This book untangles popular beliefs about substance abuse issues from historical, clinical and research evidence to address questions such as: What factors cause teenagers to abuse drugs and alcohol? How much of a role do economic factors and neighbourhoods play? Following an introduction which outlines the social history of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and heroin, the volume examines: individual, family, peer and community variables that contribute to substance misuse; resiliency factors that enable some adolescents to avoid such problems; substance abuse in rural and urban settings; pharmacological effects; and current treatment approaches.