While well over one million small-time drug users languish in overcrowded prisons because of nonviolent drug offenses, tens of thousands of others get rich from legal and illegal drugs. Drug company representatives persuade doctors to prescribe inferior products. Children as young as two are routinely given powerful drugs. Legal drugs, taken exactly as prescribed, are a leading cause of illness and death. Scientists beholden to drug companies fabricate and misrepresent data. This eye-opening book richly documents disturbing trends in Western medicine and urges readers toward a broader...

What are the effects of psychoactive drugs on aspects of human behaviour, such as creativity, memory and sexuality? How effective are such drugs in treating mental disorders? How are new drugs tested and licensed?

An intriguing introduction to the study of psychopharmacology, this fully revised and updated edition of Drugs and Behavior presents a unique analysis of the ways in which human behaviour is affected by drugs, rather than simply by categories of drugs. The text covers the principles of neurotransmission, pharmacokinetics and drug classification. Issues of new drug development,...