ABSTRACT
This chapter utilizes the term ‘drug’ to cover illicit substances, central nervous system depressants such as opiates and opioids, stimulants, and LSD, khat and magic mushrooms. In the UK, the Academy of Medical Sciences has taken a lead in bringing a more scientific perspective. The World Health Organization placed alcohol consumption among the top 10 global risk factors in terms of the burden of disease caused. The immediately observable effects of alcohol intoxication are impairments such as slurred speech, slowed mental and physical reaction times, and difficulty walking. Alcoholic hallucinosis is rare, characterized by auditory hallucinations, commonly derogatory comments, in clear/ very slightly clouded consciousness which follows heavy drinking. While associations between schizophrenia, substance misuse in general, and offending have been extensively investigated, this is less true of the more specific relationship between alcohol dependence, schizophrenia and offending. Alcoholics Anonymous is a worldwide self-help network based on a simple set of principles offering life-long support to the recovering alcohol-dependent drinker.
