Thoroughly revised and updated in its third edition, The Sociology of American Drug Use presents a broader sociological perspective on drug use in American society than any other text. The authors, all sociologically trained criminologists, include extensive coverage of various methods and statistics for measuring drug use, a topic that is particularly relevant for sociology students.

The book opens with an examination of the construction of drug use as a social problem, setting the stage for the rest of the text. The first section addresses basic conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues in the study of drug use, while the second section analyzes its various social correlates: demographic, institutional, health, economic, cultural and subcultural, and violent and criminal. The final section focuses on societal reaction to drug use, with discussions of prohibition, decriminalization, and legalization policy options and drug treatment, drug education, and drug testing.

New to the Third Edition

* Increased material on legal drugs, like salvia, and an expanded discussion of the recreational use of prescription drugs, including the misuse of such drugs as Adderall, OxyContin, and Vicodin among college students

* New and updated "Drug Controversies" boxes

* Updated information on the pharmaceutical industry and an expanded discussion of the drug approval process, with a new flowchart

* More in-depth discussion of cartels and the current drug violence along the U.S.-Mexican border

* Greater emphasis on cross-cultural issues and perspectives, including new material on crime and the American dream, drug trafficking to the U.S. and opium production in Afghanistan, and the European roots of harm reduction

* An expanded discussion of the role of the media and more material on family as a social institution

* An updated and streamlined glossary and bibliography

Previous publication dates

August 2009, January 2004