conflict between two factions of an American Mafia Family. Dr. Abadinsky served as a consultant to the President's (Ronald Reagan) Commission on Organized Crime and is an expert witness in criminal organization cases.
