Not only the recent discussions about cannabis demonstrate that the topics of drugs and addiction are polarizing. Different drugs (such as alcohol, cannabis, or heroin) are evaluated morally and legally in completely different ways, with these assessments varying from culture to culture and historically being highly changeable. In many areas, a criminal and security policy approach still predominates; however, health policy considerations in the context of an accepting drug policy are increasingly becoming relevant. This volume introduces fundamental aspects from the fields of drugs and addiction and provides a compact, informative overview of important stages and scientific findings related to drug history, drug research, and drug policy. Excerpts from the Content Introduction: Drugs, Drug Use, and Criminology and What Does Drug Effect Have to Do with Society and Culture?The History of Drugs and Drug ProhibitionsEffects and Consequences of Drug ProhibitionEmergence and Definitions of AddictionThe Concept of Addiction and Its Side EffectsControlled and Moderate Drug UseFrom Abstinence to Acceptance and From Repression to Regulation About the Author Prof. Dr. Henning Schmidt-Semisch teaches and conducts research at the Department of Human and Health Sciences at the University of Bremen. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content.This book is a translation of an original German edition. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation.

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