Substance abuse can be looked at in two distinctly different ways. One of these is a medical model, examining the physical aspects of a personÆs biological make-up that compel or make it relatively easy for him or her to become psychologically and sometimes physically dependent upon some substance to the extent that the person is unable to manage their lives without the drug. Often substance abuse is the same as substance dependence or addiction, when a person has a compulsion to take a drug in order to experience its psychological (or physical) effects. Addiction is a severe form of dependence, existing when the drug has produced physiological changes in the body, as evidenced by the development of tolerance and of a withdrawal syndrome after the drug's effects have worn off.
While this is a very useful model, it is not the one that is generally referred to when people speak of substance abuse. What is generally being referred to by that term is the psychological and social costs incurred by individuals û and inflicted on their intimates and acquaintances û when they are unable to use certain legal drugs wisely and in moderation and/or when they use certain illegal drugs at all. This paper examines two models of intervention for substance abuse offenders after a brief general discussion of the issue of substance abuse.
It should be noted initially that while substance abuse as a general term is a widely used one it is in many ways deceptive because it implies a uniformity in terms of substance abuse that is simply not true in terms of legal, medical, social, emotional or psychological implications.
One substantial difference among substances that are commonly abused is how addictive they are. Scientists often measure a drug's potential for abuse by studies with laboratory animals. Drugs that an animal will administer to itself repeatedly are said to have powerful reinforcing properties and a high potential for abuse and e...