TECHNOLOGIES FOR UNDERSTANDING AND PREVENTING SUBSTANCE
ABUSE AND ADDICTION
US Government Office of Technology Assessment
October 18, 1994
Contents
1 Executive
Summary
- Root Causes
- Necessary Preconditions
- Individual Factors
- Community Contexts
- Policy Options
2
Introduction
- Root Causes
- What Are Substance Abuse and Addiction
- Magnitude of the Problem
- Measuring Substance Use and Abuse
- Organization and Scope of the Report
Part I: Necessary Preconditions
3
Biology and Pharmacology
- Drug Action
- Genetic Factors
- Role of Learning
- Summary
4
Availability
- Availability
- Are Drugs Readily Available
- Marketing
- Summary
5
Substance Use and Transitions to Abuse and Addiction
- Substance Use
- Stages in the Initiation of Use
- Stages in the Cycle of Use, Abuse, and Addiction
- Stages in Problem Behaviors
- Key Aspects of Use
- Summary
Part II: Individual Factors
6
Individual Risk and Protective Factors
- Demographics
- Economics
- Psychosocial/Behavioral
- Summary
Part III: Activity Settings
7
Ethnographic Drug Studies
- Ethnographic Studies of Alcohol and Other Drug Use
- Social Context of Drug Use
- Poverty, Racism, and Cycle of Abuse
- Future Research
- Summary
8
Community Activity Settings
- Homes and Families
- Schools and Peers
- Workplaces
- Recreational Settings
- Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Community-wide
Programs
- Summary
9
Policy Options
- Federal Focus and Prevention Program Structure
- Research Needs
- Community Activity Settings
- Availability
APPENDICES
A
Drug Control Policy in the United States: Historical Perspectives
B
Federal Programs: Prevention and Causation
C
Perspectives on Defining Substance Abuse
D List of Contracts
E List of Workshops and Participants
F Acknowledgments
References