依存症とは、公共と個人の関心、社会と刑事司法の関心、家族、社会、医療の対応にまたがるテーマです。依存症の定義、なぜどのように発症するのか、治療法、この問題に社会がどう対処すべきかなど基本的事実を概説し、違法・合法の依存性薬物のほか薬物とは関係のない特定の行動（強迫性ギャンブルなど）が依存症とされるケースにも言及します。依存から回復へ至る著者の個人的経験にも触れながら、治療法の評価から法律や規制といった公共政策の影響まで、依存症について現在わかっていることを専門用語を用いずに解説します。
  

• Explores how addiction is best understood, how it arises, and approaches to prevention and treatment
• Considers the use, abuse, and dependence of drugs
• Describes strategies used to reduce damage both to addicted individuals and society, and their relative effectiveness

    
Addiction is a subject which straddles public and personal interests; societal and criminal justice concerns; and family, social, and medical responses. It is a continuing area of uncertainty and concern for society and professionals trained in the field.
    
This Very Short Introduction presents the basic facts about addiction: what it is, how and why it develops, how it is treated, and how society can respond to it. Addictions to both illicit drugs and licit drugs (e.g., alcohol) are covered, as is the possibility that certain behaviours not involving drug use (e.g., compulsive gambling) can qualify as addictions. Keith Humphreys provides a jargon-free account of our present understanding of addiction, from treatment evaluations to studies on the effects of public policies. He also illuminates the personal experience of addiction and recovery. Humphreys considers why some people become addicted and others do not, what treatments exist to help people who are addicted, and how the laws and regulations society establishes about drugs affects the rate and experience of addiction.