The American Drug Culture

Dr. Weinberg is the author or editor of four books (two monographs and two edited volumes). He is Associate Editor of Ethnographic Studies and Sexuality & Culture and a referee for the Journal of Sexual Medicine.  He is a contributor to The Routledge Handbook of Deviant Behavior, edited by the late Clifton Bryant (2012). Dr. Weinberg is currently working with data gathered from a sample of sadomasochists, who were interviewed about their coming-out experiences. Gerhard Falk is Professor of Sociology at SUNY-Buffalo State University. He has written, co-authored or edited 24 books, and published more than 40 journal articles, on subjects as diverse as the American criminal justice system, political assasination and terrorism, deviant behavior by health care workers, inventions that changed American society, and fraudulant behavior by scientists, researchers, and scholars. Ursula Falk is psychotherapist in private practice, with many years of experience working with substance abusers. Her work on the book will be limited to the proposed micro-level cases studies of individuals with substance abuse problems.

Preface
About the Authors
Chapter 1: Introduction: Sociological and Other Explanations for Drug and Alcohol Use and Abuse
The Growing Nationwide Opioid Epidemic
Sociological Explanations
Criminological Explanations
Feminist Approaches
Other Perspectives
Researching Drug and Alcohol Use
Chapter 2: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs
The War on Drugs and the Federal Schedules
“Good Drugs” and “Bad Drugs”: The Media, Labeling, and the Changing Image of Marijuana
Is There a Drug Epidemic? Trends in Drug Use
Chapter 3. Drinking Alcohol: The Alcohol Culture
Ideological Alcohol Culture
Behavioral Alcohol Culture
Material Alcohol Culture
Social Functions of Drinking
Brief History of Drinking in America
Drinking and Occupations
Chapter 4: Alcohol and Social Institutions
Alcohol and the Family
Alcohol and Religion
Alcohol and Education
Alcohol and Government
Alcohol and Public Opinion
Chapter 5: Benefits and Costs of Alcohol
Benefits of Alcohol
Costs of Alcohol
6. Alcohol in Popular Culture
Depictions of Drinking and Alcohol in Art
Movies and Television
Commercials
Alcohol and Music
Magazines
Alcohol and Literature
Drinking Games
Jokes
Chapter 7: Alcohol and Sexual Behavior
Drinking and Disinhibition
People and Places: Drinking Contexts and Sexuality
Chapter 8: Alcoholism
Perspectives On and Explanations of Alcoholism
Becoming Alcoholic
Relapse and Abstinence Cycles
The Family and Alcoholism
Treating Alcoholism
Chapter 9: The History of Drug Use in America and Attempts to Control it
The Origin of Hashish and the Persian Assassins
Chinese Opium Wars
Controlling Drug Use
The Geneva International Commission
Medicalizing Drug Use
The Drug Abuse Warning Network
The Marijuana Controversy
Chapter 10: Drugs in Popular Culture
Art
Literature and Poetry
Music
Comedy
Magazines
Movies and Television
Relationship between Licit and Illicit Drug Use and the Media
Relationship Between Marijuana, Heroin, and Other Harder Drugs: Is Marijuana a Gateway Drug?
Chapter 11: Becoming a Drug User: Careers, Personalities, and Interaction - Two Perspectives
A Psychotherapeutic Approach
A Reporter’s Observations
A Sociological Perspective
Chapter 12: The Business of Drug Use: Crime and Law Enforcement
The Mexico–U.S. Drug Connection
Drugs and Secondary Deviance
Women and Drug Dealing
Crack Dealing
Drugs and the Mafia
Drug Cartels and the Market for Drugs
Law Enforcement
Medical Professionals and Drugs
Chapter 13: Prevention and Treatment of Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders
Prevention Efforts
Programs Directed at Youth
Diversion: Drug Court
Psychotherapy
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Rehabilitation Program Studies
Informal Self-Help Programs: Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous
Therapeutic Communities
Methadone Maintenance
An Innovative Approach
Unconventional Approaches
Appendix A: Case Histories: Alcohol Abusers
Appendix B: Case Histories: Drug Abusers
References
Index