Book Reviews

Abstract

Substance Use is an ambitious book which aims to give an overview of all the issues relating to substance abuse, including 'its nature, extent, and effects from conception to adulthood'. It is a resource handbook designed for both policy-makers and practitioners, such as clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, social workers and other substance-use professionals. Written by a husband-and-wife team who are professors and directors of the Substance Abusology (I kid you not) Research Unit at the University of Alberta in Canada and published simultaneously in Canada and the United States, it is aimed primarily at the North American market.The book's strength lies in the fact that the authors draw on a wealth of clinical experience and have managed to pull together a great deal of thought-provoking material of practical relevance to a range of professionals. The chapters include a discussion of the effects of substance-exposure prenatally and in infancy and childhood; adolescent substance use; dual diagnosis among adolescents (ie. substance use and mental health problems); wider issues such as effects on learning and memory, substance-related accidents and violence, and children and adolescents as perpetrators of substance-related crime, and finally a helpful overview on methods of preventing and treating substance use among children and adolescents. Appendices include a list of generic, trade and common names for substances, and a directory of North American treatment centres etc. (both of limited applicability outside North America), and extensive references.The authors also present their own model-known as MIMSEUICA or the Mega Interactive Model of Substance Exposure and Use among Infants, Children and Adolescents, or the Mega Interactive Model for short (phew)-which is designed for assessing, developing, delivering and evaluating prevention and treatment programmes both for individuals and communities, and thus may provide a useful heuristic tool for practitioners and policymakers involved with harm-reduction and prevention as well as treatment.However, as with many ambitious books, trying to cover the whole gamut results on the one hand in skimping on key topics-for example, solvent use (touched on in pages 136-7), and childhood sexual abuse (covered rather unsatisfactorily in pages 153-6 and 427 Addict Res Theory Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of California Irvine on 11/02/14For personal use only.