This book untangles popular beliefs about substance abuse issues from historical, clinical and research evidence to address questions such as: What factors cause teenagers to abuse drugs and alcohol? How much of a role do economic factors and neighbourhoods play?

Following an introduction which outlines the social history of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and heroin, the volume examines: individual, family, peer and community variables that contribute to substance misuse, resiliency factors that enable some adolescents to avoid such problems, substance abuse in rural and urban settings, pharmacological effects, and current treatment approaches.