ABSTRACT
The drugs of abuse possess a remarkable variety of properties. Tolerance, withdrawal patterns, effects on neurotransmitters, and sites of action in the brain vary across the broad categories of stimulants, hallucinogens, opiates, and central nervous system depressants. Yet, from this pharmacologic diversity there arises a set of phenomena common to the experience of chemical dependence and independent of the specific drugs involved. These phenomena enable us to clinically conceptualize substance use disorders from a generic point of view. The adjective generic is defined as “relating to or descriptive of an entire group or class” (American Heritage, 1987).
