Drug addiction is often treated as a moral failing or a crime. Psychiatrist Lloyd I. Sederer treats it as a health problem with known treatments, and lays out what those treatments are.

Readical Key Points

• Guide to addiction and its treatment by a psychiatrist with a public health background, with a focus on opioids
• Covers medications, therapy, exercise, recovery programs and services in the community, plus drug policy
• Starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal (reviewed in the hardcover edition)
• Paperback, 240 pages, Scribner, 2019; includes a bibliography and index
• Addresses addiction, overdose and their effect on families; not a substitute for medical care

Sederer combines clinical knowledge, case studies and policy analysis. He argues that people use drugs to meet specific needs, that for some of them drugs are, for now, the most workable answer they have, and that treatment works better when it starts from that fact. He also argues that punishment-first drug policy has failed users, families and communities, and describes the evidence-based alternatives he favors.

It is written for families of people who use drugs, for people in or considering treatment, and for readers following drug policy. The book offers information and a framework; decisions about treatment belong with a clinician. Its figures date from the late 2010s, so readers should check current statistics and local services alongside it.

About the Author

Psychiatrist Lloyd I. Sederer, MD, has worked in public health and as a medical journalist. His other books include Improving Mental Health: Four Secrets in Plain Sight and Controversies in Mental Health and the Addictions.

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