This book is a comprehensive and clinically objective review of drug abuse and addiction in Australia.

It is written to appeal to families, educators, policy makers, students, healthcare professionals and drug users. It is based on the knowledge and experience of Dr John Sherman and his clinic in Footscray, a western suburb of Melbourne.

The book comprises a series of stories told through the eyes of drug addicts, their families, healthcare professionals, policy makers and legislators, law enforcement officials and researchers. It traces the history of drugs of dependence, community and government responses; the misuse of various prescriptions and other legally available pharmaceuticals and their impacts on:

‐ The health and welfare of users

‐ Their families and friends

‐ Society at large – including crime, societal dislocation, road and other trauma

‐ Cost of law enforcement, criminal justice, healthcare and workforce productivity