Reference Reviews

Doug’s Student Reference Room

Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol and Addictive Behavior, edited by Pamela Korsmeyer and Henry R. Kranzler. 4 vols., 1655 p. Farmington Hills, MI: MacMillan Reference USA. ISBN 13: 978–0–02–866064; ISBN 10: 0–02–866064–1. E– book ISBN 13: 978–0–02–866114–8; ISBN 10: 0–02–866114–1. $620.

Like previous editions of this set, the new Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol and Addictive Behavior is a comprehensive source of information for non-experts about addiction, substance use and abuse. Many of the 545 entries focus on commonly abused drugs and their effects on the body, along with the prevention and treatment of abuse. Entries also address social, economic and political aspects of drug use and abuse, including history, international perspectives and law enforcement. Expanding and updating the changes made in the second edition, this set incorporates advances in genetics, brain research, and neuroimaging in its coverage of the psychology and physiology of addiction, drug abuse and treatment. Attention is also given to the way drug use is portrayed or even encouraged through the media. There is no set format for discussion of individual drugs; the entry on marijuana is organized by more than a dozen subheadings, including “The Cannabis Plant,” “Using Cannabis,” “History,” “Chemistry/Pharmacology,” “Direct Effects and Psychopharmacology,” “Dependence,” “Treatment,” “Medical Use,” and “Legal Status.” Cocaine’s subheadings, by comparison, include “History,” “Medical Utility,” “Pharmacokinetics,” “Pharmacology,” “Toxicity,” “Behavioral Effects” and “Treatment.” Nevertheless, the introductions to commonly abused drugs are both thorough and comprehensible to typical high school students. While entries on individual drugs discuss physiological effects, separate entries focusing on specific parts of the body— especially in long entries entitled “Brain Structure and Drugs” and “Complications” allow for study through a particular body part or system, an organizational feature that lends itself to use in human biology classes. Sociological entries about American drugs of choice such as alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, range from efforts to ban or legalize these drugs to governmental interventions to ways drug use has been both demonized and glorified in popular films and advertising. The versatility of this resource for use in both science and social studies classes makes this four volume set, also available as an eBook, highly recommended for high school and public libraries.