ABSTRACT
The use of drugs for non-medical purposes is a little understood aspect of human behaviour. The most extensive and solid scientific work on drugs relates to their chemical composition and effects on laboratory animals. One of the greatest difficulties medical professionals face when dealing with drug users is the differing perceptions they have of drug use and drugs. One of the longest running debates in the drugs field is whether there is a relationship between an individual's mental state and drug-taking, and whether the former can be said to cause the latter, the former is the result of the latter, or whether they are simply strongly associated. Although a number of large-scale studies on the genetic and hereditary bases of alcoholism have been undertaken, little work has been carried out on humans with regard to use of illicit drugs. While genetics is a field which has been left unexplored, family as an influence on drug use has been heavily studied.
