Contents include:

• Essay chapters, written by specialists in the field, which demonstrate the diversity, scale and nature of the drug `problem' and the importance of empirically informed, depoliticized responses. The first essays are international in focus, addressing the situation in Afghanistan, the Middle East, Colombia and Mexico before turning to the institutional anti-drugs context in the United Kingdom. Thereafter, the chapters are more theoretically oriented, with the authors exploring the prohibition model, the relationship between drugs and insurgency, and reflections on principles and approaches that might be considered when exploring alternatives to the status quo.
• A comprehensive cross-referenced A - Z Glossary of terms, organizations and issues with regard to drugs. Entries include caffeine, cocaine, Drug Enforcement Administration, mule, opium, UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) and volatile substances.
• Maps, charts and tables offering a wealth of information in graphic form. Maps include areas of cultivation of crops used for drugs, and statistics inform on production, seizures and prices of various narcotic drugs.