ABSTRACT
As handwriting may be considered a highly complex motor behavior, it is reasonable to expect that abuse of recreational drugs that alter neuromotor system functions would also impact handwriting. In this chapter, we will explore the e“ects of commonly abused drugs such as methamphetamine, cannabis, and alcohol on handwriting kinematics. e National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA 2009) has been compiling statistics for many years on the prevalence of substance abuse worldwide. Estimates of the economic, societal, and legal costs of substance abuse in the United States exceed $500 billion annually (Nicosia 2009). Cannabis sativa has been a part of the human medicinal and cultural experience for over four millennia. Today cannabis is used mainly for recreational purposes because of its euphoric properties. While the epidemiology of cannabis use remains uncertain, it has been estimated that over 160 million adults have used cannabis worldwide (United Nations O±ce on Drugs and Crime; UNODC 2008), with the highest consumption reported in the Unites States, Australia, and New Zealand (Hall and Degenhardt 2009).
