After finishing this chapter, students should be able to understand:
Drug use is a form of behavior that has many things in common with other behaviors, as well as many of the same kinds of controlling variables.
Any individual drug can have various effects, depending on who has taken it, how much has been taken, and how it has been taken.
Drug use and problems caused by drug use are probably as old as humankind.
Changes in American society since the 1950s have influenced fashion in many areas, and recreational drug use is no exception.
Most of the information about current drug use comes from large-scale, nationwide surveys done in high schools or house-to-house.
Drug use is greater among those who are more rebellious and who engage in other deviant behaviors, such as heavy drinking.
Psychoactive drugs can be behaviorally reinforcing, produce altered states of consciousness, and help an individual make a social statement about what group he or she belongs to.
